For most of us, the consumption of coffee is the final step in a ritual that we go through on a daily basis.
From the opening of the bag to the pulsing blades, shredding and grinding the beans, to the rhythmic drip, drip, drip of the coffee machine, each step leads us closer to the end of the methodical task at hand.
But Garett Krugh, head roaster for the
Kalamazoo Coffee Co. and soon to open
Black Owl Cafe hopes to break patrons from the droning rituals that often fogs the senses, masking what should be an exhilarating, cognitive experience.
Krugh, along with company owner Darren Bain see in coffee what others see in music or dance. The duo believes the creation and consumption of coffee and tea is an ever shifting art form, a form that can easily be lost when forced into a monotonous daily routine.
"We won't have a single drip coffee machine in the shop," Krugh says.
What the cafe will have when it opens Sept. 1 is a rotating list of fresh roasted coffee all of which will be brewed to order using a variety of single cup or larger methods.
"Basically the guests come in, choose their coffee, choose their brewing method and at the same time ask our baristas what makes the coffee taste different based on the brewing methods, what coffees taste better with what brewing method," Krugh says. "It's going to be a really educational experience. I guess that's what we're trying to accomplish with the whole thing; We're trying to make it a destination and experience."
Single cup filtration methods, percolators and French presses will be used to craft an experience as full bodied as the drinks being ordered.
"Not only will we have the coffee and all the brewing methods but we'll also have 40 organic loose leaf teas, which I think is going to be very awesome," Krugh says. "I think there are a lot of people in town that really enjoy a nice cup of tea."
Krugh also believes that people will appreciate having a place where they can hang out, read a book and -- at some point in the near future when all legalities have been ironed out -- take in a show and enjoy a handcrafted Black Owl Beer.
Besides 10 new baristas, the Cafe has also recently hired a brewer who is busy perfecting a series of libations that once available will be served alongside sandwiches and other fresh foods.
The journey to this point began nearly four years ago when Bain opened
The Strutt, a popular cafe, bar and music venue on the corner of East Michigan and Academy in Kalamazoo.
Not long after opening, Bain and Krugh -- then a barista and bartender -- made a decision to begin roasting their own beans in an effort to deliver fresh and exciting new flavors to local coffee drinkers.
"The coffee company started two-and-half years ago," Krugh says. "We had a really small roaster, like a little makeshift coffee roaster that is like a rotisserie chicken roaster. We were roasting a half pound of coffee at a time. We started messing around with that and it took off from there."
With its specialty coffee blends, cocoa, loose leaf tea and chai now available in most Kalamazoo-area grocery stores, the venture has indeed taken off, but when The Strutt closed its doors this spring with promises to open in a new location everyone wanted to know the answer to one question. Where would it land?
Now we know. The Black Owl Cafe will be at 414 Walbridge St. in the River's Edge neighborhood. The building, a former electric motor factory, comes complete with a working freight elevator and an upstairs loft space that will house the future tap room and music venue.
"It's a constantly evolving space," Krugh says. "We've moved things from one side of the room to the other. We've already repainted the same walls like four times. We've changed things so many times before we've even opened. That's the coolest part of the business and about Darren's creativity. It's more like art, that whole space is just really unique."
Much of its uniqueness can be attributed to Bain, an Idaho native who has also called Atlanta and Seattle home and now lives in Kalamazoo.
Part businessman, part artist, 100-percent mad scientist, Bain found in his new building a wonderland of discarded motors, drafting boards, and oil lamps -- all of which he used and repurposed in the design of the cafe. What was once a 1930's era air compressor became a stand that now holds cups and creamers.
"The tables in the cafe are actually the old drafting racks," Krugh says.
All these elements create the Black Owl Cafe -- a place where Kalamazoo area coffee and tea drinkers will be able to break free from ritual and discover a vibrant new way to appreciate their favorite beverages.
Jeremy Martin writes A Second Round for Southwest Michigan's Second Wave.
Photos of the Black Owl Cafe by Jeremy Martin.