Cultivator, Maine Center for Entrepreneurs
Wize graduated from Cultivator, the Maine Center for Entrepreneurs’ food, beverage and agriculture accelerator, in 2026.
A note from Thomas McOsker
Maine, by
a longer route.
I’m from Maine. My work took me to New York, then to Puerto Rico, where farming gave me a different set of questions to work on.
Today, I divide my time between the farm and lab in Puerto Rico and the brewery work in Maine. One helps us understand the tree. The other helps us find out whether people want what we make from it.
Maine · HomeNew York · The years betweenPuerto Rico · Farm & labMaine · Brewery & counter
01 / Start by listening
The leaf kept coming up.
At Copper Hill in Las Marías, I started learning from people who knew the land far better than I did. The farm and research station became a place to ask what else a coffee tree could give, and what that might mean for the people growing it.
There was no shortage of things I didn’t know. There still isn’t. That’s part of why the work continues.
02 / Credit where it grows
One whole tree.
Two specialty harvests.
Specialty Coffee Leaf begins with a second harvest from a familiar tree, and with the people who know how to grow and prepare it.
Wize builds on years of coffee-leaf work at Hacienda La Aurora in Nicaragua, with Enrique Ferrufino Jr. and the Ferrufino family. Their growing and leaf-processing work belongs at the center of the story.
The leaf in our current Wize comes from La Aurora. It is hand-crafted there, aged in our leaf caves in Maine, then cold-crafted in Portland. Copper Hill is my farm in Las Marías, Puerto Rico, home of the Copper Hill Research Station.
A second crop can give a coffee farm another source of income. Our job is to help build demand that a grower can plan around. That begins with making a drink people want to order again.
03 / Bring it home
A place to bring it
into the glass.
Through Sebago Bottling Co. of Maine, we work with the team at 1820 and Geary’s to cold-craft and pack Wize in Portland. We use water sourced from Sebago Lake, then bring Wize to local cafés in our own field vehicle.
Maine is home. It’s also a good place to do the work close to the people tasting it. We can visit the counter, hear what happened that afternoon, and bring what we learn back to the brewery.
04 / Along the way
A few stops. More to learn.
These are parts of the journey. The next chapter happens in Portland cafés.
Harvard Innovation Labs
Wize took part in the Harvard Innovation Labs (i-lab) in 2026 and graduated in 2026.
Greenlight Maine
Wize competed in Greenlight Maine in 2026, sharing the work with a Maine audience.
05 / The next afternoon
Portland gets
the first say.
We’re starting with a small group of cafés and public stops around Portland. We’ll listen, improve the serve and learn what earns a second order. What we learn here will help shape what comes next.
If you see the Accidental Farmer’s truck at a public stop, come say hello. There’s usually more to learn over a drink.
The tree is more than its beans.
You are more than your work.
Wize invites the pause and leaves the rest to you. Here’s to the afternoon.
Thomas