Opening Day Pics!

Big thank you to good friend and loyal customer Eliot Drake. Here are some pictures from our opening day last Friday. Check 'em out! eliotdrake.blogspot.com/2009/06/hub-opens.html

Business license... check!

We've finally secured our all-necessary business license with the City of Reno! (Applause?) Yes, we are stoked!!! I felt like a giddy little kid on Christmas Eve! I think Mark nearly chewed his hand off he was so overwhelmed by the suspense as the city health inspector scrutinized every little bit of our coffee garage. But we're golden! And now it's a two-day prep to get ready for opening day! Or morning, I should say. Friday, June 19th will be our first time opening the doors to the community! Opening at 6 a.m., bright and early, so you can get your fix at the coolest little coffeehouse in Reno and then head on over to the park to watch the coolest bike race in America!!!! The Tour de Nez!

The Tour de Nez is back in downtown Reno! And the community should be super excited. Last year just didn't feel complete without the Tour gracing us with its presence in downtown Reno for a kickass bike racing event. I hope you'll all go out and support the race (after you stop at The Hub, of course), so we can welcome the Tour back to downtown Reno with a bang. And, seeing as The Hub is deeply rooted in this Reno cycling scene, we may actually be closed for the afternoon on Friday. I'll be doing my part volunteering and coordinating some aspects of the event, and Pops will be spinning his legs, warming up for the Old Man's (I'm sorry... the "Masters") race at 4:00p.m. Who would run the shop?!

Saturday, again, will be a "Part II" of our soft opening. We'll be making sweet coffee love for the community coffee crazies all Saturday morning. Monday, then, will be our first full day of operation. A good start to the week, if you ask me.

First espressos!

We pulled some of the first espresso on the La Marzocco GB5 earlier this evening at Reno's new coffee epicenter, The Hub! Sweet and tangy tangerine, thick caramel wrapped in rich cacao, hints of cherry and molasses popping through intermittently to slap your taste buds silly... as close to coffee heaven as you'll get. Only at The Hub.

The Hub's espresso is the finest. The big daddy of 'spro. The boss. And it really is named "The Boss"... what better to name an espresso that, in my opinion, shines so high above all the others? Barefoot Coffee (the 'foot) doesn't just outdo themselves, and spoil coffee fanatics like you and me, with their killer 'spro; Barefoot Coffee takes it above and beyond the industry norms in their day to day relations with the hundreds (thousands?!) of rural coffee farmers and coffee-farming cooperatives in countries like Guatemala, Brazil, El Salvador, India, and Ethiopia, just to name a few. Purchasing coffees directly from farmers at often much higher prices than the minimum guaranteed by Fair Trade certification, Barefoot supports and promotes a way of doing business that will ensure long-standing relationships filled with trust between the producer and the buyer and a product that is not just of high quality in culinary terms, but of high quality in sustainable terms: ethically, environmentally, and economically.

Often times, because of economic reasons, farming communities do not have the financial means to obtain any of the many premium certifications available on the world coffee market. Despite this "official" labeling, Barefoot coffees are quite often still farmed organically, in natural, shaded forest or mountain climates, and purchased at greater-than-Fair Trade prices. Why? It is all in keeping with their high sustainability standards. At The Hub, you know where your money goes; and you can appreciate and feel proud of the fact that you are paying for more than just an amazing sensorial experience, because you are also helping to prolong tradition and communities all across the globe.

All these wonderful coffees and the ideals that their purchase promotes will be available for those in Reno and anyone else who happens to stumble upon The Hub Coffee Co. on their way through the Biggest Little City! This coming Friday, the 19th, will be our first morning serving coffee to the masses (Let me qualify that... If all goes well with our final inspection tomorrow! Hope your fingers are still crossed from the last time I mentioned inspections...). Hope to see you then for your morning coffee!

Yet more "finishing" touches?

I'm sorry!... I may have spoken too soon by saying we were to the finishing touches as of my last update. I'm not sure if we can group all of this stuff into what I'd think of as the finish of our little coffeehouse. There is still a lot of work to be done. We've had our first inspection with the city, and there are many more to come over the next few days. Keep your fingers crossed! We think we got it in the bag, but these city officials are tough.

