As Boston thawed into the summer of 1992, The Coffee Connection distributed coupons to advertise their new drink in the Harvard Square store. Facing an increasingly competitive market and weary from the time-consuming demands of running The Coffee Connection, George Howell sold his Boston-area stores to Starbucks in 1994. George Howell was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Specialty Coffee Association of America in 1996, for having raised specialty coffee quality standards to a new level through his Massachusetts based company The Coffee Connection (1974 – 1994). The Coffee Connection. As many in Boston recall, George Howell was the founder of the Coffee Connection, which opened its first location in Harvard Square in 1975 and later expanded into a local chain. George Howell Coffee: coffee connection returns - See 28 traveler reviews, 6 candid photos, and great deals for Newton, MA, at Tripadvisor. Now he has started a new coffee-roasting business called GHH Select (George Howell Coffee Company™). The chain grew to 24 stores before it was sold in 1994 to Starbucks, giving the Seattle chain a big boost to its presence in Boston. In 1999 he conceived and co-founded a program designed to help break the commodity/price cycle in the specialty-coffee industry. Coffee drinkers in Massachusetts responded enthusiastically to his products. He was the founder of The Coffee Connection, a high-end coffee retailer based in Boston, Massachusetts which was acquired by the Starbucks Corporation in 1994 and which formed the nexus of their expansion into the Boston area. All rights reserved. We also talk about trends in coffee, blends hiding the farmer, CoE and much more. Severe rationing of coffee supplies at home and the wide consumption of the newly developed instant, freeze-dried coffee among soldiers caused American coffee palates to devolve. In 2002 Howell returned to the retail coffee market, when he founded the George Howell 'Terroir' Coffee Company, which sells whole bean single-estate coffees through a website. Six of those years were as General Manager of a NA Distribution Company owned by Talking Rain. George Howell Coffee 312 School Street Acton, MA 01720: Monday–Friday 10am–5pm EST 1 (866) 444.5282: Questions or Comments: info@georgehowellcoffee.com For wholesale inquiries: sales@georgehowellcoffee.com For webstore inquiries: webstore@georgehowellcoffee.com 14 years in the beverage world working for Talking Rain and High Brew Coffee. By 1974, George and his wife Laurie had two children with another on the way. We had the opportunity to meet with George, his daughter, and a few other folks at George Howell Coffee Roasters, out in Acton. George Howell Coffee 312 School Street Acton, MA 01720: Monday–Friday 10am–5pm EST 1 (866) 444.5282: Questions or Comments: info@georgehowellcoffee.com For wholesale inquiries: sales@georgehowellcoffee.com For webstore inquiries: webstore@georgehowellcoffee.com These photos were taken with a camera in one hand and note-taking in the other. George's life in coffee began in 1974 with his first café, The Coffee Connection in Cambridge's Harvard Square. Box 14827 Portland, OR 97293. This led directly to the founding of the precedent-setting Cup Of Excellence program in 1999; it established the world’s first international estate coffee competition and international internet auction that mightily contributed to breaking the commodity/price cycle for craftsman farmers in the specialty coffee industry. As a visionary in the industry of specialty coffee George Howell was an early adopter of direct trade practices, developing relationships with farmers, financed the first refractometer, and co-founded the Cup of … Most small farmers have well under 10 … George Howell Coffee 312 School Street Acton, MA 01720: Monday–Friday 10am–5pm EST 1 (866) 444.5282: Questions or Comments: info@georgehowellcoffee.com. George Howell Coffee 312 School Street Acton, MA 01720: Monday–Friday 10am–5pm EST 1 (866) 444.5282: Questions or Comments: info@georgehowellcoffee.com For wholesale inquiries: sales@georgehowellcoffee.com For webstore inquiries: webstore@georgehowellcoffee.com George Howell Coffee 312 School Street Acton, MA 01720: Monday–Friday 10am–5pm EST 1 (866) 444.5282: Questions or Comments: info@georgehowellcoffee.com For wholesale inquiries: sales@georgehowellcoffee.com For webstore inquiries: webstore@georgehowellcoffee.com George Howell (born 1945) is an American entrepreneur and one of the pioneers of the specialty-coffee movement in the United States in the early 1970s. George Howell: I grew up in Hasbrouck Heights, and later Ridgewood, New Jersey, till the age of 13, and then my parents hauled me off to Mexico. We also talk about trends in coffee, blends hiding the farmer, CoE and much more. GEORGE H. HOWELL (AGENT) HOWELL CAFE I, LLC: MASSACHUSETTS DOMESTIC LIMITED-LIABILITY COMPANY (LLC) WRITE REVIEW: Address: C/O George Howell Coffee Company Llc 312 School Street Acton, MA 01720: Registered Agent: George H. Howell: Filing Date: September 01, 2010: File Number: 001035534: Contact Us About The Company Profile For Howell Cafe I, LLC Demonstrating it one recent morning, George Howell places a precisely measured layer … [George Howell] is trying to purify and identify the core essence of each origin: What is it that makes Guatemala Antigua so good?”