New Haven Independent: "Cupping" Launches Bare Beans Mission

“Cupping” Launches Bare Beans Mission

by Leonard J. Honeyman | May 29, 2008 2:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (19)

Mark Orintas (pictured with his coffee roaster) is ready to fulfill his life’s dream by the Q River and to change the world, one cup of coffee at a time.

He knows that the change will be small but hopes it will be significant in its way. He will use only “fair-trade” coffee so that the farmers who grow the coffee will be fairly compensated for their work. He also will sell only organic coffee, so the beans he sells won’t be treated with gas or pesticides.

Orintas, a slim, young looking man of 42, sat Wednesday in his new shop, Bare Bones Coffee Roasters, just east of the Quinnipiac River bridge on East Grand Avenue, hours before his first public event. That would be a “cupping,” similar to a wine-tasting, but with coffee.

Part of his self-directed mission is to teach about coffee, the many varieties from nations in Latin America, Africa and Asia.

He is on his own with Bare Beans, which is rising from the grounds of a previous attempt to run a coffee business by the river. (See Orintas’ website here.) His core business will be roasting coffees for sale to other shops, stores and the public. He also plans to open his shop weekday mornings to sell by the cup to commuters and others. He is looking for a source of organic muffins and other pastries to sell with the coffee.

He has long dreamed of working with his beloved coffee, but that dream had to be postponed for decades.

The Waterbury native spent the first 20 years of his working life in management and buying for the former G. Fox & Co. and successor owner, Filene’s. After Macy’s took over the chain, he saw the downsizing handwriting on the wall two years ago. He decided it was time for his dream to come true.

To finance his start-up, Orintas, who lives in Westville with his life partner, Jordan Nodelman. works part-time selling upscale fragrances at malls in tony parts of Fairfield County. That job that is less removed from the coffee business as one might think, he said, because coffee depends on the sense of smell for much of its impact to the drinker.

Orintas is a graduate of the Natural Gourmet Institute in New York, a school he attended with coffee in mind. His dream had always been to open a coffee shop and sell food as an alternative to the national chains.

“We don’t use refined sugar, but instead use agave, the plant from which tequila is made. The liquid has the thickness of honey and no bitter aftertaste.” All his coffees, save one, are both organic and free trade.

He said he also hopes to make a difference by pursuing relationships with coffee growers. He has one already, with the Selva Negra farm in Nicaragua, owned by the Kuhl family. The 300 workers there are provided housing and elementary school for their children, Orintas said. He said he hopes one day to be able to sponsor higher education for the child of one of the workers at the farm.

Orintas said his expertise comes from five years of coffee roasting at home, plus taking classes at the Specialty Coffee Association of America and courses offered by roaster manufacturers.

Orintas uses an electric-powered Fresh Roast Systems roaster, a round machine four feet high and about two feet in diameter. He said his is the first installation on the East Coast. He prefers it to others because it has a lower carbon footprint and does not need to be vented to the atmosphere. A laser reads the color of the coffee and assures proper roasting. The device is connected to the Internet, so the company can automatically adjust the device when necessary.

He said he hopes to roast 1,000 pounds a month. The coffee will be available in one-pound or five-pound bags.

“Five pound bags are not really a good idea” for retail customers, he said. An avid coffee drinker goes through about a pound a week, he said. He said he thinks he can succeed with his niche of organic and fair-trade coffees.

Anyone starting a coffee-roasting business in this area now is entering “a pretty mature industry,” said Bob Williams, co-owner of Willoughby’s Coffee and Tea, headquartered in Branford.

“I don’t know if a start-up can survive in this economy,” he said. Willoughby’s has been roasting coffee since 1985, he said. “Developing a palate for coffee and sourcing coffee takes a lot of experience,” he said. Williams said he had not heard about Bare Beans opening, but “we wish all entrepreneurs well. I hope he’s successful.”

