Virginia Beach’s Pinup Coffee Finds a Spot at the Back Bay Farmhouse

Pinup Coffee Co.’s first bar is located inside the Back Bay Farmhouse in Virginia Beach, Virginia. All images courtesy of Pinup Coffee Co.

About a year and a half after christening its full-fledged production roastery, Virginia Beach, Virginia-based Pinup Coffee Co. is moving full speed ahead into retail waters, opening its first coffee shop.

The Pinup Coffee cafe is nestled strategically into a retrofitted wing of the Back Bay Brew House Farmhouse, the main outpost of local craft beer and cider maker Back Bay Brew House. The two companies had previously collaborated for kegged nitro cold brew, and the ensuing friendship led to the call to be farmhouse-mates.

“Many, many hours were spent on the buildout of this cafe — but this pales in comparison to what could have been, time-wise,” Pinup Coffee Co-Founder Steph Wein recently told DCN. “We had been going back and forth with firms, developing a plan for a full ground-up buildout. The choke point for us — as a growing, yet still smaller in comparison, coffee company — was the obvious cost.”

Wein, who founded Pinup during off-duty hours with fellow United States Navy Veteran aircrewman and now husband Bryce Wein, said that the Back Bay partnership allowed for lower-cost entry into brick-and-mortar, while naturally bringing two community-focused craft beverage brands together.

Said Steph Wein, “The decision to occupy this space was driven by mutual respect for heritage, innovation and the desire to create a community-centric coffee haven.”

As with any project involving the reuse of a historic home — in this case, a two-story, 1912 farmhouse on 8.6 acres — the move required some ingenuity and elbow grease. The first-floor slice of the house now occupied by Pinup offers a scant 5×3 feet of counter space, including a striking new live-edge front service counter coming through a collaboration with friend and fellow Navy veteran John Hardin of Hardin Wood Designs (Instagram).

Strategic shelving appears throughout the space, allowing two baristas to freely work at the back counter, which was lifted up three inches to accommodate new wiring and plumbing.

Within these confines, the shop now boasts a La Marzocco Linea PB espresso machine supported by a Mahlkonig E65 GbW grinder and Puqpress auto-tamper, plus a batch brewer. Water flowing to those devices is treated to Pinup’s own “sweet spot” specs through both sediment and carbon filters. The workspace also includes a compact ice machine that Wein described as “invaluable.”

“We wanted everything a barista could ever need or want in the space, and in a layout that flowed well,” Steph Wein said. “Did we mention the space they have to work with has roughly five feet by three feet of counter space? But we accomplished the task.”

Alongside the cafe’s drink menu come fresh baked goods and yogurt parfaits from fellow local business Top Knot Artisan Bakery.

Bryce Wein, a skilled coffee technician, continues to run many of the business aspects while developing and maintaining Pinup’s custom roastery and retail management software. Steph Wein, meanwhile, runs the coffee program, including green buying, roasting and menu development.

The company is in the process of switching to recyclable bags, one of numerous measures designed to improve sustainability within its own supply chain.

“This was a serious decision for us between compostable options — which we believe can be misleading — to deciding on recyclable and going so far as to reach out to our locality and their processing facilities to ensure our bags are going in the right places to be recycled,” Steph Wein said. “We are fully committed to being better every day for each step in the coffee chain, and believe that improvements are needed at every level, not just the farmer and producer level, but all the way from there to the barista.”

The Weins didn’t share any immediate plans for Pinup’s next moves, although they’re certain to follow ample reconnaissance.

“We are actively working on growing the business as a whole, from roastery to cafes,” said Steph Wein, “but we also meet each new opportunity with detailed research and analysis to decide on our next moves.”

Pinup Coffee at Back Bay’s Farmhouse is now open at 1805 Kempsville Rd, Virginia Beach, VA. Comments? Questions? News to share? Contact DCN’s editors here.