Coffee — love it or hate it — has become a cultural phenomenon.
From the season treats like the ever popular pumpkin spice latte to the simple pleasure of a plain back cup of “Joe,” it is available anywhere.
Weatherford is no exception. Fast food like places McDonald’s have hot and iced flavored lattes as well as regular coffee available all day. Late-night diners like Jerry’s offer drip coffee by the pot with specialty coffee drinks on the way.
Weatherford residents also have local shops such as The Cup, Rx Brew and White Buffalo Coffee Bar, which is expected to open late this year. Corporate giant Starbucks also will be opening later this year.
Many find a much-needed boost of energy from the drink or just enjoy the sweetness of a latte. However, for some, it sparks a passion to find the best beans and the best techniques to create the best cup of coffee.
Some even turn this passion into a career. Weatherford graduate R.C. Strout discovered his passion for great coffee while attending Oklahoma State University
“Coffee was a big part of my college experience,” Strout said. “My first roommate at Stillwater was a coffee nerd — super into the techniques, processes and regions.”
While he enjoyed coffee at the time, Strout said he really got into it. As he learned more from his roommate, he got sucked into how complex the culture was.
Now, Stout and two friends are in the process of opening Air Park Coffee in the Wheeler District of Oklahoma City. The up-and-coming community is built along an old runway in the former air park.
“We thought it would be a perfect place for a coffee shop, and it all just fell into place — the time, the place and the branding,” Strout said.
Strout’s shop is one of many independent coffee shops opening in recent years. He said there is two reasons for this: the small shops offer a sense of community and a place to relax as well as a focus on excellence and art in coffee.
Strout said he would go to Rx Brew when he lived in Weatherford. It would be filled with students doing homework, people visiting and even some conducting business.
“Coffee shops become a place where the community comes together and become one,” Strout said. “They are almost the conduit for the community. That’s what makes it special.”
But the best coffee shops combine community and great coffee. Great coffee comes from great coffee beans roasted to perfection.
Keaton Ketchum, a former Custer County resident and coffee enthusiast, knows about great coffee beans.
Ketchum works at a prestigious coffee roasting company in Wake Forest, North Carolina. The company takes dried, green coffee beans brought in from around the world, roasts them, packages them and fulfills orders from coffee shops and online customers.
While Ketchum’s job does not involve roasting the beans he has learned a lot while working at the country.
He said his passion for coffee began in 2013 when he and his wife visited a specialty coffee company named Hoboken Coffee Roasters in Guthrie.
“Black coffee tasted different. It wasn’t just bitter, dark and uninteresting,” Ketchum said. “Instead, you could taste some distinct fruity and floral flavors and even some sweetness.”
These flavors come from the minerals in the ground where the beans were grown. Expert roasters are able adjus the heat, air exposure and time roasting to bring out the oil and flavor in the coffee beans themselves.
While this may seem time consuming, Ketchum said a single 10-pound batch takes about 12 minutes at his company.
His interest in specialty coffee continued after moving to Wake Forest. Ketchum said he needed coffee because of intense post-graduate work and wanted it to taste good.
Ketchum also was drawn in by the chemistry involved with the process. He graduated from SWOSU with a minor in chemistry, a subject he really enjoyed. Specialty coffee allows his to experiment with different variables and create something different.
“It really is an art and a science at the same time,” Ketchum said.