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New café gets thumbs up from coffee enthusiasts
SHERRY KARABIN
Legal News Reporter
Published: December 20, 2016
Akron Coffee Roasters is one of the newer businesses to spring up along North High Street. In May, the owners opened the café portion of their business, which is quickly becoming a routine stop for many coffee enthusiasts.
Bre Buxton, a senior at The University of Akron, said she comes in a few times a week.
“The coffee is phenomenal,” said Buxton. “It’s rare to find a coffee roaster in this area. There are more toward Cleveland and one in Kent.
“Having a place like this one that makes exceptional coffee every time and roasts its own beans is something that’s been needed for a long time.”
And the owners could not agree more. In fact, it was their quest for high-end, high quality coffee that led them to start their business.
West Akron residents Albert Macso and Tim Hollister first met at Revere High School. They also attended and graduated from Kent State University, where they became close friends and eventually roommates. Macso majored in accounting and Hollister focused on photo illustration.
Although their career paths were different, they both ended up working in Portland, Oregon.
“We were exposed to and developed a taste for fresh roasted high quality coffee,” said Macso.
The two returned to Ohio in 2008 and noticed something was missing.
“We could not find the same type of coffee that we had become accustomed to,” said Macso.
But that all changed in 2013 after Hollister’s wife gave him a Behmor 1600 home coffee roaster.
“I started roasting coffee in my basement and garage, initially for myself, but then I began giving some of it away,” said Hollister.
“I did share most of these early roasts with Albert, which is how we both became interested in commercial roasting.”
In November 2014, Hollister and Macso purchased their current Ambex 5-kilogram commercial coffee roaster. They moved into their space at 30 N. High St. in early 2015.
“At first, we could only sell coffee beans at farmers markets and events due to service laws,” said Hollister. “We began preparing and serving brewed coffee at events later in 2015.
“We had always intended to open the cafe at our current location,” said Hollister. “It took us until May of this year to complete the renovations in the space and open it to the public.”
Today they supply a number of businesses, including the law firm Brennan, Manna & Diamond, restaurants like D.B.A. (Dante Boccuzzi Akron), the Morning Owl and Ms. Julie’s Kitchen as well as the Akron Art Museum and the Akron Zoo.
“The Akron Art Museum is one of the first commercial clients we ever had,” said Hollister. “During the summer we roasted a special coffee for the exhibit, ‘Mark Mothersbaugh: Myopia.’ We also produce a special blend for the Akron Zoo.”
The Nightlight Cinema is also a client as is its executive director, Kurtiss Hare, who said he often stops by the cafe for his own caffeine fix.
“It’s the best coffee in the city,” said Hare. “No one does the preparation that they do here. They not only roast their beans, but they are one of the first places that I know of in northeast Ohio to do pour over cups.”
Macso said the café seats about 14 and is open weekdays from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. and on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
“During the week, we get a lot of office workers and students,” said Macso. “On Saturdays we have a different clientele. It’s usually people who are looking for something to do.”
He said the most popular items are the pour over cups.
“We have a drink called a Cortado, which is a mini version of a latte that has a higher concentration of coffee since there is less milk,” said Macso. “We also have a honey Cortado that’s made with honey from the Akron Honey Company.”
For those not looking for a jolt, there are decaffeinated options as well.
Most recently they unveiled their gourmet toasts and fresh Bavarian pretzels.
The toast comes in three varieties: Basic, Sweet and Savory. “The basic is just bread and butter,” said Macso. “The current sweet is a peanut butter, banana and honey and the current savory is apple butter with sharp white cheddar.”
“We were selling just finger cookies,” said Macso. “We do not plan to become a full service restaurant but we did want to add items that people could have with their coffee.”
Since the business is still new, the owners haven’t hired any employees.
Macso handles the day-to-day operations, including serving customers and Hollister does the packaging and design work and roasts beans on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
“My partner handles the rest of the roasting,” said Hollister.
The two continue to feature their offerings at local farmers markets.
They order their beans from the Coffee Shrub in Oakland, California.
“The best part of our coffee is the variety,” said Hollister. “We try to buy new beans two or three times a year. Generally my favorites are the ones that come from Africa because they are the most intricate ones you will find.”
Their beans can be purchased in person or on their website http://akron.coffee.
Macso said Akron Coffee Roasters employs a combination of marketing techniques, using social media and advertising in “The Devil Strip,” an Akron arts and culture online and print publication.
However, he said many customers do learn of the business through word of mouth.
“We are paying our bills and we expect to be somewhat profitable by the end of the year,” said Macso.
The owners aren’t ruling out the possibility of expanding down the road.
“There are not a lot of a lot of third-wave specialty coffee shops in the Akron area so there is a lot of opportunity if we wanted to open in another community,” said Macso.