Editor’s note: Our friend Keith Hamrick, owner of Northbound Coffee Roasters in beautiful Mount Shasta, California, wrote to me to share the story of the opening of an awesome cafe in his neck of the woods, which is what I like to call Northern Northern California. See, the coffee scene in Cali doesn’t just stop after Sacramento ”there’s a burgeoning scene farther north closing in on Oregon that’s growing like gangbusters. Big thanks to Keith, who wrote the item that follows, and sent these great photos. Check it!
Coffee lovers in the far reaches of Northern California celebrated the grand opening of Coffee Bar in Redding on April 27. Owner Jim Koenigsaecker and his staff welcomed customers with complimentary espresso drinks prepared on his newly installed La Marzocco Strada MP or made-to-order drip on the Hario bar. The owners of Temple Coffee of Sacramento and Northbound Coffee of Mount Shasta were on hand to pour drinks and check out the newly built location which is bright and modern with a steampunk twist. As the evening progressed, the adult beverages came out, and the baristas started signing up for an informal latte art competition, the first of its kind in the area. Local baristas were joined by some from as far away as Chico and Sacramento, and they all presented their best pours to a panel of judges. Kevin Yi of Temple Coffee won the top prize.
The building Coffee Bar is located in is built on to help revitalize Redding’s downtown, on what was a vacant and blighted lot. The building also includes affordable apartments for low-income families and the offices of Jim’s nonprofit organization, Innovations Housing, which serves to protect and foster natural and human habitats for living, working and playing, with a special focus on the needs of the economically disadvantaged. Coffee Bar is decorated with original artwork of vintage European motorcycles, one of which can usually be found parked out front.
Redding is a far drive from the coffee-centric cities of Portland, Ore., and San Francisco, but the stylish and sophisticated Coffee Bar in Redding would fit well in either place. œOur new coffee bar is the heart and soul of a mixed-use building we started working on back in 2005,” says Jim. “Coffee Bar was envisioned as an inclusive community gathering place. We also wanted to bring world-class coffee to our small town.
Done and done. Jim has brought the coffee community in this area together in a way never done before. We all look forward to what the future holds for coffee in the far reaches of Northern California.
