The Coffee MacGyver

La Colombe, City Hall, Philadelphia

Is Todd Charmichael for real?  In the TV show "Dangerous Grounds", Charmichael takes a death-defying trip 1000 feet off the ground on a Bolivian farmer's zip-line, uses his wits and available materials to perform a makeshift repair on a truck stuck in the middle of the jungle and avoids one near death experience after another.  When I first saw these episodes I thought "is this for real... or is he haming it up for Hollywood (the nickname he calls his cameraman)?  Is there really a coffee guy out there this resourceful and crazy?"  Sprudge.com even did a drinking game (click to play) for viewers to play while following Todd's exploits.  A few days ago I got to poke around La Colombe's "Batcave" in Port Richmond, Philadelphia where their coffee is roasted.  I came away believing that yes, Todd is as crazy and intense as he seems but also whip smart, methodical and meticulous.  Indeed little seems to be left to chance.

La Colombe's Roasting Floor 

La Colombe's roastery takes up over half of the warehouse space.  It's high-end coffee on a large-scale.  Between 45,000 and 48,000 pounds are roasted every week.  Head Roaster Chris Miller showed me around and it's an impressive operation.  But Todd and his partner Jean Philippe Iberti (JP) haven't stopped there and this is where it really gets interesting.  On the other side of a wall there's other projects that are up and running or in the works.

Just over a year ago, Carmichael introduced La Colombe "Pure Black", a cold pressed coffee Steeped for 16 hours in stainless steel wine tanks, pressed and filtered twice.  How did Todd come up with the recipe?  Like most of his projects, it started in his head at home.  After researching online, he purchased some equipment over the internet and started experimenting.  "I finally had to scale up after my wife had enough at home," Todd told me.  After buying the tanks and setting up his own bottling line, Todd hired an expert in pasteurization to assist with shelf life and quality control.  Now in full production, Pure Black is considered one of the best.

Left: Rum production & experimentation

Right: La Colombe Rum in barrels

Next, Carmichael started pursuing another passion, rum.  When I visited, the still he installed looked like a scene from Breaking Bad.  But looks are deceiving.  While everything is small-scale as he refines the recipe which involves filtering the spirit through coffee, a full-blown distillery will be incorporated into the new Fishtown warehouse slated to open in early 2014.  Expect to see his rum in Pennsylvania state stores around that time as well.  This huge 16,000 square foot space will contain a cafe, roastery for La Colombe's single origin program, cupping room, a sixty-meter German still, bread making by JP and the former bread chef at Steven Starr's Parc and more.

La Colombe Rum

I got a chance to taste an early version and it was really good.  It tastes more like a bourbon than a rum with a hint of coffee on the palate.

Cupping Pre-Auction Lots

After the warehouse tour, I participated in a cupping of Rwandan beans with 12 other coffee professionals.  This was a pre-auction tasting of 15 lots that was sold on 10/8.  They represented the best lots grown in Rwanda as scored by the Cup of Excellence the most prestigious award given to a fine quality coffee. Todd had invited other coffee roasters such as Elixr and Rival Brothers and told the crowd how important it was to him that Philly's coffee community work together to improve its caffeinated culture.  It was interesting to watch Todd at work as he really knows coffee much like a Master Sommolier knows his wine.  I noticed that he mentioned that the Japanese buyers at these auctions were problematic and asked why.  He replied that they have very sophisticated palates but, since their coffee culture is so new, they have no reference as to how much they should pay for the best beans.  Once they get interested in a lot the prices paid can get outrageously high.  The trick, he told me, is to identify great lots that perhaps will fly under their radar.

So what's the verdict?  Is Todd Charmichael for real?  Look, the guy is an adrenaline junky and loves pushing himself to the limits of human endurance.  Heres a guy who set the record for the fastest solo journey to the South Pole & attempted to become the first person to trek across Death Valley alone.  This approach to life has served him well in the coffee business.  Much like most coffee professionals I've met, Todd's a geek and gets really excited about the chemistry and process whether it's the perfect brew, or a rum that'll knock your socks off.  His public persona might make you think he flies by the seat of his pants and takes a lot of risks but he is much more meticulous and calculating than that and it's a major part of the secret to his success.

CoffeeGuru features over 7,000 independent coffeehouses in the US, Canada, UK and Ireland. Download the app here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/coffeeguru-indie-coffeehouses/id547969523?mt=8

La Colombe: http://www.lacolombe.com

Cup of Excellence: http://www.allianceforcoffeeexcellence.org/en/

Sprudge: http://sprudge.com

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