-Blake Halvorson
One of StepUP’s former students is doing big things within the coffee industry. Matt McGinn, nicknamed Coffee Matt while attending Augsburg, graduated from the StepUP program and Augsburg College in 2013 with a Social Work degree. He did a couple of internships for his major and realized social work was not for him so he dove into his passion of brewing cold press.
Matt, now 26, has been brewing for over 10 years. With his past experience in brewing and working at other coffee shops he obtained a job after college at Mapps Coffee on Riverside. There he became the operating manager and in no time the store increased their operations and profits.
He knew he had a talent in the unsaturated market for cold press yet needed an investor. This last October Matt teamed up with his new partner Jake Nelson through an apprentice on Craigslist. Matt was looking for someone to invest in him and Jake was looking for someone to invest in. It was a perfect partnership.
They hit the market quick and opened up their own business called the Blackeye Roasting Company where the roasting is done right in the Twin Cities. They are selling it in a bottle or on tap (pictured above). Blackeye cold press is sold at over 20 locations in Minnesota with Augsburg as one of the newest locations on the map. Augsburg’s very own Nabo: a neighborhood cafe located in the same building as the StepUP program is now selling Matt’s product.
Matt also runs his own coffee shop by the name Quixotic Coffee located in St. Paul, MN. It has a meeting room available which occasionally hosts 12-step meetings and often attracts people in recovery. He has been working long hours with big payoffs. With the rate of growth it leads me to believe that this is just the beginning for Matt.
Coffee Matt, a man with a passion for cold press, is making a career out of it. The StepUP program is extremely proud of his accomplishments and knows there are many more to come. Matt will celebrate four years of sobriety in March. He is an inspiration to students about how following one’s passion can lead to a fulfilling career. We wish Matt the best and cannot wait to see what he brews up next!