John Roos pours out some freshly roasted beans outside his shop at 1155 Rosewood Street in Ann Arbor, MI. (photo credit: moofbong)
Michael’s friend John Roos – chef, artist, and coffee roaster – is now the coffee supplier for the restaurant! What makes John tick? We’ll give you a hint: It’s not just caffeine. How about reading Malcolm Gladwell, delivering coffee via trailer-hitched bicycles, and “Lobster Butter Love” for starters? Here, he’ll explain.
Q. How do you take your coffee?
A. I take my coffee black. Milk is nasty in coffee but If my customer wants cream I’m OK with that. I like all kinds of preparation. But my favorite is a long pull espresso from my La Marzocco GB-5.
Q: If you could be a particular roast, what would it be?
A: I would be a roast that matched the coffee in the roaster. Every coffee has a different roast that works well the same way spices work in. I know a Peru that is very sweet as a light roast and if you go too dark it gets bitter. I also know a Sumatra, and a Guatemalan who are incredible as a fully realized roast and so on…
Q: How did you get started in the coffee business?
A: I have been drinking coffee since I was 8 years old. I started in the world of restaurants at 15 and never looked back. In 1990 I was contacted by Michael Schwartz to work with him at a restaurant he was opening in Vail Colorado called Lostello. We worked on another restaurant together and I had the chance to work at Nemo back in the day. I traveled, cooked, did art and wrote for many years all fueled by coffee always in search of a great cup. In 2002 on a bicycle ride with my friend Chris Donnelly I was talking about starting a coffee roasting company, and he said you should call it RoosRoast and that was the start!
