There's a new option for locally roasted coffee.
Tehillah Coffee launched in June in Jefferson City by owners Joey Stroupe, Josh Bond, Kyran Burks and Nathan Tuley.
Tuley said he had long been fascinated with roasting coffee and, after lots of research on home roasting, starting experimenting early this year with a $20 air popcorn popper from Target. His home modifications continued, but at the time was nothing more than interested in tinkering and far from a fleshed out business idea, Tuley said.
Then, in March, several couples from their local church went to a marriage retreat in Branson, where the group frequented a local coffee shop. In the conversations, one mentioned how cool it would be to own a coffee shop someday.
"A few of us guys latched on to the idea and met up a couple of weeks later for lunch on a Wednesday to dream a bit and discuss if it's something we'd actually want to do," Tuley said. "Coming out of that first lunch conversation we decided to start small, focusing on roasting first, and by (that) Friday we had formed our LLC."
From there, the team began researching "all things coffee, roasting, coffee shops, entrepreneurship, and the like," Tuley said. They purchased a commercial roaster, opting to take a different approach by using a fluid-bed roaster that allows air roasting to "create a cleaner, smoother coffee with less acidity and bitterness," Tuley said.
Working out of Tuley's garage, they got to work on test batches honing in on the flavor and roast profile, and when they got the first batch roasted the way all four of them loved, they started sharing it with friends and family members.
"The immediate feedback was this is amazing coffee, some of the best we've ever had," Tuley said. "Given the positive feedback and encouragement to keep growing, we focused on getting our commercial kitchen/roasting facility set up and licensed."
Given the business idea sprang from a church-affiliated retreat, it shouldn't be a surprise to learn more about the mission behind Tehillah Coffee. The name itself is a Hebrew word meaning "to praise, to sing praise," Tuley said, and to help further spread the Christian message, Tehillah Coffee gives $1 for every 12-ounce bag of coffee sold to help translate the Bible into other languages.
"We love Jesus and want to make His name more known and praised," Tuley said. "We love to give back to our community and are honored to partner with local schools, churches, and organizations. We like to say we strive to have a glocal impact -- both global and local."
Tehillah Coffee is sold online at tehillah.coffee and at the Jefferson City HyVee, but the long-term goals for the business include opening a local coffee shop and roastery in Jefferson City, Tuley said.
Know of any business happenings around Jefferson City? Let us know at [email protected] or 573-761-0250.
