It all started with Lynn Burkholder. 

If you know him well, you won't be surprised to hear that a visit from friends inspired him to roast his own coffee. However, there was a major twist to the story. 

Merle and Rita Nisley were traveling from their home in Ontario, Canada, when they paid a visit to the Burkholder home. Merle is a coffee roaster and brought freshly roasted beans to share. Lynn and Lynne were almost exclusively tea drinkers, so instead of a coffee grinder, they had to use a blender! Bizarre? Maybe. But the taste that came out of this moment of ingenuity was far from an ordinary cup. It's not an exaggeration to say that the cup of coffee they shared that evening changed everything. 

Lynn continued to experiment with roasting, and what did he use to roast his first batches of beans? What does anyone use to roast their first batch of beans? A hot air popcorn popper. (Yes, you read that right). And he did what every entrepreneur ever does - turned a hobby into a hustle.