Nate Whipple said he and his wife share the charism of hospitality and evangelization, and had a dream to one day have a space in which to welcome people and build relationships.
As a first step, the couple started operating a coffee roastery in Northeast Minneapolis last year out of their garage. Instead of a roastery, one could call it a studio, Whipple said lightly. He roasts the beans in the same building used by his wife, an oil painter. “So it’s two-thirds oil painting studio, one-third roastery,” he said. But they have plans for more.
The couple named their business Karol Coffee after a favorite pope, St. John Paul II, born Karol Wojtyla in Poland. Whipple recently discussed the roastery — and its name — during an interview with “Practicing Catholic” radio show host Patrick Conley for an upcoming episode.
“He’s always been an inspiration of mine,” said Whipple, who attends and works at Holy Cross in Northeast Minneapolis, a historically Polish parish that still has a Polish language Mass. Naming the business Karol Coffee is “sort of an homage to the neighborhood and to … a patron saint for kind of our wonderful family,” he said.
Considering St. John Paul II’s “values and the vision … he’s an easy guy to get behind and … have supporting you because he lived life to the full,” Whipple said.
Whipple’s wife commissioned a portrait of St. John Paul II for him for their wedding, a gift that hangs in their living room.
Whipple said he hopes to someday open a coffee shop. The dream was always to have a space to welcome people and “kind of a soft sell on the Catholic faith, to be able to invest in relationship and to build relationship in order to eventually welcome people either back to the Church or into the Church,” he said.
So how does Whipple describe his ideal cup of coffee? To hear his response, listen to the full interview by tuning in to this episode of “Practicing Catholic,” which debuts at 9 p.m. Sept. 1 on Relevant Radio 1330 AM and repeats at 1 p.m. Sept. 2 and 2 p.m. Sept. 3.
To learn more about Karol Coffee, visit karolcoffeeco.com.
Produced by Relevant Radio and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the latest show also includes an interview with Kelly Lester, who discusses the power of praying against abortion while in front of abortion clinics, and Beth Davis from Blessed is She, who discusses that Catholic women’s community and what it means to “burn for the Lord.”
Listen to interviews after they have aired at PracticingCatholicShow.com or choose a streaming platform at anchor.fm/practicing-catholic-show.
