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

A promising first week.

We had our first official, full day of business on this wonderful Monday in Reno. A nice, cool morning made for good coffee-drinkin' weather. And the day brightened up just enough to make the patio area perfect for an afternoon iced coffee.

For those of you that have been following the blog or keeping up on the news as we've progressed up to this point, you may have heard a little bit about the hours we were hoping to keep on a day-to-day basis. The way it's looking now, after actually spending a few days in the coffeeshop, I believe the boss and I have come to a final agreement in regards to business hours. We decided that Sunday-Thursday we'd keep doors open from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday and Saturday, we're hoping, will be a little better for evening hours, and we've decided to keep the doors open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. But until we've built a solid customer base, gotten the word out about The Hub, and received some strong feedback from the community for a change to later hours throughout the week, we think early morning and early afternoon are our key points in the day. Either way, we hope everyone comes to Hub it when they can, and keep in mind that your feedback about what we're doing is important!

Today was a great day at the shop. From 6:30 a.m. to close, there was at least one person at any time hanging around and enjoying something from The Hub: lots of old friends, and many new customers as well. Thank you for your support! Let's hope that the constant flow maintains, but the strength of that flow increases exponentially!

We have some amazing choices at The Hub this week. If you haven't already been in to try our iced coffee, I highly recommend that you do. We use a cold brew process exclusive to The Hub in the Reno area, and coupled with the fact that we have some truly delicious coffees to brew up in this manner, it really is a treat! Refreshing, tasty, and a good pick-me-up in the heat of the afternoon. Learn a bit more at www.toddycafe.com, and make sure you come to The Hub for some one-on-one with me!

First day for pay!

I've just returned back home to get what little sleep I can before the big day tomorrow. Ah! I have to be back up at 4:30a.m. Times like these really allow me to appreciate them good coffee drugs in the mornin'.

We had an amazing day at The Hub. Finished some final touches in the shop. So many things, you'll have to just come in to see! (But quite a few more things still to do... work with us! Just as long as you can get your fix, right?) If you happened to have seen the garage before the remodel, you'll be in awe, I assure you. As one girl put it today, "Oh, it looks so cute!". I guess you could put it that way. But whichever way you look at it, it looks as if the garage was meant for The Hub! It all just fits so well!

As I said, today was amazing. We were not even officially open, simply had the garage door up and the espresso machine warmed up for some friends. Next thing we knew, we were serving coffees, talkin' it all up, spreadin' the coffee knowledge (or as we like to say, the coffee love!), and had a tip jar with nearly $100 dollars in it! And we were featured on News Channel 2 at 5:30 in a story on the redevelopment of the entire Midtown area! Money and free publicity before we were even open!!!!!!!! What?! No complaints here.

We certainly felt the excitement coming from those who managed to drop by today, and we hope we exhibited a high level excitement on our part as well. We just want to have fun, drink amazing coffee, make good friends, and hopefully, at the end of it all, make a little money so we can continue to do the first three things! So thank you to everybody who has already begun to show their support: Tim Healion and the entire Tour de Nez crew, all of our cycling buddies, our fellow business owners in the Midtown area, all of our customers from Walden's Coffeehouse, and everyone else who supported today, will support tomorrow, or the next day. You're all part of our big coffee-drinkin' family!

So tomorrow makes it official... we start wranglin' in those dollar bills and bustin' out some killer espressos for anyone and everyone that stops in at The Hub. From 6a.m. to 12p.m. tomorrow and Saturday, closed on Sunday (a little time for us to gather ourselves one last time), and then it's full tilt starting Monday at 6a.m. So have a wonderful weekend, make sure you check out the Tour de Nez in downtown Reno tomorrow starting at 4p.m., and we hope to see you soon for the best coffee you ever did have! And I'll leave it at that.

Opening update.

For everyone that hasn't already been learned about the big opening day, this Friday (two days away!) we will be having a soft opening in the morning from 6 a.m. to about 12 (2? eh?) p.m. Same goes on Saturday. Just a little introduction. A test-run, if you will: Part I on Friday; Part II on Saturday. We'll be serving up The Boss espresso (if you don't already know, you soon will), macchiatos, cappuccinos (all three done in traditional Italian proportions). Lattes, mochas with tasty cacao, and iced coffee that goes down smoother than water.

Monday the 22nd will be our first full day of operation!!!!! I hope everyone stays up really late partying in the name of the Tour de Nez so they need their coffee come Monday morning. We will be opening at 6 a.m. and closing at 9 p.m. So come down for your morning coffee, or for your afternoon espresso, or your evening latte, or all three! Come once and I guarantee you'll never even want to leave!

See you soon!

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)