Orintas leases the 1,100 square foot space in an older building at 14 East Grand St. hfrom developer Joel Schiavone for $600 a month. It is divided into a roasting room and a coffee bar with three tables and a sitting area with an eclectic collection of easy chairs. The central feature is the two-sided bar with a large coffee grinder.

Comes The “Cupping”

It was to this space that more than a dozen friends and invitees gathered Wednesday night for a cupping, which Orintas called a wine-tasting with coffee.

The evening started with a short course on coffee, its various colors and flavors. Among those featured was a variety from Ethiopia, which Orintas said was the birthplace of coffee centuries ago. It happened, he said, when a farmer noticed his formerly lethargic goats were full of energy after eating a certain plant. The farmer used the plant to make a drink and enjoyed the rush it gave him and coffee was discovered.

A dozen or so people, including Tony Szpara and Diane Robertson, both of New Haven, sampled the fragrance (smelled while dry) aand aroma (smelled when wet) of the coffee. They slurped the liquid, expressing a preference of lighter roasted Ethiopian coffee over darker. Orintas explained that it was important to know how much roasting will bring out the best in a bean. One sample had a fine aroma and a slight taste of blueberries when roasted lightly, but a heavier, less pleasing aroma and flavor with a darker roast.

A Mexican decaf was pronounced quite drinkable.

Bare Beans Coffee will be serve coffee some food weekdays from 6:30 until 9 a.m. weekdays. It also will be available at the various farmers’ markets around the city.

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Comments

Posted by: -fairhavener- | May 29, 2008 5:05 PM

Finally, a walkable coffee place in our area - well at least until the Grand Ave Bridge closes for repairs. I hope they do well enough to hire someone to serve coffee and beans on weekend mornings. Our weekend coffee ritual now is to drive miles to one of a few places, grab a couple cups and our week's supply. We'd be good for $15-20 a week if open Saturday morning. Undoubtedly, that's not much of an incentive with us alone, but I'm sure many others in the area would patronize enough to support Saturday openings. Hopefully there are enough people that would be great.

Posted by: clem | May 29, 2008 6:25 PM

GOOD LUCK I WILL BE THERE TO TRY IT OUT AND I WILL BRING SOME FRIENDS

Posted by: JackNH | May 29, 2008 7:49 PM

I really wish this guy luck. I live in the neighborhood, but am unlikely to patronize him before 9:30 in the morning. But my hopes are with him.

Posted by: swag | May 29, 2008 8:03 PM

Cupping is not at all like wine tasting, but there are many people in the industry who think the only way to sell good coffee is to treat it like wine.

Traditionally, coffee industry people did cuppings to evaluate lots of beans for potential purchase -- tasting it for defects and evaluating what it might potentially taste as for their customers. There's obscene slurping noises with spoons, there's a lot of spitting, and there's virtually no swallowing of the stuff. This is hardly the wine tasting experience -- and resembles more meat inspection.

Maybe New Haven folks are up for that. But my guess is that a comparative tasting would be more popular.

Posted by: Chris Gray | May 30, 2008 1:37 AM

O.K., this makes me crazy.

Since I spend a great amount of time with my 92-year old mother, I start and stop watching many television programs in the evenings. Just last week we watched part of a "Law & Order Special Victims Unit" where Stephen Collins (of "7th Heaven" fame) is a coffee importer and holds a cupping. Never heard the term before, but from what they showed Swag seems to be right on the money and it seemed as appealing as spending an evening with someone who chews tobacco, if you catch my spi... er, drift.

I'd probably feel different about it if the first time I ever heard of cupping was in an article about a coffee shop on my side of the river in New Haven, even if the hours don't fit my schedule even vaguely.

On the other hand, if Bob Williams is wishing him luck, maybe his wholesale operation has a chance. Much as the latte sipping elitist is a despised cliché in the media, it hasn't seemed to slow down the spread of coffee shops. He survived the onslaught of Starbucks.

Though coffee with a small carbon footprint sounds oxymoronic, I have to say.

