Through every drink, you may recognize Lucky Goat Coffee Company with their unique signature, but the cup of coffee you buy is just a small sip of the story.
"We started in Tallahassee 15 years ago, 2005. My wife and I moved from Atlanta with three kids under three, and we started our whole sale and distribution service," Owner of Lucky Goat Coffee Company Ben Pautsch said.
As Florida State University graduates, Pautsch said him and his wife always felt like they would end up back in the Capital City.
Their businesses started with a distribution warehouse off Appalachee.
"We had over 300 whole sale accounts, but we were reselling other people’s products," Pautsch said. "We had to make something ourselves in order to create lucky goat coffee."
Ben said he went from doing wholesale to roasting his own coffee.
We are specialty coffee roasters, so being small and craft we’re trying to do what is called profile roasting," Pautsch said. "(meaning) get subtle nuances out of the coffee, so if it’s a cherry flavor and strawberry flavor or a chocolate and nut, we want to make sure that flavor comes through in the coffee we brew and roast."
Pautsch said he never imagined he would soon be selling his coffee reality.
From their famous cold brew and lattes, Pautsch says the name Lucky Goat goes back centuries.
"The legend of coffee was in 800 AD in Ethiopia," Pautsch said. "There was a Goat herder named Kaldi. Kaldi’s goats ate wild coffee cherries, become nephritic and started dancing. Anything in the specialty coffee industry goes back to Kaldi and his goats."
Ben said they’re continuing to grow cafes into more cities like Jacksonville, but the Lucky Goat brand will forever be a community stable that is Totally Tallahassee.
"I don’t think our brand would exist without Tallahassee and the community," Pautsch said. "They’ve created it. We owe a lot to the community. I think that we’re a big small town as a lot of people know, so to have something that is actually made local and served local that the community has gotten behind that. It’s been an honor to be a part of that."
