After high school, I worked at the local Butcher shop for several years. During my years there, I made deliveries to local restaurants, made ground beef, and took on several other responsibilities, along with cleaning and sanitation the facility at the end of each day. It wasn’t until several years after I left that job that I really started to get a passion for running my offset smoker. It was at this time in my life that I found myself knee-deep in the world of BBQing and considered myself the “Backyard BBQ Master”. Coffee was my steadfast companion, fueling my passion for being worthy of the title. Those moments in the kitchen, perfecting the seasoning rub, preparing the meat, and making the perfect BBQ sauce from scratch were not without their challenges, as anyone who’s ever cooked with meat can attest. It was a labor of love. This passion of mine always beckoned to explore a different avenue – a curiosity that led me to one where coffee beans took center stage. Coffee became my new anchor, keeping me awake and energized as I started to experiment with home roasting coffee beans for myself, and of course, I would share my new passion with everyone I could. In early 2022, an opportunity arose for me to purchase a small coffee roaster, and I haven’t looked back since. As I reflect upon it all, I can’t help but smile, knowing all that time making BBQ sauce from scratch, running the off-set smoker in the backyard, and my years at the local butcher shop taught me quality over quantity. I’m truly blessed that I was able to successfully shift my love and passion from Backyard BBQ Master to the aromatic world of bean roasting, a path I’m genuinely thrilled to be on.

The name Smokin Butcher is my way of paying homage to the journey that has brought me to this point in my life.

“Stand Apart From the Ordinary “

-Robert W. Spencer