![North Canaan's Ilse coffee brewers](https://lakevillejournal.com/media-library/owners-rebecca-grossman-left-and-lucas-smith-of-ilse-coffee-in-north-canaan-conn.jpg?id=50890499&width=980&quality=90)
Owners Rebecca Grossman, left, and Lucas Smith of Ilse Coffee in North Canaan, Conn.
Photo by Natalia Zukerman
A very unique coffee experience is brewing at the Ilse coffeeshop on Railroad Street in North Canaan, Connecticut, in the old location of Jim’s Garage.
The light-filled and airy space is a testament to the dedication of its founders, Rebecca Grossman and Lucas Smith. About five years ago, Smith, while working at Provisions, the café at the White Hart Inn in Salisbury, encountered a coffee that forever changed his perspective on the beverage.
“Until then,” Smith explained, “coffee was just this harsh, bitter thing they put milk and sugar in just for caffeine. And then I had a cup of coffee that tasted kind of floral and tea-like, and it just blew my mind. I never knew coffee could taste like that. And then that was it.”
Originally from the Berkshires, Grossman was home on vacation from Holyoke when she and Smith met at the White Hart. Through Grossman, Smith connected with a coffee roasting company near her school and found himself learning the art of coffee roasting and the intricacies of the coffee world. When Grossman graduated, the couple moved back to Smith’s hometown of Westport, Connecticut, to help his mother open a restaurant in nearby Fairfield.
There, they rented a roasting machine and started their company by buying coffee, paper bags, and a few stickers. “We were working full-time at his mom’s restaurant,” said Grossman. “We barely had a day off, so we would work after hours. It was just the two of us for the first maybe two and a half years of the business.”
“We had $1,000 and a credit card,” laughed Smith.
“It was pretty naïve, honestly,” added Grossman. “I think most people start companies with a lot more money than we did. We just kind of went for it.”
They went for it, and it began to work for them. Soon, Grossman and Smith moved back to Canaan and opened Ilse, named after Smith’s grandmother. “This is kind of where the journey started,” Grossman mused, “so it’s a very cool coming home.”
They started out with mostly a wholesale, direct-to-consumer business on their website, opening the cafe space just eight months ago. They transformed the old garage into a bright and cozy spot for coffee lovers, an open concept space that showcases their entire production. This transparency also translates to their inspiring mission of quality and sustainability.
Their approach is both global and personal, sourcing beans from countries such as Ethiopia, Colombia, Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico, Kenya and Rwanda. Their focus is on supporting small farmers by establishing a practice of buying entire harvests. Grossman explained: “We buy from producers, and we really commit to them, which is a super important thing. We’ll buy their coffee every harvest.”
Smith added: “Coffee farmers have one harvest a year, sometimes two. We’ve been in business for five years, and there’s a number of producers that we’ve been working with for all of those five years, which is really cool.”
Meeting and creating sustainable relationships with the coffee producers is a goal of their business. Smith said, “Our whole focus is really working to establish connections and relationships with all the countries we source.” They explain that this connection has been easier in some countries than others. The couple was able to travel to Colombia last January, and plans to visit every year. “Other countries, it’s a little bit harder to establish relationships,” said Smith, “but it’s a goal for us to have those relationships everywhere that we source.”
The couple has a clear passion for coffee, which extends to their passion for education. Each bag of coffee that they sell has the origin story on the back, showcasing the name of the grower and the farm. Everything from the altitude to the variety of the seed itself to the flavor profile is listed on the bag. There’s also a cost breakdown, which adds to the transparent approach.
“We get asked all the time if our coffee is fair-trade, and we’re actually paying far above fair trade,” Smith explained. “Fair trade is a certification that provides the producer X amount above the stock market price for coffee. And so, we don’t trade coffee based on the stock market. At any given time, we’re paying usually about 200% above the fair-trade price for our coffee. So, you can look at any of our bags, you just turn it on the back, and you can see how much the producer got paid and how much we paid for the coffee.”
Grossman added: “A lot of the farmers that we’re buying from are in producer-led initiatives. So the producers are setting the price, which is super important.”
