‘To serve my coffee in my hometown, that was important’

TAMA — Back in the late 1980s, a group of youngins could be spotted running around Carroll and Marilyn Nolin’s farm, south of Prairie City.

Gurgles and pops from an electric coffeemaker could be heard throughout the day, as a fresh pot of Folgers was always ready to go in case the Prairie City farmer needed a quick jolt before he headed back to the fields. Like every child, Carroll’s young relatives would watch him sipping a cup of Joe, curious what this mysterious, brown liquid tastes like.

But no one could have ever guessed one of those kids would turn this curiosity into a lifelong passion.

“I just wanted to try it, and I probably didn’t like it,” Prairie City native, Brian Gumm said. “It would be similar to church coffee in the Midwest. You know, stereotypically, a super watered down, very bland kind of thing.”

About 28 years later, the PCM graduate now spends much of his time roasting beans, tasting java from across the world and creating his own unique blends. After setting up base in Tama, Gumm is now sharing his love for coffee with Prairie City by the cup at Goldie’s Ice Cream Shoppe.

“I wanted to try to support (Gumm) as much as I could. I don’t use a ton of coffee at Goldie’s, but hopefully, it will be enough to make it worthwhile for him,” Brad Magg, owner of the Prairie City staple said. “If you have a chance to support someone local, that is what you do.”

In 2015, the coffee enthusiast started Ross Street Roasting Company in his wife’s hometown of Tama-Toledo. What began as a hobby introduced by two of Gumm’s college mentors in Virginia, the Toledo resident developed a craft for home roasting coffee in the garage of his residence on Ross Street.

“I went to the Shopko in Tama-Toledo and bought a $20 popcorn popper and took a quarter cup of green coffee beans. When I did that, even with a really crude roasting machine, like a popcorn popper, I was getting coffee that just tasted really, really good,” the roast master said. “I started giving them away as Christmas gifts, and (the recipients) were like, ‘Wow, this is wonderful.’ So I just kept on doing it.”

In the business’s two-and-a-half years, the Prairie City hometowner’s coffee found its way to homes across Iowa, as it is now offered at New Pioneer Food Co-op Stores in Cedar Rapids, Coralville and Iowa City; Hy-Vee Stores in Ankeny, Indianola and Marshalltown; and Toledo’s local Fareway. The java-meister said coffee addicts outside state lines have also taken a liking to Gumm’s product, as the company takes online orders and ships it anywhere in the United States.

In addition to Goldie’s, Gumm’s home roasted brews are also served in Cedar Rapids’ Brewhemia, a partner of the business, and Algona’s The Chocolate Season.

The one-man operation also partnered with the self-proclaimed greatest store in the universe, Raygun, to create a unique light-roast blend to be sold alongside the Iowa-based company’s trendy merchandise.

“Raygun already makes these ‘Mug Life’ cups. (Raygun) already sells coffee mugs, let’s put coffee right next to it,” Gumm said. “When we were talking about what we were going to call it, and how we were going to brand it, (Raygun) wanted to use Gary (a cat regularly used on their graphics). I said, ‘Yeah, totally.’”

Although the “Meow That’s What I Call Light Roast!” blend may be popular to young coffee enthusiasts, the roast master said any coffee drinker will appreciate its medium roast, named after a Tama favorite that used to operate at the current location of his production facility.

“I named our first blend after (Tama resident) Jack’s old store. He is not a coffee drinker, but he took 10 bags of coffee with him to Texas to give to his friends,” Gumm said. “I designed this one to be the coffee drinker’s coffee. I wanted it to taste what most Midwestern coffee drinkers would be used to, especially older ones.”

The popular “Jack’s Feed Store” blend was awarded Best Coffee in the 2017 Coffee & Donut Festival in Des Moines. This roast and Gumm’s decaf Mexico select, single origin coffee are the brews that are now served at the Prairie City eatery.

“Prairie City is still a very important part of who I am and where I come from. I spent my first 18 years there,” the 38-year-old said. “My first job ever was at the grocery store in Prairie City ... to serve my coffee in my hometown, that was important.”

The Prairie City native said he is just glad the people who he grew up with, from his family members to his teachers, will soon be able to try his meticulously roasted coffee with one of Goldie’s famous tenderloins.

“All of us here in Jasper County are great about supporting our own, near and a far,” Magg said. “Feel free to stop by and order a cup of coffee, and we will be ordering more beans.”

To order individual packages of coffee online or set up a coffee subscription, visit rossstreetroasting.com.

For more information about the company, call 641-481-1980, visit the production facility at 202 Harmon in Tama Fridays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. or find Ross Street Roasting Company on Facebook.

Contact Anthony Victor Reyes at areyes@myprairiecitynews.com