By: Jessie Monsivais Photos by: Rachel Benavides
Tucked in the back of the shopping strip, located at thebrbustling corner of Airline and Alameda, you’ll findbrDriftwood Coffee Co.’s latest development. When youbrwalk in, you’ll see Randi and Steven Carroll. They’ll greet you with their ever-so warm smiles and probably ask howbryour day has been so far. The atmosphere is warm, welcoming.
Driftwood Coffee Co.’s new spot offers a behind the scenes lookbrfor coffee connoisseurs and java addicts alike. Corpus natives andbrowners, Randi and Steven began their Driftwood adventure in 2014, but their most recent development is a roastery withbra tasting room, that not only serves wholesale customers, but isbralso a communal space for entertainment, education, and buildingbrrelationships.br
br
Open once a week on Thursdays, from 10 am – 2 pm, folks canbrcome in to enjoy coffee and learn about the origin of the beans, flavor profiles, and cupping – a quality control process professionalbrtasters use to grade the coffee and put it on the specialty coffeebrmarket.br
br
“People can walk in and order coffee in three different ways. Webrtypically have a House Blend on drip, or you can order any of ourbrofferings – single origins and blends on pour-over,” says Randi.br
br
“You can also buy a cupping for $10 that includes two differentbrcoffees to taste side by side and 15 minutes of education time tobrlearn the flavor profile and quality control of the coffee. It’s also abrbeautiful space for people to enjoy and connect.” she says.
br br br br
Designed by dear friends and owners of Neighbormade DesignbrCompany, Randi shares her appreciation and admiration of thebrcommunal effort of Buck Matthews and Sara Gallagher for creatingbrthe space including the handcrafted tables and countertops. Randibrsays her friends coming together is symbolism for what DriftwoodbrCoffee is all about.br
br
“Seeing our Corpus community was ready for locally roasted coffeebrand ready to learn about it, we wanted to build the community, the relationships between customers, and their communities,” saysbrRandi. “Coffee connects with other people. It’s why our missionbrstatement is roasting for the community.”br
br
Back when Randi and Steven began this journey when they operated out of their garage, they learned about consumer coffee andbrexploitation of coffee farms. One of the reasons they decided uponbrspecialty co ee was because of the sustainable practices of specialtybrtrade and initiatives to help farmers buy back their land.br
br
Each month Driftwood Coffee Co. donates tips and proceeds frombrpurchases of their Special to a non-profit as part of their Community Giveback. This month, the Special includes two bags of Mexicobrand drip coffee for $28. All tips and proceeds will bene t the animals at the Gulf Coast Humane Society.br
br
The grand opening, set for September 26, will debut new roasterybrand tasting room hours along with local eats, music, and free coffeebrall day. Patrons can also treat themselves to Driftwood’s free publicbrcupping at 1:00 pm every Thursday, on a first-come, first-serve basis.br
br
Driftwood Coffee Co. also has a tech area for equipment sales andbrservice. “This was not available in Corpus until now. Before you’dbrhave to have someone come service from out of town and they’dbrcharge a travel fee plus time,” says Randi. ” is way, it’s convenient,brlocal, and helps brewers;” and thats what Driftwood truly is about,brhelping locals experience coffee in a new way.
Contact:
br br br br
4703 S. Alameda | @driftwoodcoffeeco
br
br
br
br
br
br
br
br
br