The Flight Crew
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Claudia Barrett
Founder | 2013 Q Grader | SCAA Certified Instructor
Self proclaimed coffee and baseball geek, Claudia lives in Bedford, NH with her husband, Jim, and their two children. A native New Englander, Claudia rode out the coffee wave of the 1990s in Washington D.C. where she managed and helped launch a national coffee chain on the East Coast. Around the same time, she managed coffee quality and customer happiness for a local favorite roastery. Claudia’s roasting apprenticeship was done at a small wholesale company: “The Daily Roast."
In April 2013, Claudia became a Licensed Q Grader. Licensed Q Graders are professional cuppers accredited by the Coffee Quality Institute. Q Graders must pass a rigorous three-day exam comprising of 22 sections on coffee related subjects including green grading, roast identification, coffee cupping, and sensory skills.
Holding a degree in English from William Smith College, Claudia believes her liberal arts education was the greatest gift towards her personal growth. An avid hiker and supporter of the Appalachian Mountain Club, she’s also working on red lining the White Mountains, having already climbed all 48 peaks.
Jacob Ryder
Director of Coffee | Trainer
Jacob fell into the world of specialty coffee during a stint as a barista. After some time out of the industry, he returned, reinvigorated, to pursue coffee in a new way: roasting! Always a student, Jacob never stops searching for ways to make coffee better. He’s inclined towards the sciences and strives to apply all he’s learned – and all he will learn – to create consistently fantastic coffee. The first person to call when the digital world comes crashing down, Jacob is also a computer geek who loves applying his tech skills to the roasting process.
Soon be taking the Q Exam, Jacob is excited to grow within the specialty coffee community.
Katherine Powers
Manager | Trainer
Having worked in a few coffee shops, it wasn’t until Katherine’s time at 929 in Starkville, MS that she grew to love specialty coffee. A senior barista, 929 taught her more than she could have imagined. Katherine loves learning about coffee origins, sustainability, and the environmental impacts of coffee. Isn’t it amazing one can taste the region in which a particular coffee was grown? She loves Ethiopian coffees because they never cease to amaze with their intensely floral profiles. Katherine does a little of this and that around Flight, from office work, to coffee packaging, to roasting.
In her time away from work, she enjoys spending time with her husband and two dogs, Clementine and Nina. She loves to cook and bake, as well as garden.
James N. Barrett III
Bean Counter | CEO (and tea drinker of all things…)
Jim holds several degrees in all sorts of stuff but we rely on his Accounting Degree and MBA the most. Jim traveled extensively in far away coffee lands, fighting evil monkeys with his whip until one day he realized how much fun it would be to get tasked non-stop with accounting issues and roaster repair.
Claudia is considering nominating him for Most Supportive Husband ever but then she falls on the ground laughing.