—The Perfect Cup by Timothy James Castle (Aris Books, 1991). For the next 19 years, George slowly built up The Coffee Connection to 24 company-owned stores exhibiting Huichol art on their walls and emphasizing coffee as a noble beverage worthy of being in the same league as fine wine. George: I get very excited about things, whether it’s art or coffee or whatever, and I have a deep need to share. It led to exhibitions at Harvard University and Northeastern University. Sprudge: Where'd you grow up and what were your foundational coffee experiences? “Cold brew is a concoction more related to the way beer is made,” said Howell. Most American “specialty” coffees, powerfully influenced by Starbucks, are roasted much darker than European coffee, covering or driving off the finest aromas. [1], In 1974, Howell and his wife Laurie moved to Boston. George Howell Coffee 312 School Street Acton, MA 01720: Monday–Friday 10am–5pm EST 1 (866) 444.5282: Questions or Comments: info@georgehowellcoffee.com For wholesale inquiries: sales@georgehowellcoffee.com For webstore inquiries: webstore@georgehowellcoffee.com Our Terroir® Coffee line of single-estate and exceptional regional coffees is the next step in this unfolding odyssey as he presses to extend the limits of quality coffee standards. We also talk about trends in coffee, blends hiding the farmer, CoE and much more.coffee machine coffee maker espresso machine Posted by Lean man at 02:00. 1: Author: Mark Prince Posted: September 1, 2005: Article rating: 8.4: feedback: (5) comments | read | write: On the phone today we have a guy, who, if consumers know him, I'm betting they are going to know him through a book that was published called "Uncommon Grounds" by Mark Pendergast. They are actually a local purveyor and roaster based out in Acton. Call (978) 635-9033. The benefit this method has for the flavor of coffee has been covered in Wine Spectator and is supported by a healthy consensus. It is the first of many visits to come. To date, no other roaster has gone to these lengths for the sake of quality. Howell approached his coffee slightly differently than Peet and the others in the West. A coffee harvested nine months or even two years ago can now taste as if it just came off the farm. George Howell Coffee, Boston: See 157 unbiased reviews of George Howell Coffee, rated 4.5 of 5 on Tripadvisor and ranked #185 of 3,008 restaurants in Boston. Summary: Terra McLain-Canton is 37 years old and was born on 10/29/1982. George Howell Coffee flash-brews the coffees it serves cold, as Howell believes the method better preserves and represents the farm-specific attributes the company seeks to highlight, according to its mission. On his recent list, the coffees from all seven geographic provenances were aromatic with fruit and flowers … in the way wine is.” —The Art of Eating, quarterly magazine by Edward Behr (2003, number 65). George Howell. The Coffee Connection® gives birth to specialty coffee in Boston. Before moving to Terra's current city of Estancia, NM, Terra lived in Yakima WA and Mountlake Terrace WA. Though espresso or "Italian coffee" did emerge as a micro-niche product in Beatnik bars of the 1950s, weak-tasting, cheap canned coffee made in percolators and on diner hot plates was the rule of the day until Alfred Peet started his company and began to elevate tastes in the late 1960s. He was the founder of The Coffee Connection, a high-end coffee retailer based in Boston, Massachusetts which was acquired by the Starbucks Corporation in 1994 and which formed the nexus of their expansion into the Boston area. The man who launched a gourmet coffee revolution in Greater Boston with the Coffee Connection in the 1970s is brewing a comeback. In the summer of 1992, a coffee shop called Coffee Connection in Cambridge, Massachusetts, distributed coupons for a new frozen drink called the Frappuccino. He has said that "Boston was a desert of stale, brown-painted wooden pellets and liquified ground saw dust." The original Frappuccino drink was developed, named, trademarked and sold by George Howell's Eastern Massachusetts coffee shop chain, The Coffee Connection, and created by then-employee Andrew Frank. Howell worked to develop relationships with various coffee plantations the world over, overseeing the entire process from the selection of the beans to roasting and cupping. Kandace: Yeah. Their coffee shop in Newton offers a very good latte and cappuccino, as we'll as a good tea selection with loose-leaf teas that will delight even a true tea connoisseur. Howell founded his first café, the