Welcome to the last episode in the “Thinking Differently” series brought to you by Ground Control!
We are ending on an amazing episode this week as we are going to be talking with the amazing, James Combs of Combs’ Coffee in Corinth, Texas!
James Combs founded Combs‘ Coffee in 2013 by visiting East Africa on a sourcing mission with a friend that he met while working in the finance industry. He fell in love with tea and coffee while visiting the birthplace of coffee and seeing how incredibly difficult it is to produce. Upon the arrival of the first shipment of coffee James began roasting coffee with arguable the worlds smallest solar powered coffee roasting operation at his house in Corinth, Texas. Fast forward 8 years and James is now operating the worlds largest solar powered coffee roasting operation with a 30 KW solar array and 3 commercial machines housed within a 100+ year old Coca Cola bottling facility. He currently imports tea & cacao as well as offers local wine and craft beer. James is also a Q-Grader, COE judge, and certified Wine Taster.
In our conversation with James we are going to be covering a lot of ground as we explore his tenacious pursuit of building a highly sustainable and quality focused coffee business that also gives back to his local and global community. Fittingly, James has a boundless energy to offer all the current and future projects at Combs’ Coffee. Whether we are talking about building a hydro battery, the virtues of mason jars for whole bean coffee, or creating platforms for other businesses to thrive and be sustainable, Combs’ Coffee is anything but your typical coffee company, they are the epitome of thinking differently!
We cover:
- Discovering coffee and tea
- Pusuing Q grader
- His radical commitment to sustainability
- Scaling sustainable values
- First impressions of the industry and early challenges
- Learning roasting and embracing challenges
- Creating structures and project to serve the community
- Building a legacy
- Running sustainable cafes
- Upcycling, recycling, eliminating waste
- Amazing future plans
- Facilitating opportunities for others
Be sure to check out the bonus content only available on www.groundcontrol.coffee/ktts as we continue the conversation with James and talk about:
- How do we start out pursuing sustainability on our business?
- Doing more with less
- Embracing the hard way
- Being consistent with your business path
- Hopes for the future of coffee
Links:
https://combscoffeeorigins.com
Related Episodes:
Special! “Thinking Differently” Series | Filipino Coffee w/ Ron Dizon of Teofilo Coffee!
Special! “Thinking Differently” Series | 1% Better w/ Paul Magda of Pause Coffee House
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