On today’s episode, we’re joined by Glen Turchin from Otus Coffee Company out of Orlando, Florida. Like so many others in the craft beverage industries, Glen’s journey began out of a passion for coffee. Otus Coffee Company is new to the market, but is already expanding business through collaborations with local bars using Otus cold brew to make cold brew cocktails.
Highlights & Takeaways
Starbucks > Maxwell House instant coffee
Mill City Roasters >Whirley Pop Stovetop Roaster
Cold brew recipe/ratio changes based on beans
Cold Brew Avenue Stainless Cold Brew System = Simple, Easy, Efficient
What we mentioned on during this show
Episode 95 Transcript
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Brendan Hanson: Hey there, thanks for tuning in to another episode of the Drips and Draughts podcast. We’ve got a good episode for you today as we’re joined by Glen Turchin from Otus coffee company out of Florida. Like many of the other guests we’ve had on the show, Glenn fell in love with cold brew and decided to start a coffee company. What’s different, is he also started roasting. He’s invested in a roaster and he’s doing it all from start to finish.
It’s really just a great story of following your passion. While I’m thinking of it, if you’re looking for links and show notes from this episode you can find those by going to www.dripsanddraughts.com/95. Another thing I want to mention before we get into the show, we’ve got a stack of new cold brew Avenue T-shirts that we’re going to be giving away.
If you want to win one, it’s easy. Just hop onto our website www.dripsanddraughts.com, click on the “ask a question” button, and record a question for us right from your web browser.
If you don’t want to do it online, you can just call into our 888 number that’s 888-620-2739 extension 6. Call us up, ask a question. If we select it and play it on the show, we’ll send you a free T-shirt. Easy as that. All right, let’s get into today’s show with Glen Turchin from Otus coffee.
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All right. Today I’m joined by Glenn Turchin from Odis coffee company out of Orlando, Florida. Glenn, it probably would have made sense for me to check the pronunciation of your last name before I said that but–[laughs]
Glen Turchin: No worries, Turchin. A lot of people say Churchin like C-H but it’s just like it is, Turchin, T-U-R-C-H-I-N but close enough.
Brendan: Well, cool. Mind giving us a quick background on yourself and how you got into coffee?
Glen: Sure. I am right now running Otus coffee company. We are a very young company. We launched in August of last year. Picking up steam here quick. How I got in the coffee really might be like most people. End of high school, early college, it was one of those things that you went to get things done. I also worked for a production company who had the Maxwell House and the pre ground bags, and just dumped it in the drip coffee maker and it just go down without thinking about it.
I really started drinking coffee that way then like also probably many people, I was introduced to Starbucks and realized that coffee can taste a little better than what Maxwell House tasted like. Started drinking that and then I actually bought a espresso machine after that, which really got me into it. About 2014, cold brew was introduced and I just really, really enjoyed cold brew.
I had a little friends fest, started making cold brew with Starbucks beans and really enjoyed that. I started sharing it around and ever since then I’ve just never looked back especially with cold brew.
Brendan: It’s a deep rabbit hole you can get into it with coffee and cold brew especially.
Glen: Yes, no doubt. I think the moment that I really started to love coffee was when I switched from Starbucks beans to actual local craft coffee beans. I was actually in the Atlanta area at the time, and they have a bunch of great coffee shops. I grabbed a bag from a place called Thousand Hills Coffee up there. Didn’t really know what craft coffee was at the time, at least, compared to Starbucks. I threw that in my cold brew kit or my French press, and that changed everything.
Brendan: You found a specialty roaster and it’s been just history from there?
Glen: Yes. I really enjoy it cold, I just love it.
Brendan: Nice. You obviously cold brew, but I think you mentioned that you roast as well. Is that right?
