Behind the scenes at Coffea Roasterie
The smell of fresh-brewed coffee is in the air around Dawley Farms. Crowds have been lining up at Coffea Roasterie, which opened in early February in a shared space with First Bank & Trust. We caught up with CEO Bryan Kegley to learn more about the new location and what sets Coffea apart.
Question: So, you've been open at Dawley Farms almost two weeks now. How's it going?
Answer: It's been fantastic! The reception on the east side has been really great. Being on the east side at Dawley Farms has given us so many opportunities to meet new people. Our goal is always to make new connections with people and even in the first two weeks we've definitely been accomplishing that goal. We couldn't be happier so far!
Question: Will your regular Coffea customers find things that are similar or different in your new location?
Answer: Our goal is to always serve coffee without compromise. That means wherever we go we'll always have the same commitment to quality. At Dawley Farms we'll be serving the same carefully sourced and roasted coffees, our menu of housemade syrups for our lattes, and our fresh-baked pastries. However, we may have a couple fun things up our sleeves that'll make the Dawley Farms menu unique.
Question: What are some of your best-selling items?
Answer: We're known best for our coffees. We pride ourselves on our involvement throughout the growing, harvesting, processing and roasting stages of a coffee's lifecycle that create really remarkable coffees. However, people also really enjoy our lattes, especially our hazelnut and caramel. We make all of our syrups in-house so that we can control sweetness and synergy with our coffees.
Question: Are there any coffee drinks you especially recommend for the winter season?
Answer: I personally love our masala latte during the winter. It's a blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, cloves and black pepper sweetened with local honey that creates an espresso drink with very unique character. If you're a chai drinker looking to try something a little new the masala is must-have.
Question: And one thing that always amazes us about Coffea: The drinks look so pretty! How do you do it?
Answer: Lots of practice! Latte art is one of my favorite parts of making drinks, but it takes a while to master. To answer a little more technically, the unique molecular makeup allows us to suspend air inside milk between water molecules in milk fats. That airy milk can rest on top of espresso to create fun designs. As artsy as coffee shops seem, all of coffee really boils down to science.
Visit Coffea at Dawley Farms Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. until 8 p.m., Saturday from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. and Sunday from noon until 6 p.m.
To read more on the new shared space with First Bank & Trust, click here.
