Jessie Blount, owner, Mae James Coffee.

  • The Stranger
  • Jessie Blount, owner, Mae James Coffee.

You won’t find Mae James at South Park’s Mae James Coffee, because she’s invisible. Owner Jessie Blount describes her as “an apparition of power, adventure, and boldness. She’s this woman who comes from faraway lands to the west to roast coffee.” Blount and Max Leinbach collaborated with Kelly Thompson, the head graphic designer at Theo Chocolate, to start Mae James and Burdick Brewery. The brewery and the roastery share a building; its industrial aesthetic, in a neighborhood of old craftsman houses, makes it look like it fell from space. (The brewery is currently expanding; they’ll be making beer again in November.) Mae James works with a nonprofit that instructs coffee farmers how to grow beans desirable to specialty roasters, allowing them to make more money. Blount’s degree in anthropology, focusing on global agriculture, drew her to this aspect of the job…

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Mae James Coffee’s next waffle breakfast is Saturday, October 4. Click here for more info!

Sarah Galvin—The Stranger’s Chow Bio columnist—will eat almost anything once, but dreams of retiring to a cottage made entirely of pizza. Her blog, The Pedestretarian, is devoted to reviews of food...