Coffee Connection, in Harvard Square in 1974. Email This BlogThis! American entrepreneur and a pioneer of the American specialty-coffee movement, Learn how and when to remove these template messages, Learn how and when to remove this template message, Article Featuring the life of George Howell from Boston Magazine, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=George_Howell_(entrepreneur)&oldid=999783955, Short description is different from Wikidata, BLP articles lacking sources from May 2012, Articles with a promotional tone from May 2012, Articles with multiple maintenance issues, Articles with empty sections from July 2010, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 11 January 2021, at 23:12. This project led to his conceiving and co-founding the Cup of Excellence in 1999, a program designed to help break the commodity/price cycle in the specialty-coffee industry. George Howell Coffee opened last week in Newtonville in the space formerly occupied by Taste Coffee House. He founded The Coffee Connection which opened its first retail store in Harvard Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1975 serving coffee drinks and selling whole-bean coffee and coffee-making paraphernalia. Email This … In 2004 he created the George Howell Coffee and its Terroir Coffee brand, which specializes in single estate coffees and pioneers in raising quality coffee standards to much higher levels. He was the founder of The Coffee Connection, a high-end coffee retailer based in Boston, Massachusetts which was acquired by the Starbucks Corporation in 1994 and which formed the nexus of their expansion into the Boston area. George Howell – Coffee Icon I used to arrange my European business travel so I could stopover in Boston and visit the Coffee Connection, George Howell’s first coffee roasting business. George Howell Coffee prides itself on supporting coffee farmers around the world. After selling The Coffee Connection to Starbucks, George was free to resume his coffee education in new ways. I've just had my third unsatisfactory interaction with the staff. By the 1990s The Coffee Connection had grown into a chain of 24 company-owned stores in the Boston area. He is an expert on single-origin coffee and is also the founder of George Howell Coffee. George Howell, the founder of George Howell Coffee, oversaw many of those cupping tables in the early years of the CoE. He continued to travel to coffee-producing countries (Colombia, India, Sumatra, Brazil, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru), offering his services as a coffee quality consultant. George Howell Coffee. Quality pioneers such as Terroir Coffee have now taken the search for quality a crucial step further. Today, George Howell Coffee has a roastery in Acton, MA with coffee shop locations around Boston. He returned to coffee-traveling world-wide, and in 1997 worked on models of economic sustainability for coffee farmers under the United Nations and the International Coffee Organization. Visit www.georgehowellcoffee.com or call 866-444-5282 for more information. As coffee loses its potency gradually (from exposure to oxygen) from the time it is roasted, Howell instituted a policy of roast-dating his coffee beans. George Howell Coffee was founded in 2004 by veteran coffee pioneer George Howell. George, and now his daughter Jenny, travel to coffee-producing areas to personally identify and source these rare finds and has even begun to arrange for very special small lots directly from producers, hand graded to his quality specifications. But the East Coast was different. On October 2, 2010 Howell announced his return to retail coffee with the acquisition of Taste Coffee House in Newton, Massachusetts in order to have more face to face interaction with coffee consumers. In 2000, he donated a spectacular 4’ x 8’ yarn painting by the celebrated Huichol artist, Jose Benitez Sanchez, to Mexico City’s Museum of Anthropology, where it can be seen today. A major European tour was arranged by someone coming through our café. “More than perhaps any other roaster in the country, the Coffee Connection focuses on selling the most quintessential example from each coffee-producing country. He was the founder of The Coffee Connection, a high-end coffee retailer based in Boston, Massachusetts which was acquired by the Starbucks Corporation in 1994 and which formed the nexus of their expansion into the Boston area. We also talk about trends in coffee, blends hiding the farmer, CoE and much more.coffee maker espresso machine espresso maker Our founder, George Howell, was also the founder of The Coffee Connection which grew to 24 stores in the Northeast before it was sold to Starbucks in 1994. Subscriptions: 888-881-5861 Get Connected CoffeeGeek Podcast 063 - SCAA, Connecting Worlds, George Howell Finally, our post SCAA 2008 Minneapolis wrapup show, and a feature interview with George Howell about the book Connecting Worlds: The Coffee Trail. George