Inside the new Tselia Coffee shop and roastery in Greenville, South Carolina. All images courtesy of Tselia Coffee.
The cherry blossoms never fade at a new family-run cafe and roastery in downtown Greenville, South Carolina, called Tselia Coffee, where two life-size replica cherry blossom trees set an otherworldly tone.
The pink faux flowers add softness and a surreal pop of color in contrast to a wall of black built-in archways opposite exposed brick. A pink neon sign reading “This must be the place” greets customers near the entrance, where they pass the first tree.
“When you see those trees, it feels like you’ve stepped into somewhere new, something almost a little magical,” Tselia Coffee Co-Founder Rebecca Langlands told Daily Coffee News. “Pair that with good coffee, scratch-made pastries, vibey decor, and a welcoming environment, you’ve got a space people want to come back to and experience again.”
The second tree unfurls over the colorful black marble coffee bar, where dual 2-group Slayer Espresso V3 machines with custom black and maple handles pair with Mahlkönig grinders for the espresso program while a pair of boilerless Poursteady PS2 pourover machines execute single-cup drip coffees. A Ground Control Cyclops that rises nearly to the cherry tree’s canopy provides batch brews.
Twelve taps behind the bar are on standby for future beer, cider or wine service, while the opposite 12 are where all the fun is, Co-Founder Matthew Langlands told DCN.
“Three taps are reserved for our milks — yes, milks on tap,” Matthew said. “There’s not a lot of places I’ve ever seen do this, so I really took a gamble to make this work. There’s a lot of pieces needed, and we have some fancy things in the back to make it all possible. Overall, it’s a far more efficient process, but it requires an immense amount of forethought and energy to keep it running properly.”
Oat, almond and a dairy whole milk reach baristas via the tap system. The remaining seven taps are gradually filling out with still and nitro cold brew coffees, teas and other concoctions.
Once served, guests can relax on velvet chairs, sofas and at a handful of maple-surfaced high and low two tops. An additional long community table made by Greenville-based M2 Lumber features two maple slabs joined by a river of black epoxy.
“Our intention was to blend grungy, industrial elements into an elegant and spunky combination,” Rebecca Langlands said of the design led by Matthew and Annie Langlands. “This is part of why we chose black and pink as our color scheme; the black is elegant and clean, but the pink adds something fun to the mix.”
The Langlands family — including father Sinclair, mother and head baker Annie, son and head roaster Matthew, and daughter and media, marketing and design manager Rebecca — moved to Greenville from Temecula, California, several years ago.
Matthew and Rebecca Langlands have both worked in specialty coffee for about a decade, while Matthew has aspired to open a shop of his own much of that time.
“When we all moved to Greenville from Southern California, he decided to take the leap to open his own space, so we all dove in together as a family,” Rebecca told DCN.
Today, Matthew Langlands focuses his energy on a San Franciscan SF-6 in a space separated by glass inside the approximately 2,200-square-foot cafe. A multi-level pallet rack at the back of the shop provides capacity for up to four pallets of green coffee.
“For a relatively small sized cafe/roaster operation, we have the capacity to expand to a considerably large volume down the line,” Matthew said. “That was very much intentional. I did spec the roastery to fit an SF-25 as well, side by side, but we are waiting for things to even out first before we upscale our production and equipment.”
While Matthew has seven years of professional roasting experience, Tselia represents his first time at the helm of a green coffee sourcing and purchasing program.
“It’s a bit different when it is your own vision driving and steering you,” said Matthew, who has also spent time working in the IT/tech space while studying business intelligence and data visualization. Music, another of his passions, has been another fixation in which a sensory experience is charted visually.
“This is sort of why I like watching roast curves and peering over my roast data,” Matthew said. “Graphs, charts and data are sort of my thing. I have this knack for a left-brain right-brain blend on anything I do — creativity paired with a strong technical/analytical approach.”
Online and wholesale sales are among goals for Tselia Coffee this year, as the company continues to dial in operations at its dream-come-true cafe.
“We love our city and we want to be able to offer something different for people to enjoy,” Rebecca Langlands said. “Greenville has a thriving coffee culture and we want to continue to build that community and hopefully be able to extend it outside of downtown.”
Tselia Coffee is located at 219 N. Main St. in Greenville. Comments? Questions? News to share? Contact DCN’s editors here. For all the latest coffee industry news, subscribe to the DCN newsletter.
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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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