This Appleton teen started his coffee roasting business out of his basement

APPLETON - Ian McKay was just three years old when he had his first taste of coffee, in the form of a coffee shake from Tom's Drive-In. He fell in love with the flavor.

Now, 14 years later, McKay has started up his own local coffee roasting business with plans on expanding out of his basement.

McKay, now a junior at Appleton North High School, had a love for the drink all throughout his childhood, as he quickly moved from adding creamer and sugar to enjoying the flavor of strong, black coffee.

He got a job working as a barista for Seth's Coffee Drive-In, and the experience he gained there, combined with his own self-taught knowledge, gave him enough confidence to pursue his own business.

With the help of his father, at 16, McKay was able to secure a business loan and he officially launched Wonder-Kind Coffee Roasters at the end of June this year.

"The original name was gonna be 'wunderkind,' a German word that basically means 'a young, highly-skilled entrepreneur,' and I thought 'man, that's kind of what I've got going on'," McKay said. "I changed it to Wonder-Kind so that it was a little easier for people to remember."

The logo, which McKay also created using his experience in graphic arts, was the work of both him and his mother. McKay said he purposely used a neutral color for the hands in his logo so that all of his customers would feel included.

He set up a space in his basement and began work on his sustainable coffee brand.

"What's awesome about my coffee is each bag is made to order, so I don't just have bunch of bags lying around my house ready to sell," McKay said.

McKay said his roaster is also small, so he can only produce micro-batches.

"I'm only doing about two bags of coffee per roast, while most coffee roasters do around five, sometimes even up to 20," McKay said. "It really allows me to dial it in and really taste what the customer is going to be getting."

McKay said he uses the "cupping" method to taste the quality of his roasts before sending them out.

Cupping is when hot water is poured onto freshly roasted and ground beans directly into the cup and allowed to steep for a varied amount of time, McKay steeps for 15 minutes. The infusion is then mixed and the foamy head removed.

McKay said this is the most effective way to taste his product and he does this with every batch before he sends it out to his customers.

"I feel like I'm putting so much effort into each individual bag and really trying to ensure the customer gets what they want," McKay said.

Additionally, Wonder-Kind Coffee is affordably priced, with each bag selling for $16. This is because he wants more people to have access to his single-origin market coffee.

Currently, customers can choose between three coffee flavors from Wonder-Kind Coffee Roasters: Colombia, Sumatra and decaf Mexican.

McKay describes the Colombia roast as a light, acidic, lemon and cherry flavor. The Sumatra is a dark, smoky, bittersweet chocolate taste. The Mexican decaf is made using the Swiss Water Process, meaning no chemicals are used in the process of removing the caffeine from the beans.

His beans are sourced from a local company in Middleton called Burman Coffee Traders.

"I did a lot of research into them and all their products and they have such great raw green beans," McKay said. "They're the best company I've worked with and they're the one I'll be sticking with for a while."

Burman Coffee Traders' website states that the company seeks out those who use sustainable farming techniques, and provide fair and healthy conditions for their workers, even paying more for certain products to encourage and support growers who meet these standards.

"At a bare minimum, we work with quality coffees and producers, which demand a premium over general traded commodity coffee," said Jon Burman, owner and managing partner of Burman Coffee Traders. "We also work with more than 20 operations directly, which to me, is the most sustainable coffee. We strive to create more of a farmers market model for many of our offerings. Working with farms directly generally ensures a win/win for everyone."

Because of the state's Cottage Food Law, which states homemade goods can only be sold directly to consumers, McKay said he will, for now at least, sell his coffee beans out of his home, at the farmers' markets and online.

"After college, my goal is to have my own coffee shop and roastery," McKay said. "I'm not sure where that will be at the moment, but it will be relatively close to Appleton."

He said he also plans to do a few pop-up shops in the near future, but does not have a solid schedule for it yet.

For more information about Wonder-Kind Coffee and to place an order, visit the website wonderkindcoffeeroasters.com.

To stay updated on McKay and any announcements for the business, follow the Instagram page, @wonderkindcoffeeroasters, and Facebook.

Reach Jelissa Burns at 920-453-5107 or jburns1@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @burns_jelissa or on Instagram at burns_jelissa.

This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Ian McKay launches Wonder-Kind Coffee out of basement at 17 years old