Howell (born 1945) is an American entrepreneur and one of the pioneers of the specialty-coffee movement in the United States in the early 1970s. George Howell Coffee represents a return for George to his roots: identifying, roasting and discovering the highest quality coffees possible. George’s life in coffee began in 1974 with his first café, The Coffee Connection in Cambridge’s Harvard Square. But Howell, as ever, roasts moderately…. When I published the Coffee Companion newsletter, George Howell was in the first tier of […] Get directions. Most small farmers have well under 10 acres of land, many only 2 or 3 acres. At George Howell Coffee, you will be able to get a vast array of products. View 1 review. We decided to move east to Boston. In 2007 Howell was awarded the Specialty Coffee Association of Europe's (SCAE) Better Coffee World Award. George Howell Coffee Company LLC. George Howell – Coffee Icon I used to arrange my European business travel so I could stopover in Boston and visit the Coffee Connection, George Howell’s first coffee roasting business. Overall, George Howell is a great coffee and tea place. We stopped at the various Howard Johnson’s that were on the interstates on our way and I would go into men’s room, grind the coffee there, leaving it smelling a whole lot better than when I walked in, and then I would take out my French press on the counter, ask for hot water for 35 cents and make my French press at the Howard Johnson’s counter. At the first Coffee Connection shop. George Howell has been a pillar of excellence in the specialty coffee community for nearly five decades. Designed by our own Cafe Quality Control and Content Manager, Juliana LaVita, this mug pays homage to The Coffee Connection, George Howell’s first coffee venture in Boston. Seeking to advance the quality of coffee in Boston to what he was accustomed to in California, Howell began to educate himself about the cultivation, processing, roasting and brewing of fine coffees. Howell (is) a walking encyclopedia of coffee.”—Florence Fabricant, food columnist for The New York Times, 1993. He had grown The Coffee Connection into 24 company-owned stores in the Northeast, and sold his high-quality popular coffee company to Starbucks in 1994. I know of no one who has done more to improve the quality of American coffee, and no one has taught me more, both directly and by example.”—Coffee Basics by Kevin Knox (John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1997). Terra also answers to Mclain Terra Howell and Terra Ann Mclain, and perhaps a couple of other names. I thought George had the best. W… Send Message. He has written for many food and beverage publications, has guest lectured at Harvard University, Boston University and Johnson & Wales. Posted by Lean man at 06:00. A major European tour was arranged by someone coming through our café. George Howell Coffee’s mission is to seek out the best coffees on Earth, encouraging people to join in their quest for the ultimate cup. After receiving the Special Coffee Association of America’s Lifetime Achievement Award and selling his first chain, The Coffee Connection, to Starbucks, George Howell created a new coffee company focused on exquisitely sourced and roasted beans. Beginning in 1997, he worked for the United Nations and the International Coffee Organization (ICO), creating models of economic sustainability for coffee farmers. George Howell Coffee was founded in 2004 by veteran coffee pioneer George Howell. All rights reserved. George left the Cup of Excellence in 2002 to re-center his efforts on developing the quality-coffee market in the United States. Now the cafe visionary will attempt a comeback with George Howell Coffee. In the early 1970s, he fell in love with the art of the Huichol Indians of Mexico and threw himself into exhibiting and curating their work in California. George Howell Coffee was founded in 2004 by veteran coffee pioneer George Howell. George Howell started the Coffee Connection in 1974, then sold the chain to Starbucks in 1994. He was the founder of The Coffee Connection, a high-end coffee retailer based in Boston, Massachusetts which was acquired by the Starbucks Corporation in 1994 and which formed the nexus of their expansion into the Boston area. For wholesale inquiries: sales@georgehowellcoffee.com. George Howell Coffees (previously Terroir Coffee) is a microroaster focusing on elite single-origin coffees. “[George Howell] made The Coffee Connection one of, if not the premier, specialty coffee retailer of North America.”