SCOTT REED, coffeeman

We are only human. We try to stand erect, we trip, and slip and fall, and grab at something and pull ourselves up. Sometimes we are lucky, and we triumph over our challenges. Sometimes we fail. Most of the time we bumble on. Rarely, one of us, for a brief shining moment seems in the eyes of his fellows to touch perfection. We raise this fellow up and call him hero. I’ve met too many coffee heroes who turned out to have feet of clay to use the word freely.

Scott Reed left his job in the sunshine of California, and went home to the mud, devastation, and depression of New Orleans to help start a new business, and help the economy of New Orleans rebound after Hurricane Katrina. It took courage grit and resolve. The 2015 SCAA Awards committee remembering that horrible time and Scott’s efforts; recognized that this was a unique circumstance that raised us all up, and we honored Scott with a special award.  Scott, being the man he was, refused to accept the honor for himself but agreed to accept it in the name of the New Orleans Specialty Coffee Community. He was a fine coffeeman, a modest person, touched by an extraordinary event that momentarily put him in a position to act for us all in a courageous manner.

We lost Scott recently, and it is a grievous loss to us all. I am honored that he considered me a friend in coffee, and I will miss him. Please join me in raising a mug of your favorite single origin to a gentleman, Scott Reed.

– DNS, coffeeman