Today we’d like to introduce you to Connan Moody.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
As someone who grew up in Atlanta, it has always held a really important place in my heart. Growing up we were always around coffee, and at a really young age we were introduced to it through ‘coffee milk’. Although my coffee story really starts with me moving up to NYC to pursue a degree in design. I attended Pratt Institute of Art & Design in Brooklyn for both communications design and industrial design. During my exploration of the corporate design world, I found that it was not a style of work that suited me well. So I gave my go at doing freelance design and took on a part-time job making sandwiches at Freehold Brooklyn a popular cafe-restaurant-bar in Williamsburg. That treated me well for all of a month before I decided to put in a request to learn to Barista.
Freehold Brooklyn is the job that I can say with great certainty molded me into the coffee professional I am today. It wasn’t always perfect and a lot of the time it was downright hard, but it taught me to think on my feet and solve problems in a way that didn’t necessarily follow paths that had already been forged. As mentioned before, starting as a sandwich maker I worked my way all the way through to becoming the general manager of the coffee shop. The owners were and are very much first adopters and trendsetters. So whenever a new product, trend, brew method or other funky thing came out, there was a certain amount of duty to research and assess the feasibility of its application in the cafe setting.
Through Freehold I was introduced to the crew at Stumptown Coffee Roasters, who introduced me to the more academic and artful side of coffee. I have gone through training with a couple different companies, the most notable in the Atlanta being the Counter Culture crew. Through looking into various training methods and teaching styles, I was able to piece together my views on coffee, which admittedly are in constant fluctuation. Although in coffee certain things are universal, it has always fascinated me where instructors/trainers place their focus. Some teach taste and texture first and then quantify that with data, others will introduce it in the opposite.
The other highly influential place I had the great pleasure of working at was Merriweather Coffee + Kitchen. An Aussie cafe in the west village serving Counter Culture and other phenomenal guest roasters. This was a much smaller operation than Freehold with a lot fewer moving parts but it was an intensely high volume shop that really put its staff to the test with what seemed like million people rolling through each day. Although I love the energy of a good rush, the real reason that I hold Merriweather in such high regard is due to Peter Godhard (the owner). As an owner, he had trust in his staff and valued their opinions and expertise. He also took the time to become a barista before owning a shop even though his career started in law.
The creative spark and unique ingredients I try and bring to our menu can be attributed to a couple things. My mother, and business partner being one of them. She has always pushed my brother and I to try new foods and taste weird combinations. We would frequent Buford Highway Farmers Market on the weekends growing up, fascinated by all the produce and candy we had no ability to read. The other main influence I have found is events/competition. Freehold was deep into the off-site events. They always pushed to maintain a fresh presence which found me making up a lot of drinks and collaborating with other staff to find fresh takes. While my mom was the go get and try whatever, Freehold offered a strict structure to drink creation. Usually, it was “use what’s in house already” kind of feel and that created pressure to make things exciting with the mundane. The culmination of these two influences came to a front with the Stumptown Strange Brews competition in July of 2017.
Stumptown reached out to us to participate in a throwdown of sorts where competitors were to “make something with coffee”. There was anything from deconstructed tiramisu to coffee cold brewed with water made to match the salinity of the actual coffee bean. My creation and eventual winner was a Banana & Basil cold brew dubbed the B-Side. It was there that it struck me that my passion laid in coffee and sigbev creation. Shortly thereafter I made the decision to move back home to Atlanta and build my life here.
Finding a job was pretty tough at first as an outsider to the Atlanta coffee scene but eventually, I landed at Chattahoochee Coffee and worked there for roughly six months before being given an opportunity to open my own spot. Academy Coffee is still in its infancy but I will, with no doubt be working to make it a name synonymous with Atlanta coffee.
Has it been a smooth road?
By no means has it been smooth. I think that it shouldn’t be. We found ourselves looking for space to start a cold brew wholesale business from and were gifted an opportunity to create a shop at the mouth of the Eastline Beltline trail. We had no money saved, and no real plan starting out. We had to change our business name, tear down and rebuild a space with no budget and no outsourcing. We laid tile, ran plumbing, painted walls, built shelves and so much more. It was an insane idea with an insane schedule that was only accomplished due to my insane family who gave every spare hour and every spare penny in making this shop come through. We had struggles starting out, we have a few right now, and I am sure there are more to come. With everything though, we will figure it out.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
We hope that Academy Coffee is coffee at its next turn. We pride ourselves on the quality of the coffee we source. Working with various roasters around the country and world, we will be bringing new coffee to Atlanta that hasn’t likely been seen before. Past that foundation, we bring a creativity and dynamism to everything we touch. We want coffee to be loud and weird and daring in Atlanta. We are looking to strengthen the coffee community in Atlanta and present it as a viable career. One of my greatest prides so far lies in our customer interaction. We have been able to create a culture here that allows for exploration and inquisition on any level of coffee understanding. I have been engaged by people of all walks of life and talked about all sorts of topics.
Our specialty beverages are the thing that will set us apart from most others in the area. We are constantly playing with flavors and recipes that are unexpected and genuinely confusing. Things like Bay Leaf & Olive Oil, Banana & Basil, Charred Onion with Vanilla & Cinnamon. The list goes on but there will be something for everyone and if it’s not on the menu, order a Surprise Me! And we’ll craft a drink just for you.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
I think the culture for coffee in Atlanta is so new and fresh that we are going to see a large influx of shops opening. For that, I am excited. The advice I’d give for someone starting in the city is to find your reason. Put in the work to find why it is you are doing this. I think we will see greatness sprouting in a big way in the Atlanta coffee scene in the coming years. We will also see some stuff go, but that’s not always a bad thing for the greater industry. I am looking forward to seeing Atlanta gain some higher notoriety on a national scale in coffee.
Contact Info:
- Address: 660 Irwin Street NE Atlanta GA 30312
- Website: academycoffeeatl.com
- Phone: 470-380-0158
- Email: info@academycoffeeatl.com
- Instagram: @academycoffeeatl
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Bar/Academy-Coffee-ATL-1777784722306671/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/academy-coffee-atlanta-3
Image Credit:
Eugene – Atlanta Coffee Shops
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