Chad Rickner is ending a 25-year run as a teacher and turning his full attention to the dark art of coffee bean roasting. (Photos courtesy Megan Rickner)
Great coffee for great people.
That’s the slogan driving Chad Rickner, who recently retired from a 25-year teaching career to fully focus on his new love, running Coupeville Coffee Roasters.
Officially launching in 2022, the bean biz is booming, and with budget cuts looming in the school district, it seemed a perfect time to embrace a “second act” career.
Not that Rickner didn’t go out without a bang, however.
His final day as a PE teacher at Coupeville Elementary — a job he’s held since 2017 — was supposed to be June 16.
But, while setting up for the school’s Field Day earlier in the week, Rickner took a header off of wet bleachers while stretching out a parachute to dry.
The normally spry teacher dropped four feet, with the ground delivering a KO on impact.
Rickner lost the fight with Mother Earth, suffering a concussion, possible torn rotator cuff, lower back muscle spasms, and a variety of new and interesting bruises.
Which still didn’t slow his roll.
“Apparently, he just couldn’t wait three more days and had to go out with a bang,” said wife Megan with a laugh.
“He’s doing much better now, but it was hard to keep him down and not roasting!” she added. “He’s back at it this week and soooooo loving every single second.”
Home for the holidays.
Rickner’s steamy romance with coffee began early, when his 12-year-old lips first came into contact with what he now describes as a “terrible” cup of joe.
While that initial taste left him wanting, he remained in close contact with the caffeinated beverage over the years, his love for the coffee bean growing as his knowledge deepened.
“He loves learning everything he can about it – reading, watching YouTube, speaking with other professionals, going to coffee conventions,” Megan Rickner said.
“Basically, devouring everything he can about coffee.”
Chad Rickner made the move into roasting his own beans in 2021, after purchasing a small sample roaster.
A year later, he was the proud owner of a much-larger device, weighing in at 1,000+ pounds, and he hasn’t slowed down since.
A member of the Specialty Coffee Association, Rickner focuses on roasting small batches of high-grade green coffee, with an emphasis on using beans which are ethically sourced.
“Chad realized he could make freaking amazing coffee and was just so excited and passionate about it, that he decided to jump in and buy the big one and make a go of it,” Megan Rickner said.
“We never expected it to take off as quickly as it did.
“His passion is contagious, word of mouth traveled, and he has been so busy that it’s been difficult to find time to do both jobs.”
Coupeville Coffee Roasters sells both direct to local customers, and online, and their product is popping up in more and more shops and restaurants.
With the school year winding down, and a contract in hand to supply a coffee shop and coffee stand with all their beans, the time seemed perfect for Chad Rickner to turn two jobs into one.
That brings an end to a teaching career which has carried him between multiple countries.
Rickner’s parents worked for the Department of Defense, with his father teaching in Japan and Germany, instilling a love of travel in their son, and he bounced around the globe as a young adult.
Coming out of college, he started teaching in Hong Kong, then returned to America to work in Oklahoma.
After that came stints in China and the Netherlands, a side jaunt to Japan, and, finally, settling down for good on Whidbey Island.
Rickner taught PE and coached basketball during his time overseas, and both of his sons, TJ and Grady, went on to play God’s chosen sport during their days at Coupeville High School.
All about that hoop life.
After purchasing a home in Oak Harbor in 2004, the family spent summers on Whidbey, before returning overseas during the school year.
Once back on The Rock for good, Rickner moved to Coupeville full-time in 2019, with plans to be around for quite some time.
“We will never leave this amazing community!” he said in a Facebook post announcing his retirement as a teacher.
That love for his current home is one his wife has seen grow.
“He made some really great lifelong friends and was able to finally become part of a community as a permanent resident,” Megan Rickner said. “He loves that.
“Going to our kids’ sports games and seeing his students, going to restaurants and knowing the servers, seeing friends everywhere.
“Basically, everything the rest of us love about the community, he was able to start that at CES and broaden it the longer he lived here.”
Reelin’ them in.
As he moves into the full-time bean biz, Chad Rickner has tasty, toasty dreams.
Coupeville Coffee Roasters product will start popping up at local farmers markets and festivals, and he plans to create more videos to share his coffee passion.
A people person, Rickner enjoys the social side of producing coffee.
“He loves having people drop in to watch a roast or try the coffee with a “cupping” session,” Megan Rickner said.
“He doesn’t ever want the company to become anything other than a successful, local, community-centric business that allows for personal connection with clients and customers.”
So, don’t expect Coupeville Coffee Roasters to “go big,” but do expect to see its beans become available in more island coffee shops, restaurants, and stores.
With more time on his hands, Chad Rickner is primed to travel to the farms which supply his beans, in an effort to “learn more and make that direct connection more personal.”
There might even be a bit of brick and mortar in the future.
“We’d love to open a roastery in downtown Coupeville, so he can connect with local community members more, have a storefront for selling, and hold coffee education classes/demonstrations,” Megan Rickner said.
“He loves our community so much, so to move the roastery from our property to a place that’s easier for locals to find and visit would be a dream.”
For more info on Coupeville Coffee Roasters, pop over to:
https://www.coupevillecoffeeroasters.com/
Riding off to new adventures.
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