Vertically integrated coffee company Rootline Coffee is drawing straight lines from Nicaragua into guests’ cups at the company’s first coffee shop in Dripping Springs, Texas.
Tiles, embroidery and natural wood pieces around the 2,100-square-foot cafe about 45 minutes west of Austin create a comfortable setting in which to sip a fresh brew. They also reflect the direct connection to Finca Esperanza De Gloria, a farm in Jinotega, Nicaragua, owned by Rootline proprietors Britt and Audrey Hancock.
Roasting for the cafe occurs offsite, at an approximately 580-square-foot Dripping Springs roastery facility that houses 6-kilo and 3-kilo Mill City Roasters machines. Rootline also ships coffee to a second roastery in Summerset, South Dakota, that houses a 10-kilo Mill City machine. Both roasteries are overseen by Rootline Coffee Production Manager Layne Sorgee.
Summerset is home to Britt and Audrey’s sone, David Hancock, and his wife, Jasmine Hancock, who serve as Rootline’s president and operations manager, respectively. The Hancocks have been part of a Christian missionary organization called Mountain Gateway that has operated in Nicaragua since 2013, and they purchased the coffee farm in 2017.
“Our coffee shop was designed to really embrace the culture of our farm,” Jasmine Hancock told Daily Coffee News. “One of our favorite details is in the bathroom: The terracotta tile flooring has one imperfection of a dog’s paw print in the tile. The team loved it, and it reminded us all of tiles we’d find around Central America.”
Finca Esperanza De Gloria comprises 127 acres in total, with 70 acres devoted to growing Java, Catimor, Catuai and Caturra coffee varieties. Post-harvest processes include both washed and natural.
Said Jasmine, “Britt and Audrey purchased the failing farm in hopes to turn it around and create a better life for farmers — where they are paid and treated fairly and there was no child labor on the farm.”
The coffee company at first sold roasted and surplus green coffees to customers in the United States under the name EDG Coffee, including through a retail coffee trailer established in 2019. The company rebranded as Rootline in 2020.
A food program is coming soon to the Dripping Springs cafe, where drinks are crafted on a pair of eye-catching Victoria Arduino manual lever espresso machines. Online options will soon expand into K-cups, 5-pound bags and a selection of branded merchandise.
Rootline Coffee is located at 2001 W US 290, Suite 116, in Dripping Springs, Texas. 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.
