Today we’d like to introduce you to Ryan Turnage.
Ryan, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
About two years ago, our business partners, James and Nicole Howard, were experimenting in their garage with the concept of barrel aging coffee. The beans sit in recently dumped bourbon barrels from various distilleries for a length of time and are then roasted in small batches. Once they identified a process that yielded a smooth, subtle bourbon flavor yet didn’t overpower the coffee, they had to share it. They offered sample cups and sold the coffee by the bag in their local décor a shop in downtown Ball Ground, GA, as well as the Canton Farmer’s Market.
In May 2018, my wife, Katie, and I visited their store one day as customers. I tried the coffee, bought a bag and immediately began talking to James about the idea of opening a local coffee shop. Both couples had been trying to find the right partners, location and business model to be successful in Ball Ground. During a dinner meeting, we were discussing the timeline of when to open and agreed to wait until 2019. As we finished our meeting, we looked across the street and saw our desired location being shown off to another potential tenant. We knew we had to make a move so we walked across the street, introduced ourselves to the landlord and signed the lease. The historic building needed much work before we could do our buildout so we knew we had some time to plan and spread the word that a coffee shop was finally coming to Ball Ground.
Six months later, we opened our doors for the first time serving drip brew coffee, pour overs, French Presses, loose-leaf teas and hot chocolate. In three short months, we upgraded our offering to espresso-based drinks and created our very own espresso blend consisting of Ethiopian, Brazilian, Colombian and Robusta beans all aged in bourbon barrels.
We understand barrel-aged coffee isn’t for everyone, so we also offer any of our drinks in a non-barrel aged option. All of our coffees are carefully selected by our production manager and only specialty grade beans are used. We sell our coffee by the bag in whole bean and ground options, as well as Roast To Order online.
Just recently, we partnered with Paula’s Zzerts (zee-zerts) to offer an array of freshly made cinnamon rolls, muffins, scones and much more.
Come watch us roast coffee, listen to some blues and enjoy a smooth cup of barrel-aged coffee. We are located next to Perched across the street from the Burger Bus and Frankfurt’s Doner and Meats. We are growing quickly and we’re excited to see the town expanding. Ball Ground is our home and we are honored to be a deep-rooted part of this community.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
We struggled with forecasting demand early on because there hasn’t been anything like this that we’ve seen. Also, Ball Ground has not had a full-service coffee shop in recent history so we were unsure what the reaction would be from our community. We were blown away with how well the town responded to our operation and we found ourselves running out of certain types of coffee. After one year of operating, we are still chasing that demand as we continue to grow month over month. Now, are issue as it relates to supply and demand is production space and roaster capacity. Growing pains are a natural step with any successful business and we are grateful to have these issues to overcome.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
We specialize in barrel aging and roasting small-batch coffee. We travel to distilleries and cooperages in the southeast region to purchase freshly dumped whiskey and bourbon barrels.
We are most proud of the fact that every aspect of our business, to include the tables our customers sit at, we built by hand. This entire establishment has been a labor of love and we are proud of every detail. As we grow, we look for ways to incorporate other local businesses that pertain to our arising needs.
Our entire business model sets us apart from others. There are several companies doing barrel-aged coffee in the United States and abroad, but none are offering their product in their own coffee shop direct to consumers. We priced our bags low enough to be considered an everyday choice for the consumer while still maintaining a profit margin that allows us to grow organically at a manageable rate.
What were you like growing up?
I was always outside as a kid. I began playing baseball at four years old and played until I was 16. I built forts, skateboarded, rollerbladed, bicycled, played cops and robbers with my friends, camped in the backyard or the woods near our house. If it allowed me to be outside, I was doing it.
After my baseball career came to a sudden halt due to an arm injury, I found myself looking for a purpose. I graduated high school without a plan and was bouncing from job to job without a direction. One day I decided to follow my instinct and I called the Marine recruiter who chased me down throughout high school trying to get me to enlist. My grandfather was an active duty Marine for 23 years and my other grandfather was in the Navy. I heard the way they spoke and saw the way they carried themselves so I figured it couldn’t be a bad decision. I enlisted in the Marines and shipped off to Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, S.C. September 2006.
I found my purpose, for the time being, and was incredibly excited for the future. I was fortunate enough to deploy in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2009 and returned safely nine months later. During my welcome home party, I met my wife Katie. Three years later we were married and the rest is history.
Pricing:
- Barrel Aged 1/2lb bag – $15 (ground or whole bean)
- Barrel Aged 1lb bag – $30 (ground or whole bean)
- Non Barrel Aged 1/2lb bag – $12 (ground or whole bean)
- Non Barrel Aged 1lb bag – $12 (ground or whole bean)
- 12oz Latte – $3.75
- 20oz Latte – $4.70
- 12oz Latte with flavor – $4.25
- 20oz Latte with flavor – $5.25
Contact Info:
- Address: 275 Gilmer Ferry Rd Suite 5
Ball Ground, GA 30107 - Website: www.BarrelHouseCoffeeCo.com
- Phone: 678-454-0103
- Email: BarrelHouseCoffeeCo@gmail.com
- Instagram: @BarrelHouseCoffeeCo
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/barrelhousecoffeeco/
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