Posted by: JackNH | May 30, 2008 5:28 AM

I wish this guy all the luck in the world. I live in the neighborhood, I'll never make it there by 9:30 am, but if he stays open later I'll be there! Fair Haven lives!!

Posted by: fairhavendoc | May 30, 2008 8:37 AM

THIS IS THE BEST NEWS I HAVE READ IN THE INDEPENDENT IN A YEAR! Fair Haven needs this and that part of New Haven is a totally underdeveloped market! I can't wait to visit.

Posted by: Hope | May 30, 2008 8:50 AM

HOORAY! Welome Mark!!!

Posted by: Steven | May 30, 2008 8:56 AM

Mark's coffee is amazing.

Posted by: Fairhaven Dave | May 30, 2008 12:35 PM

Awesome! Coffee in Fair Haven Heights! Now all he needs is a partner in the sandwich business who will stay open a bit later. Nudge nudge...

Welcome, Mark! Appreciate your low impact roaster, but PLEASE feel free to vent the roasting coffee aroma into the local air... :)

Posted by: Fairfaven fan | May 30, 2008 1:02 PM

Bare Beans Coffee is really, really good. I've been drinking Mark's coffee for a few weeks now (samples I was sent) and it is the best coffee I've ever had. Mark definitely knows what he's doing. New Haven, in general, needs more small business owners willing to put up with this city's red-tape and I congratulate Mark for giving this a go. Anyone who gives his coffee a chance will be a convert! Amazing. Fun event the other night too.

Posted by: Doriss William | May 30, 2008 3:57 PM

"Small carbon footprint." Yes, I thought that was a little onomotopoeticoxymoronic myself. Say what? Hey, life is too short to drink bad Koffee, that's for sure, Audubon St-breath. Mark got Williams's blessing anyhow. That's a good sign. Now if only you can wean the cops off their Dunkin Donuts? That will be a cute trick.

Hey, what about parking? Parking! Parking!

Posted by: jade | May 30, 2008 6:41 PM

Mark, I am SOOO excited for you!!! It is so difficult to get good organic coffee (Willoughby's only offers two varieties, last I checked). I promise you I will buy my coffee only from you for now on! Got some nice dark roast?

Posted by: Elizabeth L R | May 31, 2008 2:08 PM

I was honored to have Mark ask my opinion of his coffee roasting several years ago when we worked together at Filene's. I loved its richness and have championed his endeavor ever since. I wish him the very best of success now that he's finally been able get off the ground. He's a great person.

Posted by: East Rockette | June 1, 2008 11:46 PM

Yay, finally a cafe near my kid's school - if it was open till 10 or so, I could go there after dropping him off and hang out. Maybe Mark will expand the hours at some point to capture the idle parent market??

Posted by: Bare Beans Coffee | June 2, 2008 10:04 AM

Than you all for the kind words and encouragement!
My weekday morning hours will be starting by the end of this week as I have some work to finish up first.

Beans, however, are roasting and ready at any time.

More coffee tasting and cupping events will be coming soon as well.

Mark Orintas

Posted by: Jojos | June 2, 2008 1:18 PM

Mark Congrats! I am sorry I missed the cupping. Hopefully I find the time when you have the next session.

SWAG, There's obscene slurping noises with wine tasting too, there's a lot of spitting, and there's virtually no swallowing of the stuff.

Posted by: Pink Tarantula | June 2, 2008 1:41 PM

I have even been using some samples graciously given to me as espresso for my americanos, and it is very good and I do hope that you all support Bare Beans!

Posted by: Michele | June 3, 2008 6:33 PM

Hey Big Brother!!!!!!! Congratulations on the new shop. I wish you much success in your new business. I have shared this article and your web site with several friends and co-workers who will identify themselves as friends of your baby sister. I'm very proud of you Mark! Your only sister, Michele

New Haven Independent

“Cupping” Launches Bare Beans Mission

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