Glen: Yes. I actually started off with a whirley pop about a year ago. I don’t know if you’re aware of what a whirley pop is, it’s not as nice as your gene cafe that you guys have. It’s literally a popcorn popper. Street Marie is actually the place I got it from. They source green coffee and they sell a kit that comes with this popcorn popper. You throw on top of your stove, and you just get it to the right temperature. At least, what you think is the right temperature. You dump in eight ounces of beans and you just spin the dial for a good 8 to 12 minutes.
Brendan: I have seen those.
Glen: I started on that and actually learned a lot about coffee through roasting that way. Did actually come out with a couple good batches, a lot of bad batches, not really much you can do with it. Then I decided I really wanted to get into this and launched Otus but we bought a Mill City gas roaster and it’s a 1K. Going from a whirley pop to a mill city 1K is like going from a Honda Civic to a Maserati.
Brendan: Big change.
Glen: Yes, it’s a really big change but I love it. It’s an awesome machine if anyone’s looking to get into really roasting on a machine that can translate into the bigger roasters at a really great price. Really happy with it, and learning a lot.
Brendan: Nice. We haven’t talked too much about roasters on the show, could you tell us a little bit about that Mill City 1K unit. What’s 1K mean? Is that the B2U or the volume that it does, or is that just maybe their model name for it?
Glen: The 1K is actually the size. A batch size on a 1K is about 2.2 pounds. Most roasters they’ll say they’re a 1K, but you can only put in about 80% capacity. Mill City builds their machines to actually roast at capacity. I’m roasting 2.2 pounds normally at a time, which is really great because going from eight ounces of coffee and something you had to spin the whole time, it really is an upgrade.
It’s a drum roaster, it’s a double wall drum roaster. Really the double wall just means that it retains heat much better than what a single wall would hold. It really just has burners and you throw the beans in, you have tons of variables, you have your drum speed, you have your airflow, you have your gas, you have your size of the roast you want to do, lots of variables. Really, really awesome machine and makes coffee roasting really just fun.
Brendan: Nice. All those variables, is that something that you key in prior to roasting?
Glen: No, this is all manual, this is a real roaster. There’s been a large learning curve for me on this machine but usually my drum speed’s around like a 65; you drop your beans in around about 400 degrees depending on what bean you’re roasting, of course. Then you just adjust from there.
Brendan: Awesome. Sounds cool. We were quoted at another show today about not spending too much money on coffee equipment but now you got my wheels turning. [laughs] I’m going to be looking into one of these?
Glen: It’s really a lot of fun. Again, going from a whirley pop to this has been definitely a giant learning curve. Some of the local roasters I have roasted with but when you really get your machine and get to do it, it’s really a lot of fun.
Brendan: This roaster, is it meant for home use or is it small shop/home?
Glen: It’s small shop. It’s definitely one of the smaller for a small shop. 2.2 pounds is not a lot, mostly small shops are doing 3, 4 or 5 pounds at a time at least from what I’ve seen.
Brendan: Probably overkill for most home users, I would imagine.
Glen: Yes, definitely. They do have a smaller version like a 500 gram which is half of a 1K. The range is there but I just felt like this was a good size to start with.
Brendan: Nice. Well, our next topic that I had on the list to talk about was roasting for cold brew but before we get into that I think you mentioned you had a beer that you’re going to crack into. I went and grabbed a beer that I had in there from last year at 2017 anchor brewing Merry Christmas, Happy New Year so I figured we should try to get these out of the fridge.
Glen: Nice. I think you guys tried one of those on a recent podcast?
Brendan: We did, yes.
Glen: The one I am drinking, my buddy gave me, it is the three beans and it is from Sixpoint Brewery. It is a bourbon barrel aged porter with cocoa husks and coffee added. I must say of all the coffee beers I had, it is very heavy upfront with coffee which I like, and not as sweet as most which I like as well. It’s really a nice beer.
Brendan: Nice. Any bitterness from the coffee or pretty smooth and balanced?
