True Stone Coffee Roasters Makes a Retail Splash in St. Paul

The new True Stone Coffee Roasters cafe in the Lowertown District of St. Paul. All images courtesy of True Stone Coffee Roasters.

Having carved out its niche within the Twin Cities region as a resource for expertly roasted coffees — as well as for professional knowledge, training and equipment — True Stone Coffee Roasters has at last rolled into its own retail coffeehouse.

Opening today in St. Paul’s Lowertown district, the shop builds upon the momentum swell that came three years ago with True Stone’s certification as an SCA Premier Training Campus.

The 1,500-square-foot location will remain familiar to local fans of fresh pastries, brunch and quality coffee, as until recently the space was home to the final retail location of beloved local bakery The Salty Tart, a True Stone wholesale customer.

True Stone Director of Operations Tyler Liedman told Daily Coffee News that guests at the new location will recognize the layout and the abundant natural light from generous south and east-facing windows, but the spirit of the space is now solidly True Stone.

“I fell in love with this space the first moment I saw it,” Liedman told Daily Coffee News. “I see our job as making sure we don’t interfere with the natural ambiance. So we decorated with a lot of simple tones: white, marble, black and wood.”

The company also partnered with its favorite local artist, Mary Solberg, whose creative portraiture adds a certain depth and warmth to the atmosphere.

Artwork from Mary Solberg hangs in the new cafe.

Beneath the winged bean logo that hangs over the bar, a Slayer LPX espresso machine is perched upon clean marble alongside Mahlkönig grinders to form the basis of a drinks menu rounded out with single cups brewed via Curtis Seraphim and larger batches dripped by Curtis G4. A variety of teas supplied by Minnesota-based Tea Source is offered with presentations in either Eastern or Western styles.

The beans for the formerly exclusively wholesale brand continue to find their wings through the company’s Cropster-linked 30-kilo US Roaster Corp drum roaster and 1-kilo San Franciscan profile roaster at the St. Paul training center and headquarters. As the company rolls towards two decades in the roasting business, Liedman suggested that there won’t be any rash moves in the near future.

“It took 17 years to open our first retail space, so we definitely prefer to take things slow and deliberate,” said Liedman. “We’re going to be the same company we have always been. It’s just now we have this space to show off our passions a little bit more directly.”

True Stone is open now at 289 5th St. E in the Lowertown neighborhood of St. Paul.