Fresh Cup Magazine, providing specialty coffee and tea professionals with unique insight into the trends, ideas, products and people that shape their world.
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C O U R T E S Y O F O D D LY C O R R E C T CENTRAL PAIR continued from page 32 T he story of Kansas City specialty-coffee culture doesn't begin with one shop or individual, nor does it begin in recent times. Before the tsunami of Seattle coffee washed over the country—before David Schomer's name became a shop byword, and before the Internet and competitions helped foster an international community—there were coffee lovers in Kansas City asking questions. Many still work in coffee, like Jon Cates, now co-owner of KC icon Broadway Café and Roasting Company, Tracy Allen (who currently serves as second vice president of the SCAA ) and Danny O'Neill of The Roasterie. These pioneers began the hunt for the elusive "god shot," left the complacency of nameless blends and old beans for the unknown frontiers of ethically sourced fresh coffee, and developed latte art and barista championships before the Barista Guild of America was even formed. F ast-forward to the current day, and just try to label the Kansas City coffee scene. You might choose words like buoyant, competitive and passionate. Regardless of your personal preference, the proof is in the cup and—with the defiance that comes from being landlocked and reputedly a decade behind every trend—Kansas City coffee professionals invite you to try it for yourself. A sprawling metro area that's half in Missouri and half in Kansas, Kansas City began as a rollicking Western settlement at the confluence of the Santa Fe, California and Oregon trails and developed into a vibrant city with one of America's best downtowns (according to Forbes magazine in March 2012). Famous for its BBQ and its contributions to jazz and blues, Kansas City is also known as the "city of fountains." 34 COFFEE ALMANAC • June 2013 A good place to start exploring the city's specialty-coffee realm is Broadway Café, the city's first shop dedicated primarily to coffee, and renowned for staring down the Midwest's first Starbucks (which was located next door) and essentially putting that Mermaid outpost out of business. Visionary Sarah Honan opened the shop in 1992 and added the roasting company in 1998. Many of the young Kansas City baristas now cresting the third wave drank their first great shot amid Broadway's gritty ambiance. The folks at Broadway—which took home a 2012 Good Food Award—still seek the luscious ristretto extraction that is so characteristically old-world Italian, and customers from all walks of life continue to gather under the black-andwhite-striped awning to gaze at the city flowing by. Public tastings and events with local chefs and chocolatiers cement the tie with KC's broader foodie culture. Other early players in the rise of Kansas City coffee include The Roasterie (mentioned always in the same breath with gregarious owner O'Neill) and PT's Coffee (located in Topeka, Kan., but essential to the establishment of the Midwest in the wider coffee culture). Both were deeply involved in industry goings-on (O'Neill as an SCAA president, PT's co-founder Jeff Taylor as a WBC-certified judge) that helped create the complex world of specialty coffee we know today. Another early innovator was Espresso Dell'Anatra, the brainchild of restlessly experimental barista competitor Aaron Duckworth, which opened in 2003. The now-closed shop had an unmistakable influence on the experimental spirit of Kansas City's coffee culture as well as the national recognition Cow Town has received. Dell'Anatra offered French-press extraction, coffees from rotating roasters and other innovations long before they were common practice.