Anyhow, The Hub is finally starting to look like a coffeehouse! A business, at least. The old brick garage we've been converting doesn't look like a garage anymore! Take a look for yourself:



The pictures: the very necessary wheel-action shot, with our custom steel, laser-cut signage off in the distance!; the infamous La Marzocco GB5 (now you know); reflections on the back wall of the work area, adorned with 24 4 x 4 in. mirrors; the legitimitization (that's right) of our garage with the heavy-duty, glass-paneled overhead door!; and yet another shot of the GB5, close-up of its elegance (And there's no such thing as too many pictures of the La Marzocco, I assure you. It will be the lead singer in our coffee choir, singing beautiful song for your caffeinated ears).

The plumbing has been finished for a day or two, and all of the electrical was wrapped up today. That's mostly good news!!! We can hook up the equipment now, and maybe even serve up some espresso for ourselves as we slave away on the rest of our "to do" list. But let's hope tomorrow is more productive for us than today... Oh, you mean we needed to put this crap up under the counters before all of the plumbing fixtures were set and now we have to work around them all when we have no idea what we're doing? Thank you, Mr. Plumber.

And on a side note: Tomorrow's the boss' birthday. He'll be working hard scrubbing brick walls and installing hot water towers and espresso machines on his 43rd birthday. We should all be so lucky! (Forget 43, and make sure you congratulate him on 48... it'll be hilArious)

It will open soon.... I swear!

It's almost open!!!!!!!!!

Been working on opening up shop just outside of downtown Reno, NV. Perfect location: centered along a long strip of tattoo parlors, independent eateries, thrift stroes, you name it. Perfect set-up: an old brick garage, small enough to maintain with ease, but just big enough to cram in a cozy little coffeehouse. And the perfect time to open up if you ask me: the start of summer, a time when customers may come to enjoy some wonderful outdoor seating at The Hub, and a time when Reno is picking up the pace and redefining what it means to spend time in downtown Reno.

We are all very excited for the shop. We already have a great group of enthusiastic and eager employees to take care of operations behind the counter, and we are very close to finishing up the construction side of things! Our wonderful bike wall (way better than your average bike rack) has been erected; all the necessary machinery has been tracked down and purchased; we're putting on the finishing touches for the decor in the shop; and all of it eagerly awaits the 15th of this month!

Now you know. June 15th is our current projected date of opening for The Hub Coffee Co., just in time for cycling mayhem at the Mighty Tour de Nez!!!! Keep your fingers crossed, minor setbacks certainly aren't outside of the norm in this kind of situation. In any case, we're still working hard to bring The Hub to Reno, NV, and it WILL be here eventually!

Time for an update.

So... I'm obviously not very good at this blog thing. It's been a while since my first post and the media debut of The Hub Coffee Co. Yes, I promise, we are still here. Good coffee is still on the way.

It looks as though The Hub will not be opening up as soon as expected. June 1st seems quite impossible at this time. BUT! Don't try and get used to your Starbucks motor oil yet! We've only had to push back the prospective opening to the middle of June.

A little update to hold you all over: Drywall is up... painting has begun! We're cleaning up those beautiful brick walls over the weekend. And we're pouring concrete in the front for the outdoor seating area in the coming days! Yessir.

Construction!

Build-out of the shop has officially started!!! Actually, it has been under way for several weeks now.

We set out to reconstruct a simple brick garage on Cheney Street, in Reno's Midtown area just south of Downtown on Virginia Street. An area for a bathroom sectioned off in the back quarter of our 400 sq. ft. area... electrical outlets strategically positioned along the west wall of the commons-area... exciting stuff, right? Right?! Hmmm....

Well the really good stuff is yet to come. We have many friends helping out in the development of our lovely little casa de caffeine and, with the collaborative genius of these friends, we only expect wonderful things as we get closer and closer to our projected opening date, June 1!!!

In the mean time, here are some pictures of the garage at this point in the process...


Front of the shop... and the driveway that will be the future patio for those beautiful summer evenings in Reno!

Contractor and Papa Trujillo, the man with the vision... standing in what will soon be the bar area for our knowledgeable baristi of the Hub Coffee Co.

Looking back towards the seating area... tables? an espresso bar? comfy couches?! We don't know yet!