Grossman and Smith’s business practices are unique, and so too is their roasting style, which they describe as influenced by Nordic methods. There is a focus on bringing out the natural flavors, showcasing the coffee’s inherent qualities. Their favorite, preferred and recommended brewing method is a manual brew method using a Hario V60 pour-over that they sell in their shop. It brings out the flavors and “makes a really nice, clear cup,” said Grossman.
There’s a bit more construction planned in the space to have it “exactly like we want it,” said Smith, but once the renovation is complete, the couple wants to host events and coffee tastings, home brewing classes, and a “seed to cup” course. Said Smith, “Most people don’t even know that coffee’s a seed of a fruit. It’s not a bean.” He almost yells with wonder, “It’s a seed!”
Grossman added to his enthusiasm: “It’s an agricultural, seasonal product, grown in a fruit. Our coffee is seasonal and rotates throughout the year. I don’t think people are aware of that.” She said, “I know I certainly wasn’t before I got into coffee.”
Smith and Grossman’s story is one of passion, dedication, and a deep respect for coffee and the people who grow it. Starting with minimal resources, they’re excited to be able to grow alongside the small and supportive community of specialty coffee roasters in the area. “There’ve been hard moments, but it’s been amazing,” said Grossman. Smith added: “When we started the company, our big thing was helping people experience how great coffee can be. So if people actually want to see coffee in a different perspective rather than the way that they know it, then I think this would be a good place to come and check out.”
Abstract art display in Wassaic for Upstate Art Weekend, July 18-21.
WASSAIC — Art enthusiasts from all over the country flocked to the Catskill Mountains and Hudson Valley to participate in Upstate Art Weekend, which ran from July 18 to July 21.
The event, which “celebrates the cultural vibrancy of Upstate New York”, included 145 different locations where visitors could enjoy and interact with art.
On Saturday, July 20, The Wassaic Project hosted numerous community events. Will Hutnick, the director of artistic programming, said “We’ve been a part of it since the beginning, this is the fifth year of UPAW.”
Most of the action was based at Maxon Mills, the seven-floor grain mill located in the heart of Wassaic. On exhibit was work from 30 artists, 18 of whom were past residents of The Wassaic Project. “Artists can come and do a residency here, meaning they live and work with one another for a couple months at a time,” Hutnick stated.
The first floor held work by Petra Szilagyi, who uses dirt and linseed oil to construct images of paranormal concepts, most of which include bats. They reflected that a recent trip to a fifth sense competition in Vietnam was the influence behind the exhibit.
Across the floor was Tiffany Smith’s interactive installation which incorporated plants and wicker chairs, all of which were objects associated with her Carribean upbringing. “The room being filled with plants is symbolic of hurricane prep which often included bringing the plants from outside into the house,” Smith said.
As visitors made their way up the narrow wooden stairs, music could be heard from behind the walls. The echoing music was Daniel Shieh’s installation, entitled Mother’s Anthem, which played a recording of the American Anthem in 30 languages. The languages ranged from Spanish and Italian to Navajo and Bengali.
Each floor was filled with artwork of all mediums, including painting, fibers, collage and photography. Rachel Bussières, who switched her concentration after watching the 2017 solar eclipse, uses varying light sources to produce lumen prints. During the wildfires, she recounted that she “made a new exposure each day to capture the changing air quality”.
Luciana Abait also incorporates the natural world into her pieces, instead using maps. An environmental activist originally from Argentina, Abait’s work highlights “environmental fragility, specifically the impacts it has on immigrants.” Her installation that is currently on display at Maxon Mills, takes the form of a mountain range built solely from maps of the US and Argentina.
Throughout the day, visitors could “Arm Wrestle 4 A Popsicle”. Winners had the choice of 3 playfully flavored trout-inspired popsicles - Nightcrawler, Power Bait, and Salmon Roe. Artist Katie Peck, who spent the day in costume as a rainbow trout, encouraged guests to step up and try their hand at an arm wrestle.
Shibori Indigo dyeing, group meditation, and dance workshops were open for community members of all ages as well.
