“We’re hoping almost like a wine bar atmosphere,” Andy said. “We want to really focus on the subtleties and the tasting notes of the coffee for those that want to dive deeper into improving their palate.”
Credit: Natalie Jones
Credit: Natalie Jones
To do this, the coffee shop will feature a coffee lab where guests can order flights and attend tastings or classes.
“You can take one bean that’s been roasted one way, but you can get all of these different flavors out of it.” Mindy noted.
Andy added he wants to help people figure out their coffee preferences and how best they can meet those needs.
If you’re not interested in diving deeper into coffee, they will have seasonal flavored lattes, affogatos with ice cream, espresso drinks, drips, pour overs, cold brews, teas, lemonades and more.
The 2,200 square-foot coffee shop is expected to employ six to 10 employees and seat 36 guests, the owners said.
“We really wanted to focus on bringing modern coffee to as many people as possible, especially those who haven’t necessarily been exposed to it before,” Andy said.
Roasting ethically-sourced specialty coffee with a commitment to sustainability, high-quality ingredients and cutting-edge industry knowledge is important to the owners. Mindy said their roaster is one of the greenest on the market.
“We believe in providing a living wage to those in the coffee industry, from the growers and exporters to our roasters and servers,” they wrote on their website.
Andy has worked in the coffee industry for over 10 years.
“We always knew Andy would be an engineer since he was a kid,” Mindy said. “We didn’t realize he would be a coffee engineer.”
“Nothing has held my interest or my passion anywhere close to coffee,” Andy echoed.
He explained he has a particular interest in the roasting process and the physics, chemistry and engineering it involves. He said they are taking a lot of extra steps like testing local water to figure out the best ways to make sure their coffee shines through.
“We’re very grateful for the support we have received so far and seeing how far it has come,” Andy said. “I’m looking forward to when we’re actually open.”
In the meantime, guests can order coffee beans from their website or try one of their signature coffee blends at the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery. For more information and to stay up to date on the opening date, visit www.contemporoast.com or the coffee shop’s Facebook page.
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