The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
‘GOOD COFFEE IS A LIFESTYLE’
Krafted Brew Lab serves aromatic custom blends
BANTAM — The hearty scent of freshly brewed coffee permeates the Krafted Brew Lab, a cozy, 700-square-foot space located off Route 202 in Bantam on the right side of the Sportsman’s Building. On a cold winter morning, it’s a welcome aroma.
One of the owners, Jason Wallengren, works the brew machine taking care of customers, while his wife, Kim Landry, a former champion Berkshire League cross-country runner at Litchfield High School, is in the back of the store doing paperwork and marketing.
The couple launched their shop in August 2020. It wasn’t an especially easy time to open a business with the COVID-19 pandemic, but it has gone well, the owners said. The shop has attracted a strong following, which continues to grow, all drawn to the quality and very different tasting blends that Wallengren and his wife serve up. The shop has a few chairs inside, and during the warm weather there is an outside sitting area.
Krafted Brew Lab appeals to those who have a taste for coffee beyond what the chain stores and convenience stores offer, the couple said.
“We have been found by people from New York City who are used to getting their coffee from small shops like ours,” said Jason Wallengren.
He sources his beans from both a large supplier and a smaller one, which gives him the flexibility to sample beans from around the world.
“Each bean has a different flavor depending upon where it is grown and that is what makes our coffee attractive to people who enjoy that difference,” Wallengren said.
Wallengren loves experimenting with various coffee beans, hence the name “Lab,” which denotes exactly what he is doing as he strives to find new brews that will entice and please the taste buds of his customers All the beans he uses, he said, are grown organically and generally brewed “medium” to capture the “apex” of the bean’s flavor, whether it be a bit of chocolate, raspberry, peach or other tasty tinges to the deep richness of the brew, he said.
According to Krafted Brew’s website, single-origin coffee is coffee grown within a single known geographic origin, meaning a single farm. The name of the coffee earns
its name, usually, from the place it was grown. There are no real rules or governing body enforcing the labeling of coffee, and a single-origin coffee can be coffee entirely from one farm, coffee from multiple farms in the same general area, or coffee from multiple farms in the same country, according to Wallengren.
“At KBL we offer a rotating single-origin bean that can be ordered for any specific coffee drink you choose, whether it be fresh roasted specialty coffee beans (whole bean or ground), espresso and coffee drinks,” he said.
Krafted Brew also carries a small menu of baked goods and a curated selection of locally made, hand-crafted items.
“We plan to have our beans in the surrounding community as well — stores, cafes, shops and restaurants,” Wallengren said. “This will take a little time though, so in the beginning our beans will always be available at our mercantile retail shop in Bantam.”
The couple’s business in Bantam came about rather circuitously. The pair moved to Europe for Landry’s job with Adidas about 10 years ago, settling in southern Germany. Not only did living in southern Germany expose them to one of the best beer cultures in the world, they said, it also exposed them to the social influence of sitting and having a hand-crafted espresso or coffee.
An accomplished artist who has shown his works in various venues around Litchfield County and beyond, Wallengren opened a studio in Germany, making art and showing his work in galleries. He said the daily ritual of cultivating ideas in a free and open space became the inspiration for Krafted Brew Lab. He imagined himself opening the studio during the day where other artists and creative people could “pop-in for a hand-crafted espresso, chat about art and comingle,” he said.
The couple said they approach their travels as a way to absorb and learn as much as possible about the locations they are visiting. The people and cultures they visited left lasting impressions.
They moved back to the states several years ago with their first child, and welcomed a second child after their return.
“It was time to come back home now that we had a family, to be around family and former
“Good coffee is a lifestyle for many people, and we wanted to bring that to the area. A bean is as beautiful as a grape that wine is made from and as varied. We love having conversations with our customers and educating them on what it is that we are doing and what coffee they can drink.”
Kim Landry, Krafted Brew Lab
friends and acquaintances and where we would feel comfortable and pursue our careers,” Landry said. She worked for Adidas for a year in New York City before joining her husband in the business, and raising their two children.
She views Krafted Brew Lab as a lifestyle choice for her customers.
“Good coffee is a lifestyle for many people, and we wanted to bring that to the area,” she said. “A bean is as beautiful as a grape that wine is made from and as varied. We love having conversations with our customers and educating them on what it is that we are doing and what coffee they can drink.”
The most popular brew at the shop is “Bantam Blend,” of course. The price of a fairly large cup of coffee is reasonable, priced above the chain stores but below Starbucks, according to Landry and Wallengren.
Visit www.kraftedbrewlab.com to learn more.