Fresh Cup Magazine, providing specialty coffee and tea professionals with unique insight into the trends, ideas, products and people that shape their world.
Issue link: http://freshcup.epubxp.com/i/131835
I f you want proof of the Bay Area's continued coffee influence on the rest of the country, look no further than Eternity Coffee Roasters. The two-year-old roaster-retailer is tucked in among the high-rise condos and warm Atlantic Ocean breezes that define downtown Miami. But the shop's micro-lot-heavy menu and pour-over bar are reminiscent of what you'd find in far foggier climes. And that's exactly what owner Chris Johnson had in mind as he conceptualized the business. "I thought, 'What if we were right next to Four Barrel or Blue Bottle or Ritual?'" says Johnson. "How would we stack up?" But while Eternity has West Coast roots—Johnson is from Marin County and did his barista training at Ritual in San Francisco—the business is proving to be more than just a copycat on the other coast. Eternity's connection to a group of qualityfocused farms in Colombia as well as its localized approach to growth make for a unique coffee brand—and it's one that's helping build an appreciation for the seed-to-cup chain among southern Florida consumers. F irst, a few words about Miami and precision roasting: Up until recently, the two had little connection. Starbucks has a powerful presence in town, of course, but the local, independent scene has long been dominated by outlets selling Cuban coffee drinks like the infamously sweet colada (a concoction Johnson describes as "really sugared up commercial-grade coffee"). 64 COFFEE ALMANAC • June 2013 It was this coffee environment that Johnson found himself in when he shifted career gears in 2008, moving from investment banking to green-coffee importing. Cristina Garces, a friend Johnson knew from his undergrad days at Boston University, had returned to her native Colombia around 2001 and over the ensuing years had worked with coffee coming out of her family's collection of plantations. She strove to isolate individual lots that cupped well and to improve farming practices, and as that work evolved, Johnson set up a company called CDJ Imports to bring those lots to roasters across North America. He was based in Miami, and he says he could only head to Starbucks so many times before taking matters into his own hands. "I had this idea to start developing our own brand and maybe do it in a coffeehouse," he says. "I could open in San Francisco, or I could really try to blaze a trail in Miami." Ultimately, the decision was to stay in Florida—and to find out if consumers there would latch onto his quality vision. He bought a roaster, decked out his space with an espresso machine and seven-group pour-over station, and started giving consumers coffee options that were a major departure from the Frappuccinos around the corner. Johnson says the mere fact that he was roasting on site brought stares from some passersby. "People thought the roaster was some kind of locomotive or giant coffee grinder," he says of his 12-kilo San Franciscan. "They didn't know what the hell it was." But a clientele developed, despite Johnson's early worries that expensive brews with variety-specific names might alienate customers.