Who We Are
While we wish we could take credit for how good our coffee is, it really comes down to our producers and their dedication to their craft. The best a coffee will ever be is while it is in our producers hands, we just try to ensure we roast and serve that coffee to its potential.
Meet Sean Harwin
Initially by happenstance, Sean had his first taste in the coffee industry in 2010 while living in Colorado and like many coffee professionals, it was as a barista wearing a green apron. Then, after relocating to Seattle he received an opportunity to work at a specialty coffee roasting facility. Immediately, he fell in love with specialty coffee.
After working through every job possible in the company, from labeling bags to roasting, he found the most rewarding aspects of this job was traveling the world and documenting the estates that the roastery would buy its green coffee from.
Passion for coffee
Now leading Glissade Coffee Company, he is more dedicated than ever to ensure that the passionate people in every step of the farm to cup process are highlighted for their hard work.
Outside of the coffee world, Sean can be found behind the lens of his camera, riding his bike, trail running, and just being outdoors with his wife, Laura, and their dog, Echo.
Inspiration
When it came time for Sean to name this company he wanted to make sure it was something fun and outdoorsy. He found it tough to come up with anything that was unique, but after telling a friend recently about how he and his wife got engaged, it hit him! The highlight of that epic adventure where they got engaged was indeed the part where Laura said yes, but a close second was glissading down the mountain after they summited.
A perfect day
Back in July of 2017 Sean and Laura, went to summit Mount Adams in Washington state. They planned for it to take two days with an overnight about 3,000 feet below the summit. As they hiked up the mountain on the first day, Sean made a joke about how heavy his pack was; "It's like I got a big rock in this thing!" They set up camp and were in awe of the perfect conditions as the sun set. Since Laura didn't get the joke initially, Sean pulled out the rock he carried up the mountain and proposed to Laura.
Taking the fun way down
The next morning, they set off to summit the mountain. Although it was only about 2 miles to the summit, it took nearly 2 hours. It was a flawless bluebird day and at the summit they had an unobstructed view of Mount Rainier, St. Helens, Hood, and all of the other Cascadia volcanos. Turning around and heading down the mountain only took about 35 minutes because they glissaded down! It was so incredibly fun to quickly slide down the glacier that was so challenging to climb up. If anyone has the chance to glissade in the right conditions, it is a must do!