By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
In six years since Flatlands Coffee opened its doors, the shop has continually tried to adjust to customer needs with a pandemic thrown in.
For the first three years, owner Ben Vollmar purchased the roasted beans for the shop from a variety of sources, both domestic and international.
He found himself drawn to roasted beans sourced from Copenhagen that produced a lighter brew.
In 2019 he decided to roast his own beans in that style. Just three later, “Food & Wine” magazine honored Flatlands as the best coffee roaster in Ohio.
In its citation, the magazine wrote: “From small (and smart) college town coffee shop to the most daring roaster in the state, focused on the challenging, lighter Nordic style—in just six years. Rest of Ohio, take note.”
Vollmar noted this was not an award for best coffee shop, but rather recognizes Flatlands’ coffee, its core product. Even a few months after starting roasting the coffee started winning awards.
The Nordic style is a lighter roast. “Nothing we roast is ever dark,” he said.
And the roasting is guided by taste. The common practice is to cup the beans after roasting where water is poured directly onto the beans as an expeditious way of tasting the brew.
Vollmar actually brews up the coffee as he would before serving it to the customer.
The Nordic style and way of tasting the roast are somewhat controversial. “Both those things stir up conversation in the industry,” he said. That helps make the shop’s product stand out.
Right now, he said, the roasting is done at a storage shed size facility off-site. “I hope this award can help us expand and grow,” Vollmar said. “I hope we can get into a space where people can come and see it. I’d love for it to change and be in a larger location and have classes. I’m hoping this can be a springboard for that growth.”
Right now, Flatlands Coffee is served at a few other shops, and can be ordered online either retail or wholesale.
Flatlands also bakes all its own pastries at a kitchen in the Woodland Mall.
The shop has also taken part in national barista competitions.
[RELATED: Flatlands Coffee reaches for new heights in barista championships]
It’s just part of his mission to position Flatlands at the high end of the business.
That includes the stylish, spare interior. That seating is about to get a boost – at least on warm dry days. A parklet will be installed next week in front of the shop, which is at 138 N. Main St.
Vollmar said he was pleased to be working with the BGSU students who are involved in the process. They listened to him about the aesthetic of the shop and were able to extend that style to the parklet.
The parklet project builds on what he sees as “the core strength of Bowling Green.”
It is an authentic and down-to-earth culture of authenticity unlike anything he sees elsewhere in his travels around the country. The parklets project that image.
“How that plays into sales and business, I don’t know,” he said. “I am very excited to see how it helps business,”
When he opened Flatlands some people rolled their eyes believing there wasn’t room for another coffee shop in town. The competition has gotten even stiffer in the past six years.
“I’m going to focus on what we’re doing, our mission, our distinctions, and not worry about what others are doing,” Vollmar said. “ What can I do to be the one that has unique and distinct product and make the numbers work? … Cash is the limiting factor.”
Still, Vollmar added, “dreams are never in deficit here at Flatlands.”