Glen: It’s really not. It’s actually really smooth. You definitely can taste the cocoa side of it as well but the bourbon barrel aged and I’m no brewer by any means but I have a couple buddies that brew pretty often. They always let me try stuff and I’m always giving them coffee to put in, but this is– I’m interested to know if this was a whole been thing or how they put this in here but I don’t think it says on the can but pretty awesome coffee or beer, I mean.
Brendan: [laughs] It’s taking effect on you.
Glen: Yes.
Brendan: [laughs] Well, cool. Sounds good. We’ll have to look those up and see if we can find any of those out here on the west coast.
Glen: Definitely.
Brendan: All right, moving along talking about roasting for cold brew. Obviously, so many questions and so many variables that can go into roasting coffee and then when you tie in roasting for cold brew. Is there anything in particular that you look for when you’re selecting a bean for cold brew?
Glen: The way I look at it right now is I’m trying to stick to two different types of cold brew. One is a more bold, full body cold brew maybe some chocolate notes in there. Then the other one is more of a light, more refreshing mouth-feel probably like an Ethiopia or some of the Costa Rica beans I’ve been finding. Have those brighter notes. Those are the two that I’ve been focusing on right now just to get to cold brew for Otus that we want to keep all the time, but, of course I have tried other beans from different origins that really came out with some interesting notes. Honestly from my opinion, you can cold brew anything. Any bean you can cold brew, it just depends what you’re going for.
Brendan: Yes, so many different flavor profiles depending on where you’re getting the beans from.
Glen: Right.
Brendan: Nice. When cold brewing, is there a specific roast level that you go for or does that vary bean to bean?
Glen: Early on when I was obviously using a whirley pop– I think you guys learned your lesson with the gene café, I couldn’t really go very dark without making the wife mad. I had to make sure that we kept it pulled back to more lighter roast. No further than a medium roast, so, that’s what I did early on and after that I started pulling more the darkness into the coffee. I do like it when it’s more of a, what’s called like maybe a “full city” roast. A more of a medium roast, just because I think the reaction in the bean plays out a lot better than when you pull it a bean that’s super light.
Brendan: Good to know. In roasting your own beans, would you say that you have an advantage over somebody who might just be– A lot of times we just go and buy a bunch of beans at Costco just because we need to cold brew, we need to test something. Would you say that being able to roast your own beans gives you an advantage over somebody who’s just stuck back, going out and buying beans?
Glen: Aside from skill of roasting and knowledge of roasting, I think even if you’re buying from someone who you can roast just as well as, I still think it’s great to be able to roast your own bean because I was getting some beans originally from a local roaster. Every once in a while, they would come back just slightly different. Of course that comes down to, do you have the education and knowledge of how to roast consistently? But I actually believe if you can roast yourself, you can pull a more consistent cold brew which, of course, is important.
Brendan: Right. Cool. I know I’ve enjoyed the roasting process. I think everything we’ve roasted, we’ve basically just taken home and most the time we’re making hot coffee with it. Yes, I still want to get a couple different beans and go to different levels with them and try cold brew side by side by side. With the same bean, and different roast levels on it.
Glen: Yes.I have a lot of arguments with people, friendly arguments of what pulls out the true flavor of a bean. I know how coffee does its thing with your pullovers or your French press but to me there’s nothing like trying a freshly roasted bean. Maybe 12 hours after to let it degas a little bit, and throwing that in the cold brew kit. I really enjoy that, but, everyone has their own opinion.
Brendan: I know some people say, how could you cold brew that being that’s– That’s a really great bean you should be drinking that hot, vice versa. Now with all the cold brewers out there, there’s cold brewers who are arguing that everything should be cold brewed so [laughs]. To each their own.
Glen: Yes, definitely.
Brendan: Let’s talk about cold brewing a little bit. We’re always asked questions. We’ve been cold brewing for as long as I can remember and blogging about it and we started the podcast. As much information as we share, we always get people asking some pretty common questions so I’m going to throw those at you. When you cold brew, what’s your typical ratio of water to coffee, is it the same every time or do you change it based on the bean?