—Bill McAlpin, Hacienda La Minita, upon presenting the Specialty Coffee Association of America Lifetime Achievement Award to George Howell in 1996. Just posted a photo @ George Howell Coffee https://t.co/qJn2oDi6ai- Thursday Jan 14 - 3:39pm, Just posted a photo @ George Howell Coffee https://t.co/lx8ntZmPbp- Tuesday Jan 12 - 5:54pm, ✨ CoE from Ethiopia ✨ Last of the La Soledad Harvest & More! It was 1992, and the Coffee Connection cafe owner George Howell was looking for … He founded The Coffee Connection which opened its first retail store in Harvard Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1975 serving coffee drinks and selling whole-bean coffee and coffee-making paraphernalia. Maybe I'm wrong--I'm not happy about one of your store policies and complained about it. Howell was eventually awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Specialty Coffee Association of America in 1996 for raising coffee quality standards through The Coffee Connection. Several hounds have fond memories of the Coffee Connection— Allstonian worked there in the mid-’80s, and CookieLee and her husband had their first date there in 1982! - https://t.co/pltC3j0K3n- Friday Jan 8 - 9:19pm, Questions or Comments: P.O. It led to exhibitions at Harvard University and Northeastern University. “The Coffee Connection was different from the competition we faced elsewhere. Address: 278 Highland Ave, Somerville, MA 02143. George Howell is more than the brains behind the George Howell Coffee Company that he started in 2004. “Back then, before the Q existed, CQI and all of that, the older [cupping professionals] had been trained in an older school, and they were looking for lack of defects,” Howell told DCN. When I published the Coffee Companion newsletter, George Howell was in the first tier of […] The Coffee Connection grew to 24 stores before it was sold to Starbucks in 1994. Whereas West Coast coffee was predicated on a rich, strong, dark roast, Howell believed that a light "cinnamon roast" was better suited to bringing out the nuanced flavors of high-quality coffee beans which he compared to the subtle flavor characteristics of fine wine (However, very dark, thick coffee was served throughout his stores in the 1990s to compete with the likes of Starbucks) He also promulgated the notion of "single-origin" or "single-estate" coffees as opposed to beans blended from multiple sources. 4.8 of 5 stars. Not sure how to balance this rating because I've just had a one-star encounter in your shop. Soon after arriving in Boston in 1974, George discovered he was a frustrated, spoiled Berkeley coffee drinker (Peet’s and a number of lighter roast competitors were already thriving by the time the Howells left). © 2013-2021 I drove with my father in a Plymouth station wagon in 1958 from Jersey to Atlanta through the segregated South, and I was shocked. Once a coffee is chosen and acquired, it is re-packaged and stored under special conditions, which halts the naturally accelerating degradation process of raw coffee. I visited Kenya this late November for the first time since 1993 when I ran The Coffee Connection. By then he was already developing a missionary spirit for artistic and aesthetic causes. Before launching George Howell Coffee in 2004, he built and sold his first brand, The Coffee Connection, to Starbucks in 1994. George Howell. Now, the coffee connoisseur is back with the new George Howell Coffee … For webstore inquiries: webstore@georgehowellcoffee.com “Back in 1994, before George Howell sold … the Coffee Connection … to Starbucks, he had the best selection of green coffees in the US. At the first Coffee Connection shop. Visit our website www.georgehowellcoffee.com Seeking to advance the quality of coffee in Boston to what he was accustomed to in California, Howell began to educate himself about the cultivation, processing, roasting and brewing of fine coffees. Howell and his wife had developed a taste for the strong, flavorful coffee available around San Francisco. For those of you who don’t know, George Howell is a very important person in the history of coffee. Our company is based on the simple premise that the apex of coffee quality is represented by single estates, be they farms or carefully focused cooperatives. Ray: This week we’re talking about George Howell the personality. I've been drinking George Howell's coffee since Coffee Connection--George's coffee is the best and this shop's cappuccino is still the best in Boston. Roberto Alvarado Olivares — Great taste and balanced flavors! George Howell: I grew up in Hasbrouck Heights, and later Ridgewood, New Jersey, till the age of 13, and then my parents hauled me off to Mexico. Years before he started this company he owned a chain of coffee shops in the Boston area called the Coffee Connection. Share to … espresso maker breville delonghi. Nearly two decades after selling his iconic Coffee Connection chain to Starbucks, George Howell is about to attempt a comeback. Howell has likened this practice to shipping wine overseas "in open vats". Exhibiting art hardly paid the rent. I've just had my third unsatisfactory interaction with the staff. Meet George Howell Coffee - Boston, MA. Subsequently, Starbucks appropriated the Coffee Connection's popular Frappuccino beverage and made it available chain-wide. At Terroir he takes a further step, and deep freezes the raw beans.