Boston City Hall
The Boston City Hall coffee saga has reached what seems to be a dénouement.
In early 2015, atop what was at that point the dazzling rainbow Stairs of Fabulousness, there was a brew bar operated by Boston Brewin’. Halfway through that year, on the mezzanine, a Triangle Coffee cart appeared.
Evidently satisfied by the success of its coffee pop-up series, City Hall planners incorporated a permanent coffee kiosk into its lobby renovation plans towards the end of 2016, putting out a call for coffee company applicants to operate the kiosk at the dawn of this year.
El Recreo Coffee Owner Hector Morales. Photo courtesy of El Recreo Coffee.
That call has been answered, and now vertically-integrated Nicaraguan grower/roaster/retailer El Recreo Estate has moved in, establishing its second retail location within the busy Brutalist government building’s third floor mezzanine entryway. The local purveyor, whose original roastery café is located in the Boston suburb of West Roxbury, Mass., opened for business in city hall early last month.
El Recreo at the Boston City Hall.
“Business has been great so far,” El Recreo Estate Owner Hector Morales told Daily Coffee News. “We’ve been able to get to know the community at City Hall, and making new friends. People are getting to know us and our story.”
The all-Jinotega, Nicaragua, coffees that the company began importing and roasting in a Diedrich IR 12 on U.S. soil in 2012 are extracted at the kiosk on a Synchro espresso machine, a pair of two Fetco brewers, and manual options including French press, Aeropress, Chemex and other manual pourovers.
The original El Recreo cafe and roastery in West Roxbury. Photo courtesy of El Recreo Coffee.
“I want to make a perfect roast to bring out the nuances of our beans in each profile,” Morales said of his treatment of beans from the family farm as they pass through Diedrich. “When someone drinks a cup of Recreo coffee, I want them to taste the beauty of a high quality coffee from the mountains of Nicaragua.”
Between the kiosk and its flagship the company is satisfied as far as retail is concerned at the moment. Next steps for the business will be a push on wholesale, both of green and roasted coffees.
Photo courtesy of El Recreo Coffee.
The El Recreo Estate kiosk in Boston City Hall kiosk is open Monday through Friday, from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Howard Bryman
Howard Bryman is the associate editor of Daily Coffee News by Roast Magazine. He is based in Portland, Oregon.
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