Glen: Right now, I have like two different ratios that I use. One is for your cold brew kit, your five gallon kit which by the way I might need a ten gallon soon. Then the other one is my French press which is like my test, my sample size. I’ll speak for the cold brew and a five gallon kit, maybe that’ll go over a little better with the audience. What I do with the five gallon kit is I do about three pounds of coffee, of course, it depends on which bean I’m using. If you want me to get a little more specific, when I’m using a more refreshing, more brighter cold brew or fruity cold brew I usually do a little less than three pounds.
For the five gallon kit, which I think if you put in three pounds of coffee you can fit about just over four and a half gallons of water. When I’m doing the Ethiopia or the more brighter cold brew, I also do a little bit of a finer grind and I let that sit for probably four to five hours less than I would for the more chocolaty one. For the more chocolaty one, it’s pretty much the same thing. I do a little over three pounds of coffee and when I say a little, I’m talking literally like a handful more.
I usually do that a little more of course than what I do just slightly, just that I think it extracts a lot better for the more bold cold brew when it sits a little longer than when you’re doing it for the Ethiopia or the more brighter cold brew. A little more than three pounds for the chocolaty, more bold cold brew which comes out at about– Again, a little under or maybe right at four and a half gallons of water. Three pounds for about four and a half gallons of water is my sweet spot right now.
Brendan: Nice. That’s going to be like a ready-to-drink cold brew, it’s not diluted after being brewed?
Glen: I’ve tried concentrates many times, and listening to your podcast and hearing people that they really enjoy it and I totally understand that it’s cost effective. I personally have not been able to find a good concentrate to where I watered it down and it tastes the same but, again, to each their own, right?
Glen: Yes, I agree with that. It’s interesting talking with all the people I’ve talked to. I’ve talked to a few who’ve said if I take a concentrate and I add water to it, I’m getting a taste of — I’m cutting that cold brew in half so I’m losing the essence of the flavor. I’m tasting water, because there’s water in there that hasn’t sat with the coffee for the entire steeping time or maybe I’m adding a different type of water so it just gives it a different flavor altogether. That’s just such an interesting topic in terms of brewing a concentrate and then how it should then be diluted afterwards, because there’s so many variables just in the water in terms of mineral content and all that fun stuff.
Glen: Right. I’ve tried it again but I just haven’t been able to find the right– Maybe it’s the wrong ratio, maybe I’m not using the right water after the fact. Because only I’m using just regular drinking water, so it’s filtered but it’s not like– I’ve tried using distilled water that came out with a very strange mouth feel. I’ve tried a lot of different combinations but regular just filter drinking water is what comes out well for me right now. Which, of course, there’s still a lot of research going to that.
Brendan: Sure. Nice. Another cold brew process question, what’s your typical steeping time once you throw your grounds into the water?
Glen: For the more– Again, I always go back to the two. That’s just how I look at it but the more bold flavor one I sit for probably 22 hours; and then the one that’s more of the brighter Ethiopia flavor or fruity note, I go for about 18 to 19 hours. That seems to be the sweet spot, but it does have to do a lot with temperature as well. It’s been awfully cold here in Orlando.
It felt like 19 this morning, which is probably the coldest we’ve seen in seven years.
I know a lot of people right now are probably shaking their heads up north because they’re dealing with a lot worse than we are. When that happens, I find that I have to let it sit because the external temperature does make a difference on whatever you’re brewing. We find sometimes that it’s a little longer for when it’s a little chillier inside. If it’s five degrees colder from the 75 that we normally do it at, 75 degrees Fahrenheit, we’d probably let it sit for an extra hour, an hour and a half.
Brendan: Got it. You’re typically brewing ambient temperature and then just adjust based on what that temperature might be.
