How RoosRoast Coffee in Ann Arbor got its start
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) - John Roos could be described as Ann Arbor's unofficial coffee king.
He's changed the coffee landscape in the competitive college town for nearly two decades.
In a city saturated with cafes and roasteries, Roos has cultivated a loyal following of students and "townies."
His story is anything but conventional.
His love for coffee began when the Ann Arbor native moved to Portland, Oregon, in the 1990s.
"Everyone was drinking coffee and drinking, like microbrew beer, and I was like super into it," said Roos. "I ended up living there for about 10 years, and during that time, I went to a lot of coffee shops, writing journals in coffee shops. And I came back to Ann Arbor, and I kind of wanted to open a coffee roasting business, and everyone was like, 'You're crazy. That's ridiculous.' And I ended up doing it, and it was just like I started roasting in a garage."
The garage would end up being a pivotal part of his story.
After moving back to Ann Arbor, he got a job working at a local car dealership.
Whenever he would make a sale, he would give his customers a complimentary bag of his beans.
As time went on, Roos offered coffee classes and became a vendor at the Ann Arbor Farmers Market.
After selling at the market for a couple of seasons, he was told he had to call the Department of Agriculture to become an approved vendor.
After putting it off for some time, he finally got around the calling one Friday afternoon, with his car loaded with coffee ready for Saturday's market.
"I talked to this woman there, Beth, and she was like, 'Where are you roasting your coffee?' and I was like, 'In my garage.' And she's like, 'You're roasting in a garage?' and I was like, 'Yeah.' And she goes, 'You're shut down.'" shared Roos.
Determined to continue selling his beans, Roos found a location on Rosewood Street in south Ann Arbor where another coffee business had a roasting operation.
"I made a deal to roast my coffee at their place, so then history just goes from there that we took over the whole place and became RoosRoast," he said.
Roos said growing up in a bustling college town like Ann Arbor taught him the basics of business.
"I'd gone to all the art fairs and the football games as a kid," he said. "And I saw this sort of entrepreneurial spirit of just like people come and sell them stuff, just treat them right."
Roos opened his first cafe in 2008 at the roastery on Rosewood, and in 2016, he opened a café in downtown Ann Arbor on East Liberty Street, blocks away from the University of Michigan's campus.
When it came to naming his blends, Roos said he took the approach of running a restaurant.
"You have your soup your salad, your meat, your vegetarian things," he said. "So, I named coffee names that people could remember. So, 'Lobster (Butter Love)' was the medium roast, and then we had the 'Rich French Neighbor.' This was based on my time in France, and that's a little darker roast. And then 'Portland in the 90s,' was like, in Portland in the 90s, people were roasting dark roasts. That is a dark roast. 'Lobster Butter Love,' 'Mother Pheasant Plucker.' It's got the same iambic pentameter. It's kind of funny."
Roos said the most fulfilling part of his work is having created a space where people can feel comfortable to come and enjoy a quality coffee every time.
"It may be weird, it may be funny, it may be none of those things, but it's going to be a good cup of coffee at the end with someone who really knows what they're doing," he said.
RoosRoast's two cafes are at 1155 Rosewood and 117 E. Liberty Streets in Ann Arbor.