By Crystal McGough, Associate Editor
TRUSSVILLE – Coffee enthusiast in Trussville and the surrounding communities don’t have to look far to find high quality specialty roasts. In fact, they don’t have to look any further than the Magnolia Place subdivision in Trussville, where local resident and Clay-Chalkville Middle School teacher Matthew Yerby roasts and sells his special Fly Line Coffee from his home.
Fly Line Coffee Co. owner Matthew Yerby (photo courtesy of Matthew Yerby)
With a background in business and a passion for coffee and the outdoors, Yerby founded Fly Line Coffee Co. in September 2022, with a dream to provide coffee drinkers both near and far with fresh-roasted, high quality coffee from around the globe.
“I’ve always been passionate about coffee – the different origins of where it comes from – and I wanted to make it more accessible, price-point-wise, to the general population.,” Yerby said. “And then, I love fly fishing. I wanted to combine both passions, so that’s where Fly Line – fly fishing and coffee – comes in. I can’t live without either.”
Yerby said that his first step to starting a coffee company was “lots of reading.” Once he felt he was ready, he began roasting and sampling his product. He now offers roasts from Colombia, Ethiopia, Mexico, Honduras, Panama and Kenya.
Photo courtesy of Matthew Yerby
Fly Line Coffee starts with green coffee beans that have been imported from their countries of origin, which Yerby then roasts at his house.
“Right now, I have an Ethiopian that I roast to a specific light roast,” he said. “It’s hard to find light roasts that honor the specific taste of each origin. Then I have a Columbian coffee that’s from the Narino region, and I roast it to a darker-medium to bring out the chocolate notes. So, I’m focusing on the single origin of the coffee. You can trace it back to a farm or coffee mill that’s owned by a certain family there in that country.”
The Columbian roast is also known as Rudy’s Roast, named after the Yerbys’ 10-year-old Yorkie/Jack Russel terrier mix.
“Rudy is there with me when I’m roasting, pretty much every single day,” Yerby said. “He’s just a big part of our life and I wanted to bring him into the brand, just to kind of cement him into the company.”
Photo courtesy of Matthew Yerby
Rudy’s Roast is available as an 8-ounce bag of whole bean coffee, and all the other roasts are available whole-bean in 10 once bags. Fly Line Coffee also offers the Columbian roast in single-serve coffee pods.
“I had so many people asking me if I carried the Keurig pods,” Yerby said. “I don’t carry the Keurig brand because that wouldn’t be my coffee, but I do sell another pod that I fill myself.”
Yerby said the pods he uses hold more coffee than the mass-produced brand name pods and they are 100% recyclable.
“And it’s obviously fresher because I’m roasting it,” he said. “Let’s say I roast it on Monday and then two days later I’m grinding it and filling the pods, and it’s shipped out the next day. So, it’s usually a three-day turnaround from when you order it to you receiving it.”
Trussville residents can enjoy the free pick-up option when they order at www.flylinecoffee.com, and for those who don’t live as close, Yerby offers standard shipping.
“Anything that’s on the website is available for local pick-up,” he said, and that includes merchandise such as Fly Line Coffee Co. T-shirts and stickers. “I hope to offer tumblers after the first of the year. I’m just trying to build the brand and get that exposure more.”
In addition to the website, Fly Line Coffee and merchandise can also be purchased through the company’s Instagram and Facebook pages.
For anyone interested in Fly Line Coffee, Yerby has two simple messages: support your local small businesses and “don’t drink bad coffee.”
“I’d love for people, especially here in Trussville, to give my coffee a try,” he said. “I’ve realized it before, but I really realize it now, that you need support from your community first to help grow a business.”
Crystal McGough can be contacted at mcgoughcrystal@gmail.com
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