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My grandfather, Fred King and my great grandfather, Benjamin Thomas Wright both made bootleg wh***ey in the mountains of Western North Carolina. They called it the "White Mule" because it was clear in color and carried a kick, however, it was quite delicious, so you had to be careful when drinking it or you'd wind up crawling out the door on your hands and knees. They made it behind the city incinerator in Hendersonville, North Carolina. One Christmas, they noticed that some local restaurants had thrown out citrus that was over ripened, (mostly oranges and grapefruit) so they tried it out in their mash recipe. What they wound up with was a delicious likker (spelled properly in the mountains) that apparently had a higher proof as a result of the the fruit and when cooked right, was undeniable popskull likker. Bootlegging may have it's checkered history, but it's an art that few truly ever learned to master. (Check out the documentary on Popcorn Sutton, a former friend of my father)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glQjCKAI4gA
I never got into making moonshine, instead, I've had a 20 year career as a recording artist and writer in Nashville, TN. I recorded 2 traditional country albums for Atlantic Records, spent years on the road, and then did a record with Jay Joyce called "Rube." It was a look into the darker side of Appalachian culture and the struggle so many have to make it out of a life of spiritual, physical and mental poverty. As I was writing that album, I spent most every afternoon and evening at a local roastery and became obsessed with Malabar beans and the espresso that came from them.
10 years later, I received 50 pounds of the same green beans from two dear friends as a birthday present. With an industrial heat gun and a stainless colander, I began roasting, burning and baking the beans until I had a deliciously strange roast. I gave it to friends, family and yes, coffee snobs everywhere and to my surprise, it was a hit. As fate would have it, a dear friend introduced me to her brother-in-law, Mike Arnold who is a master roaster and owns Raphael's Roastery in Coffee County Tennessee. Mike began creating a roast profile for me at his roastery and within a couple of years, I was studying roasting under Don Cox from Boone, North Carolina. Our flagship coffee is aptly named, "Popskull Pitch" after the moonshine my people used to make because like their likker, it's strong and yet seductively smooth! Today, we have our own Sanfransiscan roaster and have built a roastery (www.kingcoffeeroasters.com) in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Tuckasegee, North Carolina and spend our days developing coffees that we get to share with you. As a 3rd generation North Carolinian, it's my desire to honor the perseverance and craftsmanship of my family and of Appalachia while building a team that is honored to be a part of a globally conscious coffee community.
