B
The Michigan Daily | michigandaily.com | Thursday, February 18, 2016
the b-side

“The voodoo priest and all his 

powders were as nothing com-
pared to espresso, cappuccino, and 
mocha, which are stronger than 
all the religions of the world com-
bined, and perhaps stronger than 
the human soul itself.”

— Mark Helprin, “Memoir 

from Antproof Case” (1995)

Thanks be to coffee, the sweet 

life-sustaining stimulant. Wher-
ever the coffee lover falls on the 
spectrum — addict, health-freak 
or simply in it for the cat cafés 
— from cold brews to cortados, 
there is no beverage more ubiq-
uitous or more versatile. The 
cornerstone of cafés elevates 
spirits and tiramisu, enables the 
nocturnal writer, electrifies the 
early bird and even gives the 
fidgeter something to do with 
their hands on a first date.

If 
there’s 
anything 
Ann 

Arborites love more than a Zing-
erman’s sandwich or football Sat-
urdays, it’s coffee. Yet attempting 
to navigate the murky waters of 
Tree Town’s coffee culture is no 
easy feat. There’s a corporate 
chain lurking around most major 
street corners, a few hometown 
hotspots and plenty of student-
ridden dives; and then there’s 
Mighty Good Coffee, with three 
locations scattered throughout 
the city.

Thanks be to coffee, but first, 

thanks be to goats.

850 C.E.: Legend has it that 

coffee was discovered in Ethio-
pia by a goat herder named Kaldi. 
Following a berry bush snack 
break, his herd was bright-eyed 
and bushy-tailed as ever and 
he wanted in on the bliss. After 
sampling some berries, Kaldi, 
too, took a turn for the chipper. 
He then prescribed his ener-
gizing remedy to a narcoleptic 
monk who often dozed off during 
services. The monk got creative, 
brewing the berries into liquid 
form and soon swore by their 
pious properties. Word travelled 
fast, and the caffeinated creation 
quickly became a staple for the 
devout and pagan alike … and so 
it remains.

2006: Commercial photogra-

pher David Myers is searching 
for a break from his day-to-day 
life. After brainstorming a new 
career path and rekindling with a 
friend who had failed in his cof-
fee venture, Myers finally decides 
to pursue the business of beans 
and brews. He purchases all of 
his friend’s equipment and begins 
roasting part time, eventually 
constructing a small starter café 
on Main Street in 2009. They 
soon outgrow the compact cof-
feehouse and decide to relocate 
to an open space just down the 
street. Fast forward a year, and 
Mighty Good Coffee is born.

Last week I strolled into the 

eclectic café’s Main Street loca-
tion to talk all things really good 
and caffeinated with Myers. 
As current co-owner, a title he 
shares with longtime friend Jim 
Levinsohn, Myers spends most 
of his days focused on the coffee 
itself — where to buy and from 
whom. The Mighty Good philos-
ophy is simple: sourcing quality 
coffee from people they’ve met 
and farms they’ve stood on.

“The cool thing about cof-

fee is that I can talk to the per-
son who’s growing the coffee,” 
Myers said. “I can talk to the 
person who’s drinking that same 
coffee, and everyone in between. 
It’s about the chain of people 
connected in the coffee industry, 
and that’s a worldwide connec-
tion of people.”

During his most recent busi-

ness trip, Myers and a barista 
travelled to Columbia and visited 
11 farms over a few days. The duo 
toured farms by Jeep, foot and 
even horseback for an inside look 
at coffee production.

“We go walk on farms and see 

how they’re producing and what 
their coffee tastes like,” Myers 
said. “We rely on trust when we 
buy our coffee.”

All of Mighty Good’s Colum-

bian coffee is purchased from a 
partnership mill — an alliance 
between a U.S. company and a 
Columbian family — in the city 
of Hardin. According to Myers, 
the mill buys the best coffee from 
surrounding farms in the area. 

Along with the ever-popular 
Columbian brews, the café sourc-
es a majority of the beans from 
Guatemala and Sumatra.

“I spend a lot of time inter-

acting and meeting with people 
from the broader coffee commu-
nity around the U.S. and inter-
nationally because that’s what 
coffee does, and it’s more unique 
than a lot of other industries,” 
Myers said.

Two to three times per year, 

Myers attends events hosted by 
the Specialty Coffee Associa-
tion of America (SCAA) where 
he educates newbies and con-
noisseurs alike on the craft. This 
April he’s set to teach roasting 
classes at the Atlanta, Ga. con-
vention. Myers also routinely 
attends Barista Camps — events 
hosted four times per year, dur-
ing which baristas from around 
the country exchange tricks of 
the trade.

“It’s just a collection of people 

driven to improve their craft,” 
Myers said. “Everyone from 
beginners driven to open coffee 
shops, or those sent by their com-
panies.”

Along with fostering national 

and international relationships 
within the coffee community, 
the café also maintains a focus on 
local involvement. Mighty Good 
was approached by both Blank 
Slate Creamery and the Ann 
Arbor Distillery, which are now 
its current collaborators — their 
brew gives Blank Slate’s coffee 
ice cream its essential flavor and 
their cold brew is crucial to the 
distillery’s coffee liqueur. Special 
collaborations within the city are 
Myers’s preferred projects.

“We focus on what we do and 

the law of attraction seems to 
work in our favor,” Myers said. 
“You can get a great cup of cof-
fee in a lot of places in Ann Arbor 
and a lot of places around the 
country, but it’s about what kind 
of community we build and how 
we interact with our community 
that I think really drives what we 
are about.” 

THE COFFEE ISSUE

By Caroline Filips 
 

Senior Arts Editor

See COFFEE, Page 2B
MAZIE HYNES/Daily

