To Better Coffee
Last week, we sat down with Tie Groth the Service Manager of Principal CES, Reverie’s coffee equipment service provider to hear his story and learn more about the work and service that Principal CES provides.
As many of us here at Reverie, somehow we have managed to start drinking coffee way before any doctor would probably recommend, but honestly who can resist? For Tie, his journey to coffee started about five years ago. Tie said that he was 15 years old, kicking it with a buddy, and his friend asked if he wanted some coffee. Before this, as many of us, the only familiar coffee option was the commodity-grade stuff you get at the store.
Service Manager of Principal CES, Tie Groth. Photo by Juan Garcia
“When I accepted this offer, my friend walked me over to his little home pour over station. I was a little blown away seeing this science experiment looking set up.” Soon after, Tie bought homebrew equipment and started making espresso and pour overs at home. To see such intentionality behind something as simple as coffee was really the biggest thing that drew him in, he says. Around that time, he had been introduced to the Milkfloat crew who was just getting things started up. When they opened in 2016, Tie joined their team as a barista in February 2016. Tie said that he worked there for about a year and being there meant so much because it was his first barista experience.
“I was able to get more experience that I would not have been able to get if I was still just slinging beans at home in my kitchen.”
Throwback to the first Reverie location on east Douglas.
Around 2016-2017, Tie said he was going to Reverie almost every day of the week. For him, Reverie was really the only place in Wichita that he could find who was really digging into specialty coffee. “I was there all the time, asking questions, and trying to learn more. I was not necessarily looking to pursue a professional career in coffee. It was more of a hobby, but after working as a barista I was beginning to see how I could integrate this into my life.” After about a year and a half of working at Milkfloat, Tie was approached by the former service manager of Principal CES, Chris Wells, to see if he would be interested in learning how to be a technician and start working on coffee equipment. He said that working a technician was something that he really had never been an idea.
“I didn’t even realize that was a job. I was always involved in some type of blue-collar work, doing construction, working on cars, so to be introduced to this idea to take all that experience and merge that with my passion for coffee was very excited.”
Eventually after meetings with Andrew and Chris, Tie joined Reverie as a technician apprentice where he trained doing service calls and working on equipment. He says it was something new everyday and there was never a dull moment in meeting new people and approaching new problems. After nine months of training and two weeks after Tie graduated high school, our service manager Chris moved on, and we asked Tie if he wanted to be the service manager of Principal CES.
Photo by Juan Garcia
“At that point, I was just a wide-eyed kid who was really just settling into everything, but I was like, ‘Hell yeah, let’s do it.’ And, I dove in head first and I learned a lot more about running a business.”
At first, Tie says he faced many challenges with this new position, the biggest was the change from being just a worker to manager. Even with the challenges, our customers can definitely attest to his phenomenal ability in taking care of them and their equipment. When asked what Tie thinks makes Principal CES special he said, “I am most proud of the business model that we have implemented, and that’s our comprehensive service subscription.” Normally, coffee service customers pay for things as they happen. For Principal CES it’s a much more provocative model. Tie says that we’ve realized that if we're going to try and help a business grow then we have to be a partner in their success. If we're just sitting around waiting for things to break, it’s not productive. With Principal CES, people don’t have to be scared or worried about their equipment as it’s already paid for. If you call us, we’re there.
Principal CES is the backbone of many of the things that we do here at Reverie, and for many of our service customers, it’s crucial to dialing in everything to get that perfect coffee flavor.
We service, install, maintain, and distribute premium specialty coffee-related equipment. We also provide necessary water filtration systems for the coffee industry. If this sounds like something you could use at your restaurant or business, our staff aims to provide expert, comprehensive coffee equipment service and support to coffee brewers in our community.
CONTACT
Tie Groth, Service Manager
service@principal.coffee
316-393-8877