Jumpin' Goat Coffee Roasters: A Passion to a Paycheck

Not many coffee shops would proudly display a mason jar full of burnt coffee beans, but Jumpin Goat Coffee Roasters is no ordinary coffee shop. The small shop just outside Helen, Georgia, is the physical manifestation of the passion of its owner Forrest Graves. Graves proudly tells the story of how his journey from home coffee bean roaster to professional global entrepreneur started with that jar of burnt beans, and why he holds on to it.

"Someone actually came in the store one day and offered me $600 for the jar," he says. "But it's part of my right of passage."

It's been a journey Graves didn't initially know he was on.

In 1997, Graves, an executive with Hewlett-Packard, pulled down a six-figure sales salary, comfortably supporting his family of four in the quiet enclave of Cleveland, Georgia.

After a long day of sales and a sizeable commute from his office in Atlanta, Graves relaxed by roasting his own coffee beans. Laying the green gems out on trays in his residential oven, Graves experimented with what he refers to as "the art and science" of coffee roasting.

Success did not come easily, as evidenced by that $600 worth of burnt beans, but it did come. Eventually, his friends were asking for Graves' home roasted coffee.

Graves' passion for the caffeine-laden beverage grew beyond the function of roasting beans and eventually led him to study every aspect of the process. He investigated the origins of the beans and how geographical location influences the resulting product. He also examined how temperature and time affect the beans, as well as the variances in acidity created by different crops.

Many coffee drinkers profess that a dark roast coffee provides a stronger caffeine charge, not so says Graves.

"The roasting process actually diminishes the potency of the caffeine in the bean," he says. "It is the lighter roast beans that produce a cup of coffee high in caffeine."

Graves became not only a proficient home roaster; he was now a self-educated coffee connoisseur.

Until, on December 26, 2008, the then 46-year old made that hour-long drive from Atlanta for the final time. The computer giant cut its workforce, and Graves' position had been axed.

"With a wife and two daughters to support, I needed a job. I sent out resumes, followed the normal channels, but there were no offers," Graves says.

Meanwhile, he continued to roast beans for himself, family, and friends. With little savings and no viable employment opportunities, Graves and his wife Debbie decided to get creative.

"Coffee was my passion," he says. "And, it was already a multi-million dollar business." He started devoting himself full-time to the roasting process and developing a practical business plan.

"I knew I did not want to open just a coffee shop," Graves says. "I knew my business had to be reproducible and sustainable. When you sell cups of coffee, people walk out with a cup, and the transaction is over. I decided to give away cups of coffee for free to promote the sale of the beans. People will continue to buy the beans and you've got a recurring customer base that is not dependent on foot traffic."

Graves soon realized that a business capable of supporting his family could not rely on oven-roasted coffee beans. His search for a commercial roaster ended nearly as quickly as it began.

Waiting in a local coffee house for his order, Graves overheard two employees discussing their trials with a new roaster. Sensing an opportunity, Graves immediately inquired as to the fate of the old roaster.

The discarded machine had caught fire and lay in the rear of the store awaiting a listing on eBay. He purchased it, as-is, on the spot. Returning home with the charred machine, Graves meticulously dismantled it, cleaning each element, and returned it to its former glory.

Naming his company from the legend that Ethiopian goats initially discovered the stimulant powers of eating coffee cherries, Forest Graves christened Jumpin' Goat Coffee Roasters and formally went into business.

His first employees: his wife, daughters, mother, her fiancé, a brother, and a sister-in-law, all of whom agreed to work for coffee.

"They were happy to help us out," Graves says. "And I'm grateful for the time together with family."

In spite of his limited financial condition, Graves committed to adhering to a high level of social and economic consciousness in his business endeavors.

"We want a quality product, so we purchase only 100% Arabica beans," he says. "We purchase from all six of the world's major coffee growing regions through Fair Trade, providing the coffee growers with a sustainable income as well."

Graves is also mindful of environmental issues involving his production facilities. The company seeks to manufacture its beans with the smallest carbon footprint possible. They recycle as much as they can, including broken beans and burlap bags.

The Graveses have spurned automation of their facility, continuing to roast each batch of beans by hand in an expanded facility in Cleveland. While the company now has paid employees, a family member continues to personally attend to every detail of the process.

The company opened its first shop just outside the German-influenced village of Helen, Georgia, less than 10 miles from Cleveland. There it sells an extensive variety of its whole bean and ground coffees, as well as coffee paraphernalia, including French presses, grinders, and coffee pots. Graves continues to give away brewed cups of coffee for free.

Harnessing the power of the Internet, Graves generates a large portion of his company's sales through his website. Returning or referred customers order from all over the globe. Jumpin' Goat also ships to soldiers in Iraq.

"We should soon exceed our goal of 500 pounds of coffee distributed to the Iraq region," Graves says. "We also expect to ship several hundred pounds locally to many of the soldiers coming home from the region."

While the Helen store continues to be the only walk-in site, franchises may be on the horizon. Graves is already sharing his hard-won knowledge through a business opportunity training program he has devised based on his own personal experiences.

"If I can succeed at this," says Graves. "So can others."