Curations Combined with Quay Coffee and the Nelson-Atkins Museum in KCMO

Quay Coffee at the Nelson-Atkins museum. Photo by Chris Mullins, courtesy of Quay Coffee.

Visitors viewing the fine works on display the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri, can now awaken their senses with fine works of the warm, potable sort, as multiroaster cafe Quay Coffee has settled into its second retail location, on the Plaza level of the institution’s Bloch Building.

“They bring in works of art from around the world, the best of the best,” Quay Coffee owner Cory Stipp told Daily Coffee News. “We strive to do the same as we bring in coffees from different roasters across the U.S. and Canada.”

With roughly 2,000 square feet of space indoors and another 1,225 square feet of patio seating, the coffee shop includes a La Marzocco Linea Classic supported by a Nuova Simonelli Mythos grinder, alongside Hario V60 manual and Fetco XTS batch brews ground by Mahlkonig EK43. The coffee selection, which Stipp said rotates every four to six weeks, features coffees from the likes of Onyx Coffee Lab (Springdale, Arkansas), Heart Coffee Roasters (Portland, Oregon), Kuma Coffee (Seattle) and Blueprint Coffee (St. Louis).

Photo by Chris Mullins, courtesy of Quay Coffee.

Stipp said the selection process for the coffees Quay buys has recently been streamlined. Within a given month, the Quay team now cups two to three coffees from four or five established roaster partners, along with a couple new coffees from new roasters.

“We choose a coffee that we know our guests will like, basically a crowd pleaser,” Stipp said. “Next we choose a staff favorite which is a bit more complex. Everyone who cups the coffee shares in the conversation about what we think would make a strong lineup.”

The new shop opened on Dec. 16, and for its immediate next step, Stipp said will simply catch its breath and adjust to life with two cafes.

“It’s been a fun and busy past couple of months,” he said. “We are working with completely different systems in place. Ordering coffee, paper products, scheduling and all the little details that come with two locations.”

Photo courtesy of Quay Coffee.

As for the art of roasting, the company hews true to the curatorial spirit shared by the new location’s host institution: They’ll continue to celebrate the art of others.

“We feel very strongly about the system we have set up. We are honored to share coffees we love with our community,” said Stipp. “Many of our guests may never have opportunity to taste coffees from the roasters we bring in. It’s fun for us since we can change as often as we desire because we do not have a 250-pound bag of green coffee that we are tied to.”

Quay Coffee at the Nelson-Atkins Museum is located at 4525 Oak Street in Kansas City, Missouri.