Sometimes in the process of fielding these Build-Outs stories, you come across a sentence or two that just leaves you floored. Here is one of those, from today’s new Build-Out feature submitted by Vigilante Coffee of Vista, CA:
“Originally, the building housed a Radio Shack.
Today, the entire building is a living breathing piece of art.”
One simply must read more, at which point one discovers that Vigilante is also connected to a craft cannabis shop, and uses an absolutely gorgeous custom “chameleon color wrapped” La Marzocco KB90. Just keep scrolling.
The 2024 Build-Outs of Coffee is presented by Ceado and Dona. The 2024 Build-outs of Coffee is sponsored by Pacific Barista Series, La Marzocco, Acaia, and Ghirardelli.
As told to Sprudge by Chris Vigilante.
For those who aren’t familiar, will you tell us about your company?
Vigilante Coffee is a specialty coffee roaster that started in Washington, DC in 2012. I learned coffee from seed to cup, including the roasting process, in Hawaii then moved to DC and began roasting in a row house basement on a 1lb roaster. Through farmers markets, pop ups, and growing wholesale the company grew and in 2014 we opened up our Hyattsville, Maryland roastery and cafe and coffee lab. In 2018 we established our second cafe in College Park, Maryland right next to the University of Maryland. We are focused on sourcing our coffees directly as possible. We participate in coffee auctions at origin and develop multi-year relationships with our farmers all over the world. (Check out our transparency page). In the beginning of 2021 we opened our west coast roastery in Oceanside, California where we roast on a 15kg Loring. So now we’re roasting and brewing in four cafes on both coasts. We just opened the Vista, California cafe at the end of July.
Can you tell us a bit about the new space?
Originally, the building housed a Radio Shack. Today, the entire building is a living breathing piece of art. Street graffiti artist Risk painted the building a few years back. There are two spaces in the building. Vigilante Coffee & an OG cannabis dispensary, Tradecraft Farms! They grow their own herb in Los Angeles and we’re stoked to have them as our neighbors. There were one of the main reasons we decided to put a cafe here!
Our cafe space is 3,000 square feet. It’s airy and open with a minimalist approach. We built a large coffee bar featuring espresso, pour-overs, and drip coffees. The bar is built to show the process of brewing and invite the guests to ask questions and engage. We’ve added a TV screen to this cafe with b-roll showing drone footage of the local surfing spots and hikes as well as our coffee videos to origin, brewing tutorials, etc. We wanted to give the guest something to watch while they waited for their coffee. Vigilante Vista also has a beautiful lil courtyard in the back that has a nice mellow vibe.
It was a dream of ours to connect the two concepts of a cannabis dispensary and a specialty coffee shop. We were inspired by the Amsterdam style of coffee shops. While these two spaces are separate, it’s just a wonderfully convenient experience for anyone looking to appreciate craft cannabis and craft coffee. We think they go hand in hand and we like to say, “all you need is coffee and weed!”
What’s your approach to coffee?
Source world class coffees, roast them delicately and with terroir at the forefront. Use our business as a force for good and spend our money wisely, supporting like minded partners. Making moves that are good for our customers, our company, and the planet. Ultimately, we just wanna leave the game better than we found it and bring people an experience that uplifts them. Both from a quality standpoint and a service standpoint.
Any machines, coffees, special equipment lined up?
A custom chameleon color wