2022 was a lil' crazy

💥 Top 10 of 2022 - in no particular order...

1. Good Food Award WINNER 2022
2. The Get Mad Crusade - interviews, merch, resources, and the list goes on
3. Creativity - fun with videos (sunflower shoot) merch & design 
4. Focus on grocery - Walmart, Publix, Whole Foods
5. We got a bigger roaster!
6. The New Evangelicals collab…and in person podcast event
7. Highlighting some of our favorite Chattanooga folks: Jennifer, Herb, Kimmie, Alexa, Swerzie, Antonio
8. Axis Mundi collection launch  
9. Roaster of the Year FINALIST 2023 with Roast Magazine 
10. Travels: Mexico, Boston, NY, El Salvador, Philadelphia, Durham 

Another year over and a new one’s just begun. Well, we’re over a month in, but hey. If you can get through January you can get through the rest of the year, right? 

Mad Priest sure did a lot of BIG stuff last year. 2022 was the year of trying everything new. Some of it worked, some of it didn’t. And now headed into year seven as a business, we are taking these lessons learned as we push ourselves to new heights.

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1. Good Food Award WINNER 2022

In January, the 2022 Good Food Award Winners were announced, and we were one of them! We are so honored to be a GFA WINNER in the coffee category with our Yemenia Bait Alal Special Reserve (from Qima Coffee in Yemen). Read more here. 

2. The Get Mad Crusade

Interviews, merch, resources, and the list goes on!

The #GetMad Crusade was a six month educational conversation. Each month we focused on a current topic to Get Mad about surrounding injustice in our world. Our goal was to cultivate curiosity and understanding by exploring these difficult, nuanced issues with experts in each field. “Journey as we learn to walk in empathy, pursue justice, and play a small part in creating a better, more curious world.” We had interviews (on Youtube & Spotify), tons of fun Get Mad merch and coffees, and all kinds of resources. All of that HERE. 

3. Creativity 

Ok so you know by now that Mad Priest is all about some curiosity, craziness, and creativity. In 2022 we took that creativity to the next level with all our Get Mad Crusade designs, and our online advertising campaign. Thanks to the incredible talent of Sunflower Films, we have a series of humorous coffee ads – some religious, and some non-religious. Have you seen them? No? Ok, go to Youtube now. 

4. Focus on grocery 

Yep, find us in regional Walmarts, East Tennessee Publix stores, and Chattanooga Whole Foods stores. Boom. Just trying to spread the good coffee “gospel” far and wide. 

5. We got a bigger roaster!

Yep, did that. She’s gorgeous. And she’s still not in use (long story haha). But we also got some other fun new “toys” to aid in our grocery store production…an auto bagger and autosealer. (You’re welcome, Q.)

6. The New Evangelicals collab

During our Get Mad Crusade, we dove into the concept of Christian Nationalism one month…if you want to know why a coffee company is talking about this, read this. Throughout the year we did a few fun things with our new friends at The New Evangelicals, culminating in a live podcast event in Chattanooga! 

“3 WISE MAD MEN | An Advent Special” was a community event centered around a live podcast recording with a nuanced discussion on faith (or lack thereof) and life in these wild times. We wanted to do something a little different and bring the discussion to the people with Tim (of TNE), April (of April AJoy the famous tick-tock account) & Michael. Video and podcast coming soon! 

7. Highlighting some of our favorite Chattanooga folks

We did a bunch of photos and posts throughout the summer and fall with some of our favorite Chattanooga folks. Go follow these people and support their work: 

Jennifer - Tattoo artist and owner of Mainline Tattoo

Herb - Professional skater

Kimmie - Artist, Actress, Model, Musician 

Alexa - All things community housing related

Swerzie - Musician & Creative

Antonio - entrepreneur extraordinaire and owner of Party Bites Catering, Green Bean Coffee Company, Mr. Beast Burger Chattanooga, and Cha Cha Masala Chai 

8. Axis Mundi collection launch  

For all of you who love super special, “top shelf” coffees, this collection is for you. Previously our coffees in black bags, we decided to take this series to a whole new level with new branding and  smaller glass jars so that it’s more accessible $$$ for folks to try. 

Our new line of the most exquisite coffees from around the world, AXIS MUNDI X MAD PRIEST, celebrates the places where heaven meets earth in our lives. The concepts of Axis Mundi rooted in many of the world's religions & cultures inspired us to create this new collection of top shelf coffees. Through these coffees, we turn our attention towards the broader view of the world, the glory of the divine in each of us, and the celebration of our humanity. Learn more about these coffees.

9. Roaster of the Year FINALIST 2023 with Roast Magazine 

It's true!  WE WERE NAMED A 2023 ROASTER OF THE YEAR FINALIST with Roast Magazine, Micro Roaster Category. What an honor! ⁠Chocolate Fish Roasters was the second finalist, and Rabbit Hole Roasters was the winner. Read more about this extensive competition here. 

10. Travels!

I almost couldn’t think of a 10th one haha. This will have to do! 

In January Ben & Michael got to go to Oaxaca, Mexico to visit coffee farms with our partners Caravela Coffee! Check out this blog post to join them on their exciting adventure through the big city all the way to remote coffee farms & back…and learn more about the process of coffee. 

Next up was Boston for SCA Expo with Adam, Garrett and Michael, NY with Adam & Michael, El Salvador where Michael was a judge for the Cup of Excellence El Salvador. And later, Philadelphia to do a road trip with some great folks for an event (see #6), and Durham where Michael was working with some coffee industry folks (more on that in 2023).