Photo by Johnny D. Stephens, courtesy of Red Rooster Coffee.
The sun is rising for coffee lovers in and around the small town of Floyd, Virginia, where homegrown coffee company Red Rooster Coffee has been applying the finishing touches its expansive new roastery and retail cafe.
Photo by Jessica Messer, courtesy of Red Rooster Coffee.
Roasting production now occupies roughly 3,500 square feet, including room for a new Diedrich IR-25 machine. On the second level, with the building’s preexisting industrial look softened a bit with rounded corners, bright colors, and plenty of reclaimed wood, the company now houses its cupping and training lab, its tea business, Swallowtail Tea, and its growing in-house simple syrup and extract business called J.T. Copper. Both floors feature seating for guests.
“In the cafe, it was all about having old meet new in a tasteful way,” Red Rooster Co-Founder Haden Polseno-Hensley told Daily Coffee News, adding that the renovation exposed 75-year-old steel and oak beams in contrast with custom bar and table woodwork by This Was A Tree and lighting by local Crenshaw Lighting, whose original and restoration lighting appears in historic and modern institutions across the country, including United States Supreme Court building in Washington, DC and the Paramount Theater in Boston.
“The use of poplar as the main wood in the tables, the bar, and the stairs draws the customer back to the sense of being rooted in Appalachia, though it’s rarely used in such high-end woodworking,” said Polseno-Hensley. A dramatic tile display behind the bar further sets the shop’s tone.
Polseno-Hensley runs the close-knit family and community-oriented business along with his wife, Rose McCutchan. Rose’s sister Grace McCutchan is a roaster and trainer for the company; barista and trainer Jessica Messer is a seventh-generation Floyd native; and husband and wife Tony and Jolie Greatorex are head roaster and sales manager, respectively.
Photo by Haden Polseno-Hensley, courtesy of Red Rooster Coffee.
On the flagship bar shines a 2-group Slayer Steam espresso machine paired with two Mahlkonig K-30 Vario Air grinders and a Mahlkonig Peak, all for various espressos. A Mahlkonig EK-43 grinds for manual and batch brew, the latter of which emerges from a white Wilbur Curtis G4 Thermopro 1-gallon brewer.
For its thoroughly engrossing coffee label artwork and other graphic branding, the company has worked with a variety of designers.
For other current products and projects the company works with Josh Gibson at Giant Step Design, whose work incorporates a sort of vintage National Park poster art influence.
From here the company will be focusing on developing the Swallowtail Tea business with its own website launch next month, after also rolling out the J.T. Copper brand of extracts and syrups to Red Rooster wholesale accounts this Spring, all the while enjoying its spacious and attractive new digs.