ALL ABOUT OTIS

Connecting with our legacies...

WHAT WE VALUE

We like to think we're putting stock in the important stuff, those things that will last a lifetime...and hopefully several lifetimes. We want our values to ring loud & clear in all that we do here at OTIS. Most importantly, we will forever remain committed to...

CONNECTING

Connections made over coffee hold the potential to facilitate and foster broader, more creative interactions with others in ways that are both informal AND intentional. 

CARRYING ON

The greatest honor we can pay the esteemed mentors who have shared their legacies with us is: learning & growing from those legacies while adding to them the best way we know how for the benefit of the next generation to carry onward.

CREATING

Nothing compares to the quality, the beauty, and the durability of handcrafted work. Its character will always shine bright because it reflects the spirit of the individual whose hands created it.

WHO WE ARE

OTIS is the physical manifestation of a singular, small thread of an idea that was dreamt up in early 2018 by Cody & Matt, two guys who really love great coffee & genuine creativity, no matter what form of expression it takes. Otis, the man, was Matt's maternal grandfather, a person from whom Matt & Cody gained much inspiration for this new coffee concept that they're building. The real Otis was most in his element when crafting one thing, fixing another, or teaching someone how to do the same with their own two hands...all things we believe this world could use a little more of!

Truth be told, Otis was a Folgers man. But we try not to hold that against him! While roasting & brewing really great coffee happens to be our craft, it wasn't necessarily his. Although Otis would never let a day pass without enjoying a hot cup of joe (or two) to help get him going! And it was that daily cup (or two!) that fueled his everyday pursuit to make an honest living for his family while working hard to help enrich their community of Conway, Arkansas...using the greatest assets he had: his hands, his creativity, and his instincts. And it's that legacy that we're inspired by and striving to build upon today... 

The Otis Craft Collective was created to encourage a lifestyle modeled after the values, the skills, and the wisdom shared with each of us by our ancestors and other mentors who have had a profound impact on our lives. We strive everyday to honor those individuals by serving the very best coffee we can make for everyone we meet, in the most comfortably inviting and genuine way we know how.

OTIS is a rebrand of our coffee roasting business which got its start in 2012 under the name Proper Grounds Coffee Roasters. Throughout the year that it took us to dream up, design, and build OTIS, we learned a great deal about how to run a business with both integrity and vision. And on more than one occasion, we had to heed our own advice as we pushed forward with our vision for this new concept. Though it often feels good to accomplish something efficiently and "on schedule", all too often it's best to pull your head up out of your work, take a deep breath, and make sure all is well & good before proceeding. Or...to put it another way...

MEASURE TWICE, POUR ONCE.