Twig & Olive Photography
Richard Wirsta is bringing a coffee lab approach to java at Garver.
After 25 years in corporate finance, Richard Wirsta decided it was time to follow his dream — or at least the aroma of roasted coffee beans. The Edmonton, Alberta, native and his wife, Robin, originally from Portage, are scheduled to open Ledger Coffee Roasters in the Garver Feed Mill by the end of September.
The Wirstas moved to Madison eight years ago when Richard took a finance job at Thermo Fisher Scientific, followed by a stint at Springs Window Fashions in Middleton. But he grew tired of corporate life and became attracted to the world of coffee.
“When we traveled, it was specifically to visit various restaurants and coffee shops,” Wirsta says. “The rest was, as you might say, gravy.”
Wirsta spent four years immersing himself in growing, roasting, grinding and brewing coffee, befriending an Iowa coffee roaster who helped him learn the trade. He watched YouTube videos and read voraciously about the world of coffee, a business he says has been as collegial and cooperative as the corporate world is cutthroat and competitive. One look inside the refurbished feed mill and Wirsta knew he had found a home for his 1,300-square-foot fledgling business.
“Garver is the place I wanted to be,” Wirsta says. “It has beautiful architecture, an open environment, and an energy and history that I appreciate.”
The area where the coffee is roasted, ground and blended will be visible through a series of windows between the coffee shop and an open atrium that borders the business. Multiple types of coffee and preparations will be served daily, including regular coffee, pour-overs, lattes and cappuccinos.
Bags of beans and ground coffee will be available for purchase, as will the usual swag of logoed t-shirts and coffee mugs, Wirsta says. Light pastries also will be available.
Initially, Ledger Coffee will be open from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. on weekdays and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on weekends. “If we see people pounding on our door in the late afternoon we will likely extend our hours,” Wirsta says.
Robin suggested the name Ledger for both the business and the brand, a reference to the accounting ledgers with which her husband had formerly spent all his time.
“We wanted a brand that was kitschy and fun, and how better to pay homage to my previous career?” Wirsta asks. “All my bean-counting nerd friends pick up on the reference.”
His bean-roasting nerd friends, on the other hand, will appreciate the Diedrich roaster that forms the cornerstone of Ledger Coffee’s “lab” and tasting room. Wirsta chose the IR-24, a 24-kilogram manually operated model that requires him to have direct contact with every step of the grinding and roasting process.
“It’s a little more old-school, with a hand in every process, but there’s no coffee from which you can’t get the absolute fullness and brightness [of flavor] with this roaster,” he says.
Wirsta’s system also includes a Vortx EcoFilter smoke elimination system, an economically and environmentally friendly way to eliminate smoke, odors, dust and chaff from the coffee roasting process exhaust. “We want to be good neighbors,” he says.
The Wirstas plan to source their beans initially from Café Imports, a Minneapolis firm that brings in beans from all over the world. Eventually, Wirsta would like to establish direct relationships with growers worldwide. “Kenya is on my bucket list,” he says.
But for now the coffee maker is content to raise both a new family (the couple recently welcomed a daughter, Hazel) and new business in ways that are beneficial not only to his family and customers, but also his staff. Adam Nelson, formerly of Café Domestique, will serve as head barista, responsible for the quality and preparation of both the coffee and the service and for managing the other baristas.
“I want to do my best to pay a living wage and operate with my associates in mind,” Wirsta says. “We’re trying to be what we think employers used to be and maybe what they should be.”
