We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Colton Klauss a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Colton, thanks for joining us today. What’s been the best thing you’ve ever seen (or done yourself) to show a customer that you appreciate them?

I believe that the best thing a small business can do for itself, especially a customer service business, is to create an environment where customers feel as if our business is their “go to spot.” It starts with learning someone’s name, so that every time they walk in the door, we greet them by their name. Beyond that, it’s important to create a real relationship with everyone. That means asking them about work, school, health, their family, anything that might be relevant in their life in any given week. In coffee, I think it’s easier to create community, because historically coffee shops have been a place to discuss ideas. It’s a natural place for community to grow and flourish, but it all starts with us investing ourselves into the lives of our customers.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

When I think back on my life there are a few periods that I think were very impactful on who I am and the type of culinarian I am today. Whether I was fully aware of it or not, food called me to as a child. I have memories of my family making pasta with another family who lived down the street. I remember at Thanksgivings I spent more time in the kitchen than the other kids. When I was around 12 my mother was singing with the Memphis Opera and one of her colleagues was a chef. I remember cooking quite a bit with him.

My older brother got me my first job when I was a teenager and I worked under a remarkable chef, who I believe changed the trajectory of my life. He’s got a real name, but we all just called him Shaggy. He showed me a style of cooking I had never been exposed to and opened my eyes to the possibility of working with food for a career. It was a small restaurant with a very small kitchen crew and there was a short period where the only people in the kitchen were the chef and me. I have no doubt that we had different experiences during that time, but for me it meant so much to be able to work next to him and have him teach me about food. I watched and helped execute his vision of what a menu should be. He passed on to me the intensity and passion that you need to have to be successful in this field.

In 2018 and 2019 I lived and worked in a remote part of Montana with my friend, Brian. We were both chefs and hosts for guests in a beautiful fishing lodge. We had free range to create whatever type of food program we wanted. It gave us the opportunity to try new things and hone our skills. In addition to developing my culinary skills, I also learned how to be a good host. We were always the first ones up and the last ones to go to bed. It was a lot of work, but it was really good experience. That type of hospitality exposure changed the way that I interacted with customers.

My time in Montana came to an end because Kate, my wife, and I had been dating long distance for two years. I moved to Colorado and went to work at Kate’s coffee shop, Carnelian Coffee. Kate had created a great coffee shop. It was a welcoming space, and everything was made from scratch. It was very easy for me to integrate into the culture of Carnelian and help in a way I was uniquely able to, through food. The menu that we have today features made from scratch breakfast burritos and sandwiches. Everything is made from scratch, even down to the spice blends and hot sauce we use.
We started roasting our own coffee in 2021. That was an entirely new experience for Kate and me. We knew coffee, but roasting was a new challenge. Deciding to roast our own coffee gave us the chance to set Carnelian apart from other coffee shops. Not only do we roast our own coffee, but our syrups, pastries, and food menu items are made from scratch.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

Kate started Carnelian in May of 2017. I was living in Memphis at the time and happened to be visiting my best friend in Colorado Springs the same weekend Kate opened Carnelian. My friend suggested we try this new coffee shop that was around the corner from his house. Whenever I visited Colorado, I made sure to come to Carnelian at least once. In 2018 I moved to Montana, but not before stopping in Colorado for a few days first. It was then that Kate and I developed a relationship. In the fall of 2019 I moved to Colorado and helped Kate elevate the food at Carnelian. While working together we realized how similar our goals and values were, and I became an owner in the fall of 2020.

We’d really appreciate if you could talk to us about how you figured out the manufacturing process.

In 2021 we went from a multi-roaster coffee shop to roasting our own beans in house. We had no experience roasting coffee but decided to take on the new challenge. We purchased a Bellwether roaster which is an electric, zero emissions roaster. The first three months were quite challenging as we struggled to learn how to roast the type of coffee we wanted. Eventually we got the hang of it, and from that moment on we’ve been able to deliver a quality product that features the unique flavor profile of each coffee farm we buy from. Once we established ourselves as a roaster, we were able to expand our business considerably. People now order our coffee from all across the country. We were also able to expand our wholesale business in a way that we couldn’t before. We have accounts in Denver, Montana, and Memphis. Roasting on the type of machine that we have also allowed my father-in-law, Ed, to become more present in our business. Once I get the roasts dialed in, Ed handles the bulk of our day to day roasting. He serves as our coffee liaison to people who are interested in the roasting process. Since our roaster is in our dining room, it attracts quite a bit of attention.

Contact Info:

• Website: carneliancoffeeco.com
• Instagram: carneliancoffeeco
• Facebook: Carnelian Coffee