Napa, California-based roasting company Naysayer Coffee has heard the call to open a permanent coffee shop, and answered with a resounding “yes!”
Occupying approximately 650 square feet inside a shopping center in South Napa that boasts an iconic art deco “Food City” sign, the company’s first brick-and-mortar shop opened earlier this month.
It welcomes many patrons who first got to know the Naysayer brand through its popup at the First & Franklin Marketplace over the past year-and-a-half.
After surviving through the pandemic, thanks in large part to connections made during the popup pivot, Naysayer co-founders Beth and Chris Vecera simply couldn’t say “nay” to a permanent cafe much longer.
“We definitely had the vision and dream of starting our own coffee shop at some point, but that just kind of got sped up as things actually happened,” Chris Vecera told Daily Coffee News. “We were thinking more year five instead of year three, because I do love the connecting piece that wholesale roasters get to be, sharing stories from farmers and exporters. But Napa is my hometown, and there are so many opportunities to share those stories in a retail setting.”
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Local points of connection can be found throughout the new cafe. A botanical coffee tree mural that leaps off the back wall of the space was executed by local tattoo artist Kristina Mcdonald, while ceramics for the shop were made by Micah Hammac, a former Ritual Coffee manager now making ceramics under the name TreeBed Design.
No fewer than five different local bakeries contribute to the snacks available in the shop, including pastries, toasts and bagels.
Yet the beans ground by Mahlkönig grinders prior to brewing in either a Slayer Steam EP espresso machine, Fellow Stagg X manual brewers or a Curtis G4 batch system are all Naysayer, roasted in a Loring S15 Falcon roaster on the outskirts of town.
“Our brand is centered on elevating the coffee experience for our community in a transparent and unassuming way,” Vecera said. “We are so excited to be launching this shop at the junction of several Napa neighborhoods. We also are continuing to grow our wholesale program.”
Naysayer Coffee Roasters is located at 1813 Old Sonoma Rd. in Napa. Tell DCN’s editors about your new coffee shop or roastery here.
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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