Philly Plain Dealer

Wolvey Coffee is an online community-based Philadelphia coffee company with a unique feel to it. Owner and roast-master Matt Foley views his work with Wolvey coffee humbly and earnestly as a means of expression in both roasting coffee and creating art.

Foley is from the Rhawnhurst section of Northeast Philadelphia, but has lived in Center City for the last seven years. A product of Father Judge High School and St. Joe’s University, Foley is a young Philadelphia-creative with an outside the box business model for selling his creations whether it be coffee, coffee mugs, prints, or short-form “zine” style books.

Wolvey Coffee has a quality and creativity-first focus. Foley’s interest is not in fame or fortune, but rather the love of the game. Foley will be selling coffee from April 1st through April 7th, and likely won’t be available for purchase until May, so if you’re interested in trying Philly-roasted artisanal coffee – you have until the end of the week to do so. Below is a Q&A with Wolvey Coffee creator Matt Foley.

1.) What is Wolvey Coffee and why does it exist?

At its current state Wolvey Coffee is a small monthly coffee roasting / creative exploration operation. Each month I dedicate a week (usually the first week) to what I call “Wolvey Week.”

The coffee store ‘opens’ on Monday – I’ll send out an email and notify the Wolvepack, to which people are then able to go on to the site and order coffee through Sunday. I roast coffee for the orders that come in throughout the week and then ‘close’ the shop on Sunday, and then mail out the orders on Monday/Tuesday.

On the Friday of Wolvey Week – I send out a newsletter via email (to whoever chooses to subscribe via the site). The newsletter seems to be the most crucial part to all of this in my opinion. I have them all archived on the website wolveycoffee.com, for people who choose to come in at a later time to revisit and see what we’re all about – or where we’ve been.

The newsletter is my opportunity to stand on a soap box – and talk about things I am passionate about, at that time. My goal here is to share things about myself, and what I’m passionate about, and to then fold that into a theme or message that hopefully others can connect to or interact with, and then take that into their own lives.

Wolvey exists because I exist. I seem to have a deep innate desire to dive into things that I am passionate about, and share these things with others – whether or not others care.

2.) What initially ignited your passion in coffee and art?

Who knows. My older siblings and my aunts tell a story of me (I do not have recollection of it) when I was young at my Grandparents’ house, who we grew up across the Street from. My Grandpop had bought a pack of “coffee flavored sodas” for the kids to drink when we’d go over – that were allegedly so disgusting that no one would drink them, except for me – apparently I loved them. I think I was around the age of 5 or younger. 

I’ve just always loved coffee – the scent, the taste, the ritual, the allure, all of it. I really “got into” coffee after college, when I started to buy coffee from roasters all over the U.S. and was enamored at how different (and amazing) they all were – each roaster and their coffee seemed to have their own distinct personality.

Art has always been a passion. All forms. I’ve always loved music, illustrations, shows, movies, anything. Art is expression, plain and simple. I love to express myself in whatever medium and with whatever tools that I have around me and am interested in at that time. Everyone should.

3.) How do coffee and art go together?

Well – I’ll quote myself here from the March 2023 Newsletter:

“It is my belief that, much like most things have the potential to be, coffee is art. I frequently hear jargon of coffee as if it is just another part of your day – meant to just be consumed to ‘give you caffeine’ and when people wonder why I’m so interested in coffee, I don’t quite know how to break that barrier to explain that coffee is much more than that.”

All things can be ‘art’ – ‘art’ is just a word. Expression is the essence of art – and so if I am passionate about coffee, and I like to roast coffee, and make coffee, and I put MYSELF into that arena, and do it MY way – then coffee IS art. Everyone has their mediums in which they choose to express. I have many. Coffee is just one of them, and I love it.

I also choose to incorporate my other ‘mediums’ into Wolvey, with my drawings, and my writing, and my music. They ALL go together, because they derive from the same source – my passion.

4.) How long have you been doing this?

I have been drinking coffee and creating things since a very young age – before I can remember. I began roasting coffee for myself in November of 2020 – shoutout COVID-19. I started to sell/share the coffee that I roast with others a la “Wolvey” in November of 2021, and

I have been doing it ever since.

5.) How much coffee have you sold? And how much are you selling this batch from April 1 to April 7?

It is hard to say. When I initially started, I think I was doing 10 pounds per month? But as it has grown, so has the weight that I push.

I purchase 50 pounds of unroasted coffee at a time now, and it just depends on how much people buy each month, until that crate runs out, and then I buy another 50 pounds. I get a new coffee origin (Coffee Origin meaning, where the coffee is from – Kenya, Uganda, Colombia, etc.) each time, to try out a different ‘species’.

This season of Wolvey (starting September 2023) up until now (April 2024) it’s probably been anywhere between 10 pounds to 20 pounds per month that people buy.. that changes too. 

Some months it erupts, others are more quiet.