Brady Finds His ‘Anchor’ With Wilkes Coffee Shop
Anchor Coffee is part of a growing ‘third wave’ in coffee production
NORTH WILKESBORO-At first, Greg Brady didn’t see anything special about coffee. It was what you ordered at Starbucks or tried when someone made a pot at the office. It wasn’t really great or tasty, it was just there. That changed however after a trip to Charlotte, where the owner of North Wilkesboro’s Anchor Coffee tried an Ethiopian brew. From there, he started learning about different types of coffee, each with its own unique taste and story.
“I was blown away that coffee has all this flavor and all this history,” Brady said. “There’s a lot of different ways to get the flavor out, different ways to roast it. I wanted to learn how to do that.”
And that’s exactly what Brady did. He read about different methods. He talked to people. And then he set up a popcorn popper on a stovetop in his house, using it as his first roaster. Those first experiments didn’t exactly go as planned.
“The first coffee was terrible, just the worst thing ever,” Brady said. “My house smelled terrible for like two weeks.”
Working with a friend, Brady soon improved his equipment, swapping out the popcorn popper for a custom roaster that he built out of an old grill. Over time, he learned more about how to roast and brew, eventually turning his passion for coffee into a business. At first, Brady bagged and sold roasted beans at farmers markets in Elkin and Statesville. Then in 2014, he and his business partner Nate Griffith rented a space around the time of the Apple Festival. That space became a tiny cafe and eventually expanded into Anchor Coffee’s current home at 1320 West D. Street in North Wilkesboro.
What’s Third Wave Coffee?
One question Brady had to answer early on is what separated Anchor from other operations. How was it going to be different than a Starbucks or Dunkin’ Donuts? The answer was to join the third wave coffee movement.
That sounds odd or like a marketing brand when you say it, but there are three waves or “types” of coffee. The first is instant, the type you find in cans or that your grandparents may be fond of. The goal for first wave coffee is to provide cheap, accessible supplies that are able to be made quick. If you want a stronger flavor, that’s where sweeteners and creamers come in.
The second wave got started in the 1960s, introducing coffee-based drinks like espressos and lattes. Some people refer to it as the Americanization of what was being served in Europe during the mid-20th century. Then there’s the third wave, where Anchor falls in.
“The idea behind ‘third wave’ coffee is really dialing in and focusing on the product,” Brady said. “It’s about accentuating the flavors, to tell the story of the coffee and where it comes from.”
That means working with a number of different importers to bring a variety of options to Wilkes residents. Anchor buys from farms in Guatemala and Panama, as well as a co-op in Laos and a similar operation in Burundi. They get samples and roast each one, before choosing which coffees to buy each time.
“People tend to forget coffee is an agricultural product,” Brady said. “We want to be transparent about where we get our coffees from. The farms that we work with, we try to share their stories as much as we can.”
Perfecting The Process
Even though he has a functioning business, that doesn’t mean Brady still isn’t trying to learn. He said the goal is to always work to improve, always try to get better at roasting and producing coffee.
“When we get new coffees in, I’m always trying new ways of roasting and better ways to plan the roast style,” he said. “Roasting takes 10 to 15 minutes but in that period of time, there’s lots of things happening, lots of things you need to pay attention to. It’s kind of like baking. There’s a lot of different ways to get the flavor out, whether it be adding more heat at the beginning or modifying the roast curve.”
Even now there are things to learn, as the company has to adapt to a new schedule. Thanks to the governor’s order, during the coronavirus quarantine people can only go to get drinks or food through pickup or takeout. Anchor is offering both options. You can come into the cafe, as long as you stay 6 ft. away from other people, and pick up an order or you can go through the company’s drive-thru. Orders can be called in to 336–818–2881 or placed through the mobile ordering app Clusive. You can find that through the iPhone App Store or through Google Play if you have an Android phone. Right now, the cafe is open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sundays.
“We’re going to stay open until we can’t,” Brady said. “We’ve been really grateful for our community, as people have continued to purchase from us. As long as it’s needed, as long as one person can benefit, we plan to stay open.”
Brian Carlton is the editor of NWNC Magazine. He can be reached at brian.carlton38@gmail.com.