While the daytime activities fostered appreciation of fixed art, a dance party until midnight at The Lantern Inn offered guests a space for performative art.
When describing the environment of The Wassaic Project, Smith emphasized, “It’s all community, it’s all love.”
A serene scene from the Amenia garden tour.
AMENIA — The much-anticipated annual Amenia Garden Tour drew a steady stream of visitors to admire five local gardens on Saturday, July 13, each one demonstrative of what a green thumb can do. An added advantage was the sense of community as neighbors and friends met along the way.
Each garden selected for the tour presented a different garden vibe. Phantom’s Rock, the garden of Wendy Goidel, offered a rocky terrain and a deep rock pool offering peaceful seclusion and anytime swims. Goidel graciously welcomed visitors and answered questions about the breathtaking setting.
Amenia Finance Director Charlie Miller welcomed visitors to his Bog Hollow Road garden in Wassaic, a manicured expansive yard with well-placed garden beds framing a far-reaching view. He said he plans carefully each winter for the next spring’s improvement.
The organic, environmentally responsible Maitri Farm was next, a lesson in coordinating agriculture with natural balance. The farm stand and a walk among the greenhouses brought visitors together.
Near the center of Amenia was the garden of Polly Pitts-Garvin, offering a chance to visit a robust vegetable garden with raised beds to be envious of and a remarkable absence of any insects or usual vegetable garden problems.
At Chez Cheese, the vast garden acreage surrounding the 1850s historic home of Joan Feeney and Bruce Phillips in Millerton, visitors could begin at refreshment stations where walking tour maps of the 15-acre property were available. There were streams and ponds with docks, and a dozen bridges arranged around the landscape. In the 19th-century, the property had been the home of the Wilson Cheese Factory, inspiring the name of the estate.
The Amenia Garden Tour was supported this year by Paley’s Garden Center in Sharon.
Gary Dodson working a tricky pool on the Schoharie Creek, hoping to lure something other than a rock bass from the depths.
PRATTSVILLE, N.Y. — The Schoharie Creek, a fabled Catskill trout stream, has suffered mightily in recent decades.
Between pressure from human development around the busy and popular Hunter Mountain ski area, serious flooding, and the fact that the stream’s east-west configuration means it gets the maximum amount of sunlight, the cool water required for trout habitat is simply not as available as in the old days.
This is not a new phenomenon. It does seem to be getting worse, though.
Gary Dodson and I convened where the creek makes its final run into the Schoharie reservoir, part of the New York City water supply system, on a semi-broiling Thursday afternoon, July 11.
The goal was simple. Catch smallmouth bass, which abound in the lower section of the river.
This was hot stuff — as in an 80-degree water temperature.
The air temperature was actually slightly less at 77.
After negotiating the intensely slippery rocks, festooned with treacherous algae, the first major pool presented several difficulties, with a back eddy competing with a main flow and several large trees draped about the whole thing.
I hit on the simplest strategy, which was to flip a weighted attractor fly called a Tequilley into the start of the eddy so it would proceed slowly but steadily into the maelstrom, sinking all the while.
This worked. A proper adult smallmouth, with bronze coloring and vertical stripes, took the thing.
The point-and-shoot camera finally died, however, and I was not going to try to fumble my phone out for a nice but routine fish photo.
Why not?
Because I guarantee the fish would have made a sudden, last-moment bolt for freedom, causing me to drop the device into the drink.
Gary moved downstream while I continued trying to annoy the residents of the pool, succeeding a couple of times with different colored Wooly Buggers.
Then we all got bored and I moved off, where Gary was catching rock bass and cussing them out for not being something else.
I have to admit, they are not the most compelling critters. Something about the red eyes.
This latest trip was dominated by extremely tedious and distasteful Harry Homeowner activities, but on both Wednesday and Thursday mornings I prowled Woodland Valley Creek. By “morning” I mean “dawn,” because that was when the water temps were down to a barely acceptable 64.
I made the acquaintance of several stocked browns and of a handful of their wild cousins. The wild fish are smaller and nimbler.
The successful ploy was an Adams wet fly, size 16, drifted behind something big, like a Parachute Adams or Stimulator.