Glen: Exactly. My go-to, like I said, anything from 18 to 22 hours depending on the bean and what I’m going for.
Brendan: All right. Pretty common based on what we hear. Every now and then, we get those outliers to say, “Oh, I just do 10 hours.” And the occasionally guy that goes 30 plus. It’s always interesting to hear everybody’s thoughts on that process and how long they going, or why they go that long. Thanks for sharing.
Glen: Yes, and actually– Sorry, one other note on that. I did start out brewing in the fridge, which, it did come out a lot smoother, but it was taking a lot longer. I actually found also that when it’s not in the fridge, the coffee notes come out a little more than when it’s sitting in that fridge at 35 degrees Fahrenheit.
Brendan: Interesting.
Glen: I really enjoyed it that it was smoother, but I didn’t like the trade-off for, number one, the time it took; number two, taking away from some of the notes that I would normally get for being in 75 degrees or whatever it may be.
Brendan: Sure. You could almost double your brew time if you’re doing it at a fully refrigerated temperature?
Glen: Yes, I would say about time and a half. Because if you wait any longer than that, it gets chalky and I don’t want cold brew chalky. I want it to be liquid gold, as I call it.
Brendan: Exactly. Cool, well, any other interesting notes about your cold brew process you want to mention or that pretty much sum it up?
Glen: I think that’s it. Well, I think also your cold brew kit has worked, I’ve probably brewed– I’m probably going on 15 batches here soon, and that thing still works like a charm. It really does. Prior to that kit, I was using couple different pots and it was a two-step process. It was run it through a strainer first to get the fake grinds out, and then it was running it through a paper filter. Going from that to the kit that you guys have come up with, has just been night and day.
Brendan: Nice.
Glen: Thank you guys for [laughs] creating that wonderful product.
Brendan: Definitely. You’re referring to the Cold Brew Avenue, the stainless steel cold brew system.
Glen: Yes.
Brendan: With that, for people who are unfamiliar with that, it’s basically a stainless steel cold brew kettle with a stainless steel mesh filter built into it. There’s no disposable parts on it, it’s basically all self-contained . Our idea with that was to make it completely reusable, 100%. With that, do you go through any secondary filtration on your way into bottles or kegs or wherever you’re finally holding the coffee, or are you just using the system in itself to do all the filtration?
Glen: No, it’s honestly one step. I couldn’t believe it, to be honest, when I first used it. Not to sound like I’m getting paid by you guys or anything, but I’m telling you, it is fabulous to be able to running it through– I really thought there was going to be grinds in it. I really thought, once I pulled it out, that there would be something in it. Sometimes you do get them on the very, very tail end when you’re dumping out the last bit, but everything else has been fantastic coming out of it. Then all I do really is I just dump the grinds out at the end. I use dish soap to actually clean it and then I run some sanitizer through it before I brew again. It works great. It really does.
Brendan: Nice. That’s good to hear. I think you might have been one of the ones I was emailing back and forth with, just because Cary and I really haven’t done a lot in terms of trying to get testimonials for the product. I think you and I might have gone back and forth about that a little bit. I appreciate the testimonial while on the podcast. I think, I’ll have to reach out again and see if we can get one for the website. [laughs]
Glen: Yes, definitely, I’m happy to. I really am. It’s really a great product.
Brendan: Cool. Glen, you’re making cold brew now and you’ve partnered up with somebody locally who’ using your cold brew in a cocktail that they’re making and serving. Can you tell us about that?
Glen: Yes. There’s a bar in Orlando called Lil Indies. That’s L-I-L Indies. It’s a great craft coffee spot, I’m sorry, craft cocktail spot as well as craft beer. They have a lot of music a lot, it’s a really cool spot. They actually were coming out with a new menu item and decided that they were going to do a coffee cocktail. They were going to use my cold brewing, which was super exciting for Otus. We started giving them a couple of [inaudible 00:26:23] a week.
