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October 2011 #NWITweetup – Cornucopia Coffee Company

Written by finn on October 9, 2011 - 1 Comment
Categories: NWI Tweetups

As Daver and I started to talk about the user feedback and how we’re shaping up Tweetups going into this season, we started talking about our favorite places and events. This first place he said was, “Cornucopia Coffee Company. They had Gumball Head, wonderful architecture, great food and a PA system so I can be heard. And we spent so much time running around and preparing for the speakers that I didn’t get to enjoy it. Let’s go there. I want to really, really enjoy the place.”

Well, other than his reasonings for the PA system, I thought he was dead on.

Cornucopia Coffee Company has been the place I’ve rooted for this year. With an ambiance immersed in classic roots & rock music and open spacies, brick walls, high ceilings, restored wood floors, wonderful views of Lincolnway and great folks flooding in an out, CCC was designed to be part of the downtown community.

I haven’t been there enough this year. And that’s a shame. I was thinking about that last night while I was attending the concert and auction for local charity 500 Turkeys last Friday night. It was one of those evenings that was filled with enough good people that it gave you hope for the rest of the race. And there might not have been a better place to host such an event as Cornucopia.

And if you can’t appreciate that, well, you really shouldn’t be in Social Media.

To give you a little more, I got the opportunity to interview Rich Halstead, co-owner of Cornucopia Coffee Company before last year’s event. He’s a kindred spirit; a student of all the great lessons learned from the Woodstock generation. It’s a wonder I don’t ask to rent out the back couch after hours so I could live there. The Gumball Head doesn’t hurt.

Here’s a question from that interview:

Could you please describe what it took to make Cornucopia Coffee Company a reality?

We began studying the business on a concert trip to Seattle in 2001. It was something we were interested in and what better place to start?

Shortly afterwards we met Tony Dreyfuss from Metropolis Coffee in Chicago and became friends. He was micro-roaster of the year in 2007, and was also honored with best latte in Chicago the same year. Tony’s small batch artisan roasting is 2nd to none, and the coffee, quality and dedication to product is incredible. For instance, fair trade and sustainability are important to all of us, and he and his team were in east Africa several months ago, visiting farms and co-ops, and buying product to export to the roastery.

We began construction on our building in 2008, and 14 months later were ready to open. We restored the building by removing upwards of 2500 pounds of plaster to expose the original brick, and 4200 pounds of flooring to expose the original 1903 maple floor, which we refinished. Any damaged areas of the floor were laced with vintage Notre Dame basketball court flooring that we acquired from one of our acquaintances. The circa 1910 espresso bar is from a bar in Kouts that went out of business after a small fire. Our tin ceiling is also completely original from 1903, and we integrated parts of it into the design of the bar, and stage platform.

Make Sure You Join Us!

We’re keeping it nice and loose and enjoyable. And if you want to have a specific beer there, let us know in advance so we can get it scheduled. So far, we’ve had a request for Guinness.

Otherwise, bring your sense of good times. As for me, you’ll probably be able to find me on Cornucopia’s patio enjoying a brisk October evening in downtown Valparaiso.