Aroma's Therapy Coffee House (previously known as Aroma's Coffee House) has closed its doors. It was up for sale for a few months, and although a few people had considered buying it, no-one did, and the retailer is no more.
The retail division of Day Break Coffee Roasters was purchased by the owner of J&B Coffee at 26th and Boston (who happens to also be the owner of Roly Poly Sandwiches at 4th and Frankford). If you don't know by now, it seems pretty clear that the "Arriba!" coffee line sold by United/Market Street/Amigos is Day Break coffee in other badging. The coffees look the same, taste the same, and the offerings match up.
Lubbock Coffee legend Sugar Brown's Coffee is planning to move into their new roasting outfit somewhere on the NE side of town with a Probat L12 roaster that came from Coffee Eiland in Dallas. (or so I heard from a reliable Sugar Brown's representative)
Coffee Haus seems to have dwindling traffic, and Koffee Kup on Slide has been closed for quite some time. This blogger suspects that this is a company that is not self-supporting, and the money is bound to dry up sooner or later.
Mangia Bevanda was sold, and renamed P&L's Cafe. It was bought as a gift, from what I've been told, and it remains to be seen how it will fare, although it was seen for sale on several business listings.
We've added a link to our list: http://tx-coffee.com
It seems to be a great resource for all things coffee in Texas, as well as general news, updates, and opinions.
A national recession is in full swing, and it seems Lubbock is not immune to the effects, no matter what your favorite local news anchor tells you. It is the opinion of this blog that the only guaranteed way to make sure a coffee retailer will survive, is if they focus on the quality of their products. It seems folks are paying more attention to the value of what they are purchasing, and businesses built on being "local", or built on personality may not survive.
If you know of a business in the area that could use some help in the quality department, there is an independent trainer in Lubbock that advertises on tx-coffee.com called EspressoTrainer.com. It has been said by lots of people that the best investment is an investment in yourself. The same just might be true for businesses as well.
There was a gathering of enthusiasts who called their meetings the Lubbock Coffee Club for awhile, but it seems to have been a few months since the last gathering, as most of the members are students, and a few have either moved away, or have left the coffee business.
If you have never seen latte art, Sugar Brown's is making it a regular habit these days, so drop in and ask about it if you want to see this art form in person.
Red Baron Car Wash in Idalou built a small coffee bar into their business, and it seems to be a Day Break carbon copy menu. It figures, I guess, since they're using Day Break coffee.
Java J in Levelland opened about a year or so ago, I hear, also serving Day Break Coffee as well as ice cream, located very near the South Plains College levelland campus.
That's all for now. If you know of any new shops, new happenings, or news you'd like to see in these pages, let us know at lubbockcoffee@gmail.com.
Happy sipping.
2 comments:
Post more about Lubbock coffee shops. I'm happy to try ones that seem serious about their product.
There hasn't been much to post, but we've caught wind of a few new ones opening up soon-ish.
As it stands, Sugar Brown's is still the go-to place. Healthy Essentials is doing a fantastic job with their coffee, but the atmosphere leaves much to be desired. It's like a health food store that happens to have a coffee, tea, and smoothie bar.
There are two new shops opening: The Buzz coffee and wine bar (in the Depot right next to La Diosa where Hullabaloo used to be) and ReJAVAnate, on the South wing of the old Albertsons on Slide just south of the south Loop.
I've heard rumors of another, but I don't like to spread what hasn't been confirmed.
As more shops open, more reviews will be written. It seems that most shops here don't see each other as competition, which means that the success of one shop tends to be an isolated incident: it doesn't mean that others will strive to improve or out-do the others.
I'd say that this is good and bad.
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