I’m honestly more of a beer guy when it comes to drinking, but this cocktail actually was really good. It’s almost like a White Russian. I don’t know if you’re a big fan of those or not. The coffee isn’t like “a punch you in the face” kind of thing. It’s more of “here is the cocktail and then there’s the finish with cold brew”. It’s a really nice cocktail. I really enjoyed it.
Brendan: Right on.You’re a beer guy, I would say that I am too. Anytime I see a cold brew cocktail, if it looks interesting and I’ll tell you what, a lot of these cocktails look extremely interesting to me. Some of the combos that you see people using and coming up with, I’ll usually give them a try if I’m out somewhere and I see something with cold brew. You’re kind of the same way with that or?
Glen: Definitely. I really like the art of cocktail making, which I’m by no means good at. Whenever I see a crazy concoction it is fun to try, especially when there’s some cold brew in it or coffee in general.
Brendan: For sure. I’ve tried to duplicate some of these at home and like you, I am a no cocktail maker by any structure of the imagination.
Glen: It’s definitely an art.
Brendan: It is. There’s a lot that goes into it. As a cold brewer, do you see teaming up with bars and restaurants and these craft cocktail lounges as a way to expand business? Do you think that’s something that a lot of cold brew companies could do to basically grow their business into probably new markets?
Glen: Yes, I really do think so. I know you guys talk a lot about the cold breweries which is really something that is a goal for us at Otus. I think, even most bars I go to now, like more of the craft bars, [clears throat] excuse me. A lot of them have a tap just for cold brew. If you’re out one night and you’re having a beer, coffee actually sounds pretty good especially a cold brew, not a hot coffee. I think it’s definitely a way of expanding business. You can sell the five customers or you can sell to one bar, and they’ll go through it just as quick. I think it definitely is a spot that we’re targeting at Otus and that other coffee companies definitely should.
Brendan: Nice. We’ve done a couple of episodes on cold brew cocktails. One of our guests talks about how he takes a cocktail idea to a restaurant or a bar and pitches them on, “Hey, why don’t you serve this on draft? You can pretty mix it into the keg and you basically just pour it” and say, “not only is it a great cold brew cocktail, it saves your bartenders tonnes of time, from 2 minutes to make a drink cut down to 15 seconds.” There’s some great selling points with it as well, I think.
Glen: There definitely is. I really think cold brew in general just has a long way to go. I know it’s been out for a long time. I forget the name of the one company who’s been doing cold brew for 20 plus years. I think they call it ice coffee. I still think even though it hit big back in 2014/’15, I still find a lot of people who have no idea what cold brew is. We share a cold brew with them and that’s kind of our fulfillment, is watching someone taking a sip of cold brew. I think you mentioned that as well with your nitro keg which I definitely want to get into. I still think it has a long way to go, I really do.
Brendan: I agree, there’s still a huge portion of the population who thinks cold brew is probably just iced coffee, and doesn’t realize that there’s a whole different process behind actually making it.
Glen: I think what we found is the hardest part really is getting people to move from hot coffee to cold coffee, especially in the morning. Being in Orlando, that might not be tough to do between March and November?
Brendan: Right.
Glen: Because it’s hot but even then, I still have people who just– Their coffee in the morning is hot, so that’s been our goal is to– How many people can we get to switch from hot coffee to cold brew.
Brendan: Yes. I think we’re seeing more and more starting to switch just because the taste, the flavor, and especially the ease of it. You can buy a six pack of cans, six pack of bottles at a lot of places now and throw them in your fridge and it’s kind of just grab and go. It makes it super easy.
Glen: Definitely. I think, also too it’s lighter on your stomach because I found a lot of people who have a real sensitive stomach when it comes to hot coffee because of all the acidity in it, when you brew with hot water. I think, people are also moving towards because it’s just easier to drink.
