True love in coffee isn’t hard to find. It’s like the old rhyme goes: “First comes love, then comes marriage…”—although it isn’t always as cut and dry as all that. It’s more like: First comes a TDS reading, then a staff cupping, then a clopen shift…then maybe you go out for a beer together or something after work, you know, blowin’ off some steam, hanging out…THEN comes love, then comes marriage, and probably some more good coffee after that. That’s certainly the case for Meraki Coffee Company, a new pop-up coffee bar moving around Rochester, NY from Ryan and Holli Baker, who fell in love and got married after meeting as employees at Glen Edith Coffee Roasters.
So before you resort to barista speed dating allow us to paraphrase F. Scott Fitzgerald: “There are all kinds of love (and coffee) in this world but never the same love (or coffee) twice.”
As told to Sprudge by Ryan Baker of Meraki Coffee Company.
For those who aren’t familiar, will you tell us about your company?
Meraki (may-rah-kee) is a new business venture of Ryan and Holli Baker in Rochester, New York. They met at formerly named Pour Coffee Parlor—now Glen Edith Coffee Roasters—and fell in love, got married, and decided soon after to open up a coffee business. We’ll be popping up around the city of Rochester, trying to influence areas that currently do not have specialty coffee in their neighborhood.
Can you tell us a bit about the new space?
It’s a 3′ x 4′ mobile space, the mobile Meraki Coffee bar. Our friend, Bryan March, built out the bar for us. It is being made out of repurposed barn wood that was taken from Ryan’s grandparents torn down barn. Using this wood makes the bar extra special for us.
What’s your approach to coffee?
It’s in the name, Meraki, “To do something with soul, creativity, or passion; to put something into your work.” With that being said, the bar is set high for quality coffee, the bar for quality customer experience even higher. We view it this way: we can have a customer come up and try to give them the best cup of coffee they’ve ever had. If that person has a poor experience, you can be sure they’re not going to want to come back.
But, if someone comes up to us and we give them a great experience, we’ll have plenty of opportunities after that to give them the best consistent coffee they can enjoy.
Any machines, coffees, special equipment lined up?
We’re starting off with a La Marzocco GS3 and a Mahlkönig K30 duo on bar. We’ll be working exclusively with our friends downstate at Parlor Coffee. We have wanted to work with these guys for a long time and they have been nothing but a pleasure to collaborate with.
What’s your hopeful target opening date/month?
Are you working with craftspeople, architects, and/or creatives that you’d like to mention?
A lot of the work has been put together by some of our very skilled friends. The branding/logo was done by Chelsea Phillips. Bryan March has been putting together our bar. We’ll also be rocking some aprons from my co-worker and friend, Mario Rocchio. At certain locations, we will be offering ceramic mugs made by Kathy Norman at Totes Mugotes Ceramics. For our first pop-up location, we will be working with Cheesy Eddie’s bakery who certainly are craftspeople as their products are out of this world.
What’s the address?
No permanent location, but one of our regular pop-up spots to start will be Cheesy Eddie’s at 602 South Avenue, Rochester, New York.
Photos courtesy of Ryan Baker.
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