Two Story Coffeehouse

Many of you may have seen the renovations to the front porch already.  You may be asking yourselves why we are closing in one half of the porch.  As I’ve said many times before, we are constantly changing and renovating Two Story.  If there is something that we see that we can do better or can help us meet our mission, then we must do it and we will.  The front porch renovations are no different.  So, what’s the big news?  What’s the big surprise?

Two Story will soon be roasting our own coffee!

Coming this summer, you will be able to drink Two Story Coffee at Two Story.  Not only this, you will have the opportunity to experience the roast, cup the coffees, watch, taste, and smell the process.  You will experience the benefits of perfectly aged coffees that are roasted to order right on the front porch of Two Story.

This is an incredibly exciting transition and period of growth for Two Story.  We have been blessed as a coffee shop to serve the best coffee in Athens to the best coffee-drinkers in Athens, and we now want to take this one step further and roast the best coffee in Athens.

1000 Faces Coffee have been good friends to us and have helped Two Story tremendously in its infancy and still today.  The coffees they roast are fantastic and their heart for local community is inspiring.  Head Roaster, Ben Myers, has done an excellent job with 1000 Faces and with the coffee that we see roasted.

Some may then ask why we would roast our own coffee when we have roasted coffee crafted and provided by 1000 Faces.  The answers to this question are full of potential.  I will focus on three main reasons as to why Two Story will roast.

One, we strive to continue this excellence in coffee.  The importance of single origin, specialty coffee, which we roast to perfection is our philosophy.  We will be creating our own roasts that remain true to the simple and complex natures of the beautiful beverage, coffee.  1000 Faces and Two Story will remain friends and allies in creating excellently crafted coffees and building a unique Athens coffee culture.  1000 Faces has an extensive knowledge and expertise in green source buying and brokerage and skill in roasting and training that Two Story hopes to continue to utilize.

Two, consuming the volume of coffee that we consume at Two Story, roasting our own coffee is simply cost effective.  While this is a benefit that cannot be ignored as a business, I truly believe that the true benefit (even that of sales) is found in equipping our staff and our community for success, which embodies the third and most important reason.

Three, the ability to take our coffees into our control and have our community and staff involved in the entire process will greatly enhance our skills as Baristas.  These skills that make great Baristas are about more than just coffee.  Great Baristas are first great people.  Coffee enthusiasts with humble hearts, concise language, clear motives, ambitious and passionate characters, compassionate and generous spirits, and excellent relationships in their midst are some of the attributes that we believe make people and Baristas great.  Roasting world coffees that Two Story Baristas turn around and serve will help us meet this goal by equipping the Two Story family with even more knowledge about where our coffees come from, the taste notes, the details of roasting and cupping, and the ability to educate, relate, and be in community with the customers of Two Story.

Two Story must invest fully into its staff and community just as a friend invests fully into his friend.  We strive as people, friends, and as Two Story to build and cultivate relationships and conversations.  If we do this, then we believe that we have been successful.  Excellent relationships is our measure of success, and excellent coffee is in large part how we hope to get there.

We are excited about roasting and we hope that you are as excited to sip on Two Story Coffee as we are.  More details will be made available to you as they flesh out for us.  Feel free to ask us questions.  Come find me, Two Story’s owners, Rob and Deandra, or any one of our Baristas and find out what we’re doing.  Experience the changes as they happen and soon you will experience the coffee as its roasted.

-Chris

2010 is here, which means that Two Story is in it’s second year of business.  For those of you who have been around from the beginning, you will remember that we opened on Halloween night of 2008!  Opening night seems like so long ago, but then conversely its memory is as fresh as the New Year.  For most, a new year means a new beginning, and Two Story is no different.  But, before we start again we needed to rest and reflect on where we’ve been.

For this reason, like most of our community, we enjoyed a holiday break ourselves this season.  We found rest in being closed from Christmas Eve until January 2.  In this time, however, our owner, Rob, did manage to make a few renovations to the end of the bar.  It seems that every time we close for a few days, we manage to renovate or improve some part of the house or bar.  We believe it necessary to keep moving and to keep improving.  There is always something we can do better, and our eyes are constantly in tune to find what we can do better and how best to improve upon this.

We hope that you come in soon and regularly to taste the new coffees as we make them available, to see the new faces in the house, or to experience the new renovations and improvements to the house.

We want to thank our regulars, coffee lovers, our community, our neighbors, our one-timers, our every-day-ers, our staff, and our friends for all of their support and love over our first year.

We look forward to 2010 and to all that it will hold for us as a coffeehouse, as friends and family, and as a community in Five Points.  You can bet that Two Story will continue to grow and adapt…and yes, you can expect a few more changes.