Loose Leaf Notes

-The following first appeared in The Floyd Press on November 30, 2017.

“Our goal is to open the best coffee shop in the state of Virginia,” said Red Rooster Coffee Roaster’s co-owner Haden Polseno-Hensley during the November 25th open house tour of the Red Rooster Coffee/Black Water Loft’s new two story building on East Main Street.

Standing in the space where the coffee shop will be, Polseno-Hensley pointed out where Floyd woodworker Benjamin Osborne will build an expresso bar. He pointed to an upper mezzanine area where a community table and working laptop bar will be and to the spot where Crenshaw Lighting will be installing a giant showpiece chandelier.

There will be patio seating as well.  The kitchen will be larger and the menu a little more expanded than what’s been offered at The Black Water Loft, Polseno-Hensley said.  “But not too much.  It will be very coffee-centered.”  The business of roasting small batches of high quality and fair trade coffee beans from around the world is up in running in the new building, but the coffee shop won’t be completed until sometime in January, he said.

The tour group followed Polseno-Hensley through the main space of the building where the roasting process takes place, and where open house attendees were mingling, sampling coffee, sipping lattes and teas and watching roasting demonstrations.

On the second floor Polseno-Hensley explained that Red Rooster Coffee is incorporating two sister businesses. He showed tour-goers rooms where the businesses will work from.  J.T. Copper Extracts is headed-up by Red Rooster sales manager Jolie Greatorex and Theda McCutchan Anderson, Polseno-Hensley’s wife/co-owner Rose McCutchan’s sister. They will be making a line of high-end extracts, such as vanilla and lavender, cocktail bitters, simple syrups and baking extracts using Floyd’s Five Mile Mountain moonshine.

David Grimsely is the tea specialist who will be managing the tea component under the Red Rooster umbrella.  Swallowtail Tea sources the finest tea available and will be offering blends made with locally grown herbs and spices, Polseno-Hensley told tour-goers. “Everything we’re doing in the building is specialty beverage focused.”

The group also visited the cupping lab where the staff tastes the 150 – 300 samples of coffee that they receive from coffee importers each year.  They also use the cupping lab to train baristas of whole sale customers who use Red Rooster coffee at their venues.

The Red Rooster Coffee menu of the day for sampling and discount purchasing included Espresso, Cortado, Cappuccino, Latte, Mocha, Americano, Macchiato, Affogato, Red Eye, Breve and Au Lait.  Bags of Holiday Blends and other signature Red Rooster coffees were on sale at the event.

“There’s such an art to coffee,” said one enthusiastic attendee, who was explaining to a friend the difference between a latte and cappuccino.  Red Rooster Sales Manager Jolie Greatox explained how the coffee house will feature large glass panels so that patrons will be able to look in and see where their coffee is being roasted.  “It’s not just about a cup of coffee. It’s about an experience,” she said. __________Colleen Redman  / Our World Tuesday