On January 19, 2013, we opened our first retail Cocoa Cinnamon location to Kickstarter backers and supporters. Over 1000 people contributed to help us go from a sleepless night on December 14th, 2010 in Areli's mom's kitchen in the NC Mountains to bikeCOFFEE on the streets of Durham in 2011 & 12 to Cocoa Cinnamon at 420 W Geer Street in 2013. On January 21, 2013, we opened 420 W Geer Street to the public for the first time. We're just starting to process that it will soon be 10 years! Composite by David Solow with a photo of Neowise by Kristy Maney Herron Cover image by Savannah Wrenn, CC OND Cafe Leader Savannah was instrumental in putting together what...
For the past two and half years we have used our wonder menu to lean into connection and comfort. This round, considering the importance of the upcoming election and the state of our nation, we are deliberately shifting towards a theme that is more challenging and hopefully just as rewarding. We are exploring considerations and commitments to democratic foundations, pluralism, thinking, the opposite of one-dimensionalism, forced conformity, absolutism, bubblism, and such things that are putting our flawed but important foundations at threat. Robben Island facing Cape Town, South Africa - Image by Andrea Willmore Like in a great musical or country song, we want you to be able to “sing along” and enjoy the warmth of a drink while something...
It's been a little bit over a month since we returned from EXPO and we are still processing and feeling the vibrations from it. From April 6-10th, a small team from Little Waves Coffee Roasters traveled to Boston to represent our business at the Specialty Coffee Expo. "EXPO," as it's often called, is a global gathering where folks from all parts of the value chain come together to showcase their coffees, to network, to make business deals, and to compete in their respective fields in the U.S. Coffee Competitions. Competition categories include barista, brewing, latte art, roasting, cupping, and coffee cocktails. I have been attending EXPO since 2013. I remember my first year attending as a coffee shop owner -- I was...
April 7 - 10, 2022 - Boston, MA Schedule for our Roaster Village Booth and Appearances - Full Details Follow Thursday, April 7th, 10:45 AM Areli is a guest contributor along with fellow founding board member Candice Madison in Phyllis Johnson and Michelle Maisto's Re:co Symposium talk Persistent Problems, New Solutions / Creating the Coffee Coalition for Racial Equity - A Call to Action Friday, April 8th - Sunday, April 10th Visit the Little Waves Coffee booth RV22 in the Roaster Village where we will be featuring from our Micro Roaster of the Year winning catalogue along with producer guest visits while we serve their coffee. Booth Times: Fri - Sat 9:30 am - 5:30 pm, Sun 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Friday,...
The story behind You Are Marvelous! David Solow, Luzene Hill, Areli's DNA and CC OWD shop design. In the fall of 2015, we worked with David Solow to create the design of CC OWD, our second location. David created a usable art installation that interconnected the works of 31 local artists. Image and shop design by David Solow art + design David created a to-scale portolan chart of the Earth along the face of the bar, including the bar revealed when the training room door is slid open. The middle of the main bar features a compass rose that represents Durham in the center. In the training room corner, on the espresso machine module with a compass rose representing Addis Ababa, the anchor...