Brendan: Yes. Absolutely. I totally agree. I hear that pretty dang often. [laughs] I just saw a note on that cocktail that you guys did with Lil Indies, that it uses pineapple rum. Just thought I’d look back to that, what’s that like, cold brew and pineapple rum? It’s not a flavor that I would– I’d never think to use those together but I love pineapple rum by itself. I love cold brew by itself. What’s your take on that cocktail?
Glen: I will say even though the pineapple rum is in it and mixed with cold brew, you get to hand a pineapple but it’s not like a citrusy, bright pineapple. It just goes really well ’cause I think the coconut cream also covers it up. Again, not being a huge cocktail guy in the terms of knowledge on cocktails but it’s really easy to drink. If you read below, it also has, with a spice grinder you grind up coffee beans, all spice and cloves over the drink which really gives it a great presentation.
Brendan: Nice.
Glen: Yes, the flavor is great, man. It’s very smooth, it’s almost a little more milky than I would have expected.
Brendan: Interesting. Like piñacolada?
Glen: Well, I always go back to the White Russian.
Brendan: Okay. I love a White Russian. I might have to try to make one of these. I’ll post a picture if I do. [laughs]
Glen: Yes, do it.
Brendan: Cool. All right. Moving along, you’d mentioned the Orlando coffee scene and that you got some support locally and were able to bounce some ideas of some local people. You want to talk about that a little bit?
Glen: Yes. There’s been some awesome coffee shops popping up. I know the coffee industry, getting into it, it seems like it’s very– I don’t know how to explain it, it just very close-minded in the sense of people sharing ideas and collaborating. Unlike the beer industry which, I guess, you can say that’s similar in some ways. There’s a couple of shops here, Foxtail Coffee Company, they’re blowing up, I mean, they’re on their fifth shop, I think.
They started maybe a year and three months ago, but they have some awesome roasters over there who are just always willing to share knowledge and just love the coffee industry so they’re a great spot. Lineage Roasting is a place where I think the owner once said that he wants it to be the place where all the roadsters go to get coffee. He’s always traveling around sourcing beans himself.
Brendan: Oh, cool.
Glen: To just get microlots and his coffee is fantastic. There’s a bunch of other shops that are blowing up here but it’s just fun because you don’t think of Orlando as a big coffee scene. I’m excited to see that it’s not a Starbucks going up on a corner, it’s a craft coffee shop so it’s very exciting in Orlando. I’m looking forward to being a part of it.
Brendan: Nice. Yes. We actually see a lot of cold brew equipment going out into Orlando area. We send a lot of cold brew systems. A lot of people starting to do draught coffee, nitro coffee. It definitely seems like it’s an up and coming space.
Glen: Yes. It’s always hot here which it’s funny every time you talk to someone who’s from a colder climate, it’s like, “Do your sales drop in the winter?” Normally, I wouldn’t even think of that here because it really never gets this cold. It’s definitely a good scene for coffee ’cause it is hot especially in the summer time.
Brendan: Yes. Out here in Southern California, everyday is a good day for a cold brew.
Glen: Right.
Brendan: Well, cool. Before we started recording, you’d mentioned that you came from work and that you always look forward to roasting and doing stuff with the coffee. I don’t know if this is the most fitting question, but if there were no coffee, what would you be doing now? If you had your choice to do whatever you might be doing, or want to do.
Glen: Right now I’m in the payment industry in terms of I do a gift card program and B2B sales, but, if there wasn’t any coffee, I would probably be pursuing beer, because the two are so hand-in-hand. Beer, as I’ve learned is a lot different in the sense of brewing it. It is quite the task to brew a batch of beer. Every time my buddies are brewing I’m like, “Man, you guys make coffee look easy.” At least from the brewing perspective, of course roasting is different but I probably would be moving over to getting into the beer industry, honestly.
Brendan: Nice. No, I don’t see any problems with that. I love the beer industry.
Glen: Yes, I think a lot of us do.
