Musicians creating a buzz with new line of coffees
Frank Koren and Ed Mortenson, performers who got tired of bad joe on the road, are making their own and using the enterprise to benefit struggling artists
If you’ve ever experienced a performance by Frank Koren, you’ll know why he was booked solid right through to 2021, touring around, playing with his band, with others, like Harrison Kennedy, and doing tribute gigs — everyone from Tom Petty to Roy Orbison and Zac Brown.
Was booked solid, with “was” being the operative word.
Now? As you know, there’s no work for musicians in terms of public appearances. So, he’s taking a coffee break of sorts. A long one. But the coffee’s not really a break, it’s a business. Koren and the drummer he usually plays with, Ed Mortenson, have brewed up something called Mornin’ Buzz Coffee Co., and while you might be tempted to think that they started it as a stopgap kind of enterprise to keep them busy while the gig jar is empty, that isn’t the case at all.
They’ve been researching, preparing, working with the Hamilton Business Centre, testing, most of all tasting, for more than two years now.
In fact, earlier in the year they’d set April 2 as their launch date. Guess what happened.
More hard luck. Not only had the work dried up, they had to rethink their business plan. So, they’re using their new coffee service not only to offer a variety of flavours that has their personal stamp all over it, but also an online opportunity for a “coffee hang” (every Friday) and last, but not least, a leg up for struggling musicians and other performers.
They’ve partnered with the Unison Benevolent Fund, an organization that assists struggling musicians both financially and with health and mental health resources.
But why coffee you ask? “When we were on the road (and Koren spent a lot of time on the road), you discover a lot of really bad coffee,” Koren says with a stress on the “bad.” And both he and Mortenson have a strong passion for coffee, not unlike their passion for music. It’s about taste, harmony, power, richness.
Not what they were getting at whistlestops and on roadsides. Plus they didn’t like stops and interruptions so they took to brewing their own on the bus.
“We got a little road kit. A kettle and a french press.”
And so it began. They kept experimenting with blends, flavours, different roasts. The resulting coffee didn’t just go down easy. It “performed.” It occurred to them that they had something here.
I know a lot of people now are using their time at home to try to tailor that elusive perfect cup. Save yourself the trouble. Koren and Mortenson have it.
“We were all set to launch and then this happened,” says Koren, of the COVID-19 crisis.
Their plan was to sell at the Dundas Farmers’ Market and possibly other venues.
“But our focus has become different,” he explains.
Now, a big part of the effort will go into an online presence with a strong emphasis on public service.
A portion of every bag sold goes toward the Unison musician’s benefits fund and will be matched by Spotify, says Koren.
“We (Koren and his business partner Mortenson) are musicians so we feel the effects deeply,” he says. “I worked enough that I qualify (for government income relief) but many musicians don’t.”
As well, they’re asking patrons to nominate volunteer frontline health workers and others for free bags of coffee.
And maybe best of all, you don’t have to drink alone. Mornin’
Buzz Coffee Co. has instituted something called the online Friday “Coffee Hang,” which can extend into Saturday. It’s just as it sounds.
It’s like a giant online coffee table at which people can sit around and chat.
Right now, Mornin’ Buzz Coffee Co. is offering a light roast, called Lightheaded, a medium roast called Queen Bea and a dark called Sting. There’s also a decaf called, aptly, Buzzkill.
Musicians can always use a break, never more so than now. And here are two of them deciding that if life deals you lemons, make … coffee.
Mornin’ Buzz right now is using an outside roaster but hopes to acquire its own in time, says Koren.
For more, check out morninbuzzcoffee.buzz