The Business of Coffee
Photos by Emma Highfill
Blue Jazz Coffee Roasters has set a high bar for coffee in Topeka and beyond with complex, nuanced roasts, barista training, equipment servicing and coffee education. Blue Jazz supplies premium coffee to Topeka workplaces, coffee shops and restaurants, and also offers support and training to help retail partners consistently serve a quality cup of coffee that will fuel creativity, draw people together and bring customers back.
If you frequent local coffee shops and eateries, chances are that you’ve already tried Blue Jazz Coffee, even if you didn’t realize it at the time. Blue Jazz has long been served in workplaces all over town, but in recent years has expanded into retail venues. You can taste their brews at Milk & Honey Coffee Co., World Cup Coffee & Crepes, Dialogue Coffee House, B’Well Market, Banjo’s Café, Onyx Wellness Café, Norsemen Brewery, The Wheel Barrel, Luis Place, Cook’s Grill, Henry’s Coffee in Osage City, Java Junkies in Clay Center, HotSpot in Holton, and many more. Each venue puts their own spin on the brew so that coffee lovers have the opportunity to enjoy Blue Jazz in the unique ambiance of their favorite local shop.
Owner Kevin Conard says that when local businesses choose a more complex and nuanced coffee for their customers and invest in training their baristas to prepare the perfect cup, it creates a ripple effect that raises expectations for everyone.
“Quality is contagious,” Conard said. “When one of our partners putsin the training, another shop notices, and then they want to get that training for their baristas. Everyone wants to offer the best possible product, and over time we’re going to see the quality of coffee in Topeka continue to rise.”
LOVE FOR COFFEE
Blue Jazz Coffee Roasters was built on a love of good coffee and how it brings people together.
“Coffee is important,” Conardsaid. “It’s a bridge between people. Romance and friendship are born over coffee. Important conversation shappen over coffee. We want to enhance these moments and help make them as special as they deserve to be. Not many other beverages give us those warm fuzzies like a cup of coffee does.”
Conard and his small crew bring dedication to their craft because they truly love their work. A typical day working at Blue Jazz can include tastings, experimenting with new flavors, dialogue with other roasters, meeting customers, training baristas or collaborating with community partners to spin new ideas.
“My office is in my own private coffee shop, and I am immersed in something that I love and appreciate every day,” Conard said.
A FAMILY LEGACY
Conard’s coffee journey began with his parent’s coffee roastery, Coffee USA Corp. He grew up in the family coffee business, gradually taking on more responsibility as his father exposed him to every facet of the business. After college, Conard focused on sales and tripled the company’s office coffee service. In 2002, his parents were ready to retire and offered to sell the company to him and his wife, Amy. With a solid foundation in hospitality, sales and management, he decided to follow his passion for good coffee and see what the next generation of the company would look like under hisleadership.
“We invested in a smaller batch coffee roaster to experiment with a wide variety of origins of coffee, and it was a transformational moment,” Conard said. “It opened our eyes to all that coffee had to offer in the way of being a truly exciting and diverse experience.”
Conard rebranded his coffee company as Blue Jazz Coffee Roasters, and the company grew in new directions. Blue Jazz now offers only specialty-grade arabica coffee grown at high altitude. The company still provides office coffee service, but by selling directly to consumers and partnering with local coffee shops and restaurants, they are reaching more coffee drinkers.
“Ten years ago not many people knew about us,” Conard said. “I’m proud of how we’ve grown by creating super high quality coffees and expanding our ability to train baristas. It feels good to know that the flavors we create are experienced across Topeka and around the country. That makes what we do fun, exciting and highly rewarding.”
EMPOWERING LOCAL BUSINESSES TO SUCCEED
Recently, Conard took another leap, investing in ways to better serve and support retail partners. Blue Jazz introduced a new line of inventory, purchased better roasting equipment and technology, and built a 2,500 square foot tasting and barista training space in the Blue Jazz factory.
“Our goal is to support our retail partners in the community to the best of our ability,” Conard said. “We want to equip their baristas to prepare the coffee well, to serve the flavors that we’ve planned, tasted and worked hard to achieve.”
Conard works with local businesses to overcome challenges and find solutions that fit their needs.
“For someone starting a coffee shop, training staff and dealing with equipment selection and maintenance are some of the biggest challenges,” Conard said. “We can help, so that our partners can focus on their image in the community, the quality of their products, all the things that go with running a small business.”
Blue Jazz’s partners give glowing reviews, saying that the relationship goes far beyond serving a delicious, locally roasted coffee. Milk & Honey Coffee Co. proudly displays the Blue Jazz logo on their wall, as well as a Platinum Record award from Blue Jazz to show that they are committed to serving the best coffee possible.
