Pensacola coffee roastery to open café with art, paint nights and artisan goods

For former Sherwood Elementary art teacher Summer Sevi, roasting coffee was the night shift she took up when her school day ended.

Sometimes she was up until midnight, ears attuned for the “first crack” of warmed beans in the roaster as they changed from white to a rich brown and the flavors were extracted inside of the machine.

Whether the finished cup was fruity, floral, nutty, sour or spiced was largely dependent on how Sevi manually controlled her machine. Meticulously, she adjusted her machine until each 15-minute batch was just right.

“In order to make those flavors appear — you have to know how to adjust the heat and the airflow inside the drum,” Sevi said. “So that the development phase, which is the phase at which the flavors that lie inside the coffee bean come out. So, you're trying to get that phase to develop at the right rate of speed so that it doesn't overcook, which is called baking the coffee, or so that it's not underdeveloped.”

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Since she started roasting in Pensacola years ago, she worked to get her bags stocked on grocery store shelves amidst national competitors and her cold brew poured into to-go cups for Palafox Market shoppers each week. Students will sip espresso inside Jitterbug, who uses her beans, and restauranteurs will request a custom-made roast just for them, like the blend featured in Restaurant Iron’s tableside French press.

It is safe to say she has accomplished the first stage of her three-part plan: establishing a micro-roaster, the shop on 532 W. Garden Street that fuels her wholesale coffee business. The next two phases, which pertain to opening an in-person café, are set to be crossed off on her to-do list this summer.

Operation pick-up window

Phase two is opening up a pick-up window.

By converting the front half of the building that houses her roastery, she will have a sit-down café as well as a pick-up window where the former Almost Vegan Soul Cafe once was. The pick-up window is planned to open in June.

Sevi said by combining the world of fast-drive-thru coffee with the intricate techniques that come with manual roasting, customers will get the best of both worlds. Customers will be able to place their order online, schedule a time and pick it up in the drive-thru window.

“We really are focused on providing the fastest drive-thru window in town, and so that'll be a big part of it,” Sevi said of the online ordering system. “That being said — we recognize that there are people that won't know to do that or want to do that, and so having the ability to order through the window will also be available.”

She will be focusing on the European style, espresso-based coffeehouse classics, along with some unorthodox flavors, like a signature cascara latte made with the dried flower of the coffee cherry.

“I would kind of call myself a little bit of a purist when it comes to coffee,” Sevi said. “I don't like to use a lot of different creams and sweeteners. But that being said — we will have something for everyone. But our focus will always be to help consumers taste the different flavors that already exist in the coffee bean, rather than mask those flavors.”

Phase three: Sit-down cafe

The indoor space of the building will not only be a place to sit down with a warm cup of coffee, local pastry or house-made tartine, but be a place that will meet multiple needs in the community. The walls inside will be lined with displays of local art for sale. The shelves will serve as a nano market selling fresh, local produce and artisan goods. The tables will host paint nights and coffee tastings. Her goal is to have the inside open by mid-summer.

"Those (tastings) really help consumers understand the different flavors that are held in coffee beans from each region, and what different roast profiles bring out in those coffees. So, I've learned that my previous work as a public-school teacher has helped prepare me for this new journey where I will be not only creating something, but educating the public about my creation," Sevi said.

She hopes it will be more than a coffee shop, but a place that brings people together.

Blending art and coffee harmoniously

Although Sevi is stepping into the coffee roasting world full-time and resigning from her position as an elementary art teacher, she isn’t giving up being an artist.

Roasting coffee is an art in of itself, she says, pulling out flavors and designing different blends. Her coffee shop serves in part as her laboratory, and she even designed her own logo for Alla Prima, which is named after an oil painting technique meaning “at first attempt.”

“I've been an artist ever since I was a kid and creating and making something that's all my own has always been very special to me,” Sevi said. “So coming into this shop is almost like coming into my art studio and it's something that I've built from the ground up and it’s something I’m very, very proud of.”

Aside from the art expressed in her business, she plans to use the new space to also host paint and sip-styled nights where she can provide art lessons for both children and adults.

She is excited to be at a point in her life where she can pour all of herself into Alla Prima and operate it at its fullest.

“It's very, very exciting. It's also very scary and it's a leap of faith. But what I've discovered is when you show people your passion — they become passionate about it too. So, I've just decided to embrace that,” Sevi said. “We want to make it as fun and interesting and groundbreaking as possible in the coffee and the art industry. I like to think that I'm kind of fusing coffee and art together, which are really my two passions.”

Interested artists that would like their work displayed, or interested applicants to work in the new coffee shop can contact Sevi at contact@allaprimacoffee.com.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Pensacola Alla Prima Coffee opening a sit-down shop this summer