Brendan: Well, cool man. I think that just about wraps up our notes. Anything else you want to mention before we close this out?
Glen: No, I really think that’s it. Otus Coffee Company, we just launched recently. We’re very new but we’re working on starting a cold brew delivery service, here in Orlando. I think that’s something that not many people do right now, and I figured we’ll start doing it before Amazon gets to it. Then we’re also going to be launching fresh roasted coffee here shortly, as part of our offerings online. If you’re in the Orlando area, check us out and keep drinking good coffee.
Brendan: Nice. Let me ask you real quick before we close that. Any meaning to the name Otus, or where did that come from?
Glen: Yes, Otus actually is a Greek term for a horned owl. Actually, if you see our logo it has an owl inside the O. I’ve always just had ideas and marketing perspective behind it of where I wanted Otus to go. That’s really how I got to Otus. Funny thing, I always wanted to name it something like Barn Owl coffee company or Swooping Owl coffee company. I, honestly, think Portland and Seattle took every single Owl name out there. I would literally Google Night Owl or Swooping Owl and it was Portland, Oregon. Seattle, Washington.
Brendan: I’ve got one on the East Coast that comes to mind. We’ve got a client called Snowy Owl coffee.
Glen: There you go.
Brendan: Yes, maybe they are all gone.
Glen: I think they are. That’s where Otus came from. It’s a fun name, and I think we have some cool branding coming out shortly. We’re all super excited about that.
Brendan: Nice man. Well, I appreciate you being on the show. If people want to go check you out online anywhere, is there somewhere they can go to do that?
Glen: Yes, we’re big fans of Instagram as I think you guys are as well, so it’s Otus coffee company, on Instagram. We’re on Facebook but we’re not as active on there, so Instagram’s definitely the way to go.
Brendan: Right on. All right, Glen, appreciate you joining us today. Thanks for the time.
[music]
Glen: Thanks Brendan, really appreciate it.
[music]
Brendan: If you’re looking to learn more about cold brew or draft coffee, make sure you check out, Keg Outlet’s Ultimate Guide to Cold Brew Coffee and Serving Coffee on Draft. Hey, don’t just take my word for it. Here’s Daniel Browning from the Browning Beverage Company, in Marfa, Texas.
Daniel: I got on the internet and started looking around. I found Keg Outlet’s Ultimate Guide to Cold Brewed Coffee. Read it a couple more times than I’ve read anything in my life, that was pretty much all the research I needed.
Brendan: If you’re looking to start your journey with cold brew or draft coffee, check out The Ultimate Guide to Cold Brewed Coffee and Serving Coffee on Draft. A free 34 page eBook offered at www.kegoutlet.com. You can get there through the Drips and Draughts website, by going to www.dripsanddraughts.com/ultimate guide. All right, a big thanks to Glen for joining us today.
Again, if you’re looking for links or show notes from this episode, you can find those at www.dripsanddraughts.com/95. Hey, if you’re taking the time to look for our show notes, you might want to think about leaving the show a review. Leaving a review is quick, it’s easy and it doesn’t cost you
anything. Just hop on over to iTunes, find the Drips and Draughts podcast, and leave us a review.
It will help the show out. Make sure you stay tuned for next week’s episode as we’re joined by Sara Allen, the editor of Barista Magazine. We’ve got a great interview with her as we talk about the rise of Barista Magazine. We also get into the cold brew, and how it’s quickly gone from a trend to a staple. All right, that’s going to do it for this week. One final thanks to Glen Turchin from Otus coffee company. I’m Brendan Hanson, and we’ll see you again next Friday, for another episode of the Drips & Draughts Podcast.
Mentioned in this Show
Otus Coffee Company | Instagram
Sweet Maria’s | Whirley Pop Stovetop Roaster
Mill City Roasters | Instagram
Cold Brew Avenue Stainless Cold Brew Systems | Instagram
Cover Photo for Episode: Jillian Quain
