County of shop: St. Charles County
Location of shop: O'Fallon Plaza, O'Fallon
Phone: 217.481.6244
"Brandon and Sarah Runk had only been roasting coffee at the St. Charles Farmers Market for a little while before they had a truly serendipitous meeting.
"The couple met the future owners of Farm Table Creative, who were hoping to open a collaborative art space in O'Fallon, Missouri, and quickly got to talking about their shared interests. "We thought to ourselves, ‘Wow, this could be a wonderful opportunity to partner with someone who also has a dream of encouraging arts,' and we of course want to do that in the crafting of coffee," he says.
"The Runks realized that dream this past March, when they opened Course Coffee Roasters with Andrew Mueller inside the Farm Table Creative art gallery at 215 O'Fallon Plaza. Course offers custom-roasted single-origin coffee; above all, the couple's main goal is to connect their customers with where their cup of coffee comes from. In the early days at the farmers' market, Brandon enjoyed helping customers realize how a coffee from Guatemala, for instance, differs in flavor profile from a coffee from Burundi.
'"We really desire to feature coffees and roasts that are an accent of the region and, really, a continuation of the people and all of what has gone into that coffee and the process," he says. "It’s really nice to enjoy coffee from around the world and travel along with us on this journey, on this course of life. We really value the connection that comes from coffee and the conversation that can then come from that."
"A native of central Pennsylvania, Brandon first got into coffee out of necessity while working an early hours job in his 20s. But that's not to say that his first experience was a good one: "I experienced some very, very bad coffee at that time," he says with a laugh. "It wasn’t until I grew and expanded my palate that I was like, ‘Wow, there’s other coffees out there; there’s better, more refined coffee."
"As his interest in coffee grew, Sarah bought him a small home roasting unit and the rest, as they say, is history. "It just went wild, all the different flavors I could explore through coffee roasting," Brandon says.
"That's when the couple made it a point to start their own official roasting business. Sarah's family is from central Illinois; when she and Brandon moved back to the area, they noticed that St. Charles County lacked the coffee culture that was already so prevalent in St. Louis. By opening Course in O'Fallon, they hope to encourage other roasters to bring the craft to the area.
"To pair with its coffees, Course offers treats from Mr. Meowski's in St. Charles, including cinnamon rolls, chocolate croissants and a ham and cheese croissant. Brandon and Sarah take care to select pastries that complement Course's coffees; the chocolate croissant, for instance, pairs well with the chocolate notes and natural sweetness of a coffee from Cameroon (which Course also uses in its cold brew). "We want to encourage people to taste things naturally," Brandon says. "[It's] not that we're against people putting cream and sugar in their coffee; we're just for people eating a chocolate croissant with one of our coffees that features a heavy chocolate note."
"More broadly, Course and Farm Table Creative are also paired well in their shared goal of serving the O'Fallon community. "It was an opportunity for us to show how much we enjoy art and appreciate art and to have a space where we can not only feature both of our businesses, but we can also encourage community and growing together," Brandon says." ~ Feast Magazine, by Heather Riske, Oct 25, 2018