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Meet the Minnesota Makers

@meettheminnesotamakers

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michelle@meettheminnesotamakers.com
It’s humbling when people share that an event you It’s humbling when people share that an event you helped organize was exactly what they needed at that moment. What they sought? Community. Stories from real people in real life. Food and drink. A chance to celebrate Minnesota’s creative small businesses. This past Saturday at the Farm at the Arb at the MN Landscape Arboretum we gathered for our 10th Taste Makers class. Each of these classes has been a unique journey built around the experience, passion, and talents of three different Minnesota makers. For our first ever reunion class we invited four fan favorites back to collaborate in the space. With Chefs Beth Fisher and Cheo Smith at the helm, our guests savored sips and samples and shared in the makers’ passions for feeding people the best ways they know how. Thank you for Nate and Tracy of @keepsakecidery , Tom of @strudelman , Bridget of @ohsoups and Jessica and Tony of @hartcountrymeats One of the makers shared this morning that they were still on a “high” from Saturday’s class. They were just wowed by the kind group of humans who gathered together to talk about what it means to share in sacred process of feeding people real food. I’m so grateful to the makers, the Arb’s volunteers, our chefs, and our guests for making this class an especially rich one. How fortunate I feel to be a small piece of this puzzle. Grateful to be a Minnesota small business. We’ll announce our next class soon. I look forward to seeing what sort of magic that class will bring.
This is a hard time for our Minnesota small busine This is a hard time for our Minnesota small business community. It’s growing harder by the day to keep businesses going. The uncertainty and instability make a tough job tougher. I’m a wordsmith. I have struggled to find the words to express what’s happening in my adopted home state. This is what I do know: Minnesota’s people are what make this state an amazing place to be. Minnesota’s people have built and celebrate strong community ties. Diversity is a virtue, an asset that makes the way we live richer. We applaud efforts that build strong ties among communities. Meet the Minnesota Makers provides points of connection. We tell stories and connect you to small businesses that grow, craft and create their products here. We know that words matter. Stories matter. We are proud to be a Minnesota small business. We are proud to call Minnesota our home. Be safe, take care of each other, and support local.
You kept the magic in the neighborhood. You chos You kept the magic in the neighborhood. You chose to spend intentionally. Your shopping made a neighbor’s season merry. You know that your bestie deserves better than Amazon. Thank you! Thousands of you visited the Meet the Minnesota Makers “Shop Minnesota” gift guide. Hundreds of you shopped our newsletter discount codes. These are the real faces of the makers, growers and doers from the “Shop Minnesota” gift guide by Meet the Minnesota Makers. These creative business owners worked all year long to bring their products to life. When you shop and share the makers from our guide, your purchase immediately impacts a real person. On behalf of the 141 makers in our winter holiday “Shop Minnesota” gift guide—thank you for choosing intentionally. The guide’s still open. Big changes coming in a few weeks as we prepare for our Valentine’s Day edition. #meetthemnmakers #mn #mnmade #mnsmallbusiness #shopmn
This is a maker story about how small changes make This is a maker story about how small changes make big differences. It is a story about how makers’ products shape pieces of people’s celebratory traditions. This story also involves a sailboat. Sara and Andy Kubiak founded the @vanillabeanproject in Lakeland. They bottled their first batch of extract in November 2017. Their business is a “project” because it is their goal to always be making vanilla better. “There’s an invitation in our name,” says Sara. “It brings people along, everyone who uses vanilla. Together we can improve this product and the condition of the people who grow and produce it.” Vanilla is the fruit of an orchid. Originally from Mexico, vanilla plants made their way to England where they were prized greenhouse items for wealthy collectors. Sara noted the power of the vanilla orchid’s story. “Vanilla allows us to talk about pollinators, climate change and also workers rights. There’s also a story about how pure vanilla extract totally transforms a dish. It’s the real impact of quality ingredients.” There is a deep cost to transport the vanilla from its origin to Minnesota bakers. That’s where the sailboat comes in. “Shipping by commercial sail cargo allows us to have vanilla beans without the environmental impact of the typical transportation carbon load. Using the wind is something that we used to do to move products around the world.” “It’s just been such an adventure,” reflects Sara on building their business together with Andy. “Instead of working for someone else’s business, we decided to invest in ourselves and see what happens. The coolest part has been figuring it out. We have created something out of nothing. That’s kind of cool.” Sara uses their vanilla extract frequently in banana bread or carrot cake. She recommends the paste for carrot cake’s cream cheese frosting. “I love using the paste in frosting to get the specks,” smiles Sara. Twin Cities locals will find Vanilla Bean Project vanilla in delightful treats at St Paul’s @cafelattemn or at coffee shops including @rootsroasting and @backstorycoffee @pumphousecreamery uses it in their vanilla ice cream. Full feature at meettheminnesotamakers.com
Coffeewomple: derived from Coddiwomple [verb] to t Coffeewomple: derived from Coddiwomple [verb] to travel purposefully to an unknown destination. Based in NE Minneapolis, Nicole Bolea and Zach Whitney are the cofounders of Coffeewomple Roastery, the United State’s first electric roaster of directly-sourced coffee beans. Their roastery commits every day to making the more sustainable choice regardless of cost. These choices include their personal connection with their farmers around the world, their roasting process itself and their compostable packaging and shipping materials. Nicole shares that, “We love coffee and wanted to do it with purpose. We wanted to leverage our backgrounds to roast and package more sustainably.” Every time I talk with Nicole and Zach I learn something new about the science of roasting, the nuance of coffee’s flavor profiles or what they, as roasters and coffee aficionados, look for to create the desired flavor profile from each batch of beans. Coffeewomple fans notice how Nicole and Zach’s process highlights the natural flavors of the beans in nuanced ways. “You can make good coffee just by starting out with a good bean. That will get you 90% of the way there,” explains Zach. “That final 10% requires a lot of testing. The palette is huge. One thing you learn early on is that you can’t add a flavor that’s not there. If it’s not in that green bean to start, you’re not going to find it.” The search for a high quality, durable and yet compostable coffee bag was an intentional choice, even though it increases their supply costs. “Living in Minnesota where we have access to really good commercial composting, we choose to support that infrastructure. We want to show that reducing the negative environmental impact of coffee can be done. It has to be done if we’re going to still have a viable coffee crop for the next generation of farmers.” Nicole and Zach love to invite people into their space. It’s an opportunity to share what they’ve learned about the process and product of coffee. Nicole laughs, “We relish any chance to nerd out about coffee. It is truly our favorite.” Find Coffeewomple at the @ne_fm this winter. Full feature at meettheminnesotamakers.com
Each story is different. Each product is unique. Each story is different. Each product is unique. Here are a few of the real faces of the makers, growers and doers from the “Shop Minnesota” gift guide by Meet the Minnesota Makers. These creative business owners have worked all year long to bring their products to life. When you shop and share the makers from our guide, your purchase immediately impacts a real person. That direct contact? Priceless. The guide is open for your browsing pleasure. It’s always a good time to shop locally. Visit https://meettheminnesotamakers.com/holiday-gift to meet these makers and dozens more.
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