FigBrew is changing the coffee game
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Coffee alternatives are taking off, but Huntsville's flavor is unique.
Why it matters: FigBrew, a roasted fig coffee alternative, is quietly reshaping the market and reviving a lost tradition from its Leeman Ferry Road headquarters.
Zoom in: Andy and Marianne Whitehead founded FigBrew five years ago, and have since fashioned a successful coffee alternative, racking up awards like Best Decaf Coffee at the NOLA Coffee Festival last month.
- Figs offer plenty of benefits, but no caffeine. Andy Whitehead drinks it in the morning with his coffee: 70% fig, 30% coffee.
Catch up quick: Whitehead, already a successful entrepreneur, sought solutions for heart, stomach and other health issues related to coffee, and found an article about people in Britain using figs to stretch coffee rations during WWII.
- He started experimenting with figs and landed on the blends FigBrew has today.
Zoom in: It's both a coffee alternative and supplement, with morning prebiotic blend and original digestive roast.
- Also, figs can be grown almost anywhere. FigBrew is working on a new farm in Morgan County, currently sourcing their figs from the Mediterranean.
- They're not trying to replace coffee culture, but enhance it as prices climb and pressures build on coffee farmers.
☕️ Derek's thought bubble: I'm a big coffee drinker, but catch myself mulling the acidic, climatic and financial impacts of my years of imbibing.
- I swung by FigBrew Monday, drank a fig espresso and a 50-50 coffee/fig blend. Then I bought two bags.
- It's coffee-like in flavor and aroma, and when added to coffee, acts to soften its acidic edge and what I described as coffee's "claggy-ness" of mouthfeel.
Driving the news: They've also got a big Black Friday sale going. Best place to get some is the website, or in their store at 3104 Leeman Ferry Rd.