“Our partnership includes training new team members and that has been so incredibly helpful and effective,” Owner Darlene Morgan said. “Kevin and his crew work with our staff on pulling shots, steaming milk and several other aspects of coffee preparation. Our crew members return feeling excited and confident to work at the espresso machine.”
Caitlyn Halsey, owner of Dialogue Coffee House, chose Blue Jazz because of how much they value their local partners.
“Blue Jazz has supported our success through the education they provide and continued check ins,” Halsey said. “We are proud to serve Blue Jazz coffee and be partners and ambassadors of their brand.”
Advisors Excel chose Blue Jazz coffee to fuel their staff after a tasting.
“Blue Jazz was hands-down the best that we tasted,” said Sherri Pike, Director of Hospitality. “Our staff loves the coffee. We’ve recently added their cold brew drinks to our café and will have a complete coffee bar/barista experience once our Gage Campus café is up and running. The entire Blue Jazz team are absolute rock stars!”
A HUMAN BEHIND THECURTAIN
Blue Jazz Coffee Roasters also invested in a full-time roaster who works to ensure that every batch of coffee is perfect. Conard notes that the human element of coffee roasting is crucial for creating the nuanced, complex roasts that Blue Jazz does so well.
“There’s a lot of sensory knowledge involved in coffee roasting,” Conard said. “You have to know what you’re smelling for. You may have a window of 15 or 20 seconds to know when that coffee has to drop. The computer gets you close, then you have to pay attention visually and with smell. It might be just the faintest hint of blueberry, telling you that the time is right.”
Head Roaster Dustin Fluke has over 20 years of coffee roasting experience and has been with Blue Jazz full time for the last five years. He is in many ways a coffee chef, finding a balance between roast and origins to find the flavors that tasters want and enjoy.
“Each of our coffees are different,” Fluke said. “Some beans are softer or harder. We have naturally processed coffee that will taste like some kind of fruit, such as strawberry or blueberry. Coffee beans that are washed will take on floral or citrus notes when you roast light. When you roast dark, the process takes those origin flavors out and you taste the caramelization, or smoky flavor, like our 1930 blend. Once we hit that perfect taste, we do our best to consistently deliver that flavor to our customers.”
Coffee is a crop that is affected by the sun and the rain and the soil, so fluctuations in the flavor are unavoidable. Blue Jazz works to keep profiles as close as possible, but it’s a moving target.
“It’s all about trial and error,” Fluke said. “I’ve been doing this for so long, I’ve had the opportunity to try a lot of different things. I love that my work has a nice aspect of consistency but also challenge, change, and variety. Maybe I can do something different this batch tha tmakes it better.”
A COFFEE EXPERIENCE
Blue Jazz wants to increase the coffee IQ of as many Kansans as possible and help them to navigate their own personal coffee journey. Their factory tasting and tour experience is an opportunity to see behind the scenes, try something new and learn more about coffee. The $20 tour includes a tasting flight, facility tour, espresso bar drink and a bag of coffee to take home.
“A tasting typically includes 4-5coffees, and within that mix I ask each person to taste something they would expect to be their favorite as well as a coffee that will challenge them,” Conard said. “Many times, people are surprised how much they like the coffee that they picked as their challenge.”
Blue Jazz staff regularly challenge their own tastes to continue their coffee journey, too. Once a month they participate in a cupping exercise with four roasted samples that are shared among coffee professionals around the country. The company that provides the coffee livestreams a discussion of the history and taste of the coffees.
“We discuss all the nerdy details,” Conard said. “They bring in new language and taste things that we don’t taste. It helps us train our palates and better communicate about what we’re looking for and what we’re creating at Blue Jazz.”
FOOD PAIRINGSIN THE FUTURE
Look forward to the opportunity to visit Blue Jazz on a Saturday morning soon for a breakfast brunch. Conard plans to partner with various local chefs, who will create a meal that pairs well with a particular BlueJazz coffee.
“Pairings are a whole new thing for us and very fun,” Conard said.“ “For example, maybe we’ve eaten something from Josey Baking Co., and then when we sip the coffee the black cherry notes pop.”
Conard has a love for service to match his love for coffee, so he looks forward to seeing more guests at the Blue Jazz factory in the future.
“Hospitality is in my nature,” Conard said. “I enjoy creating unique and wonderful flavors of coffee, and I want to share that experience and enjoyment with others. It just so happens that as a coffee roasting company, that is exactly what my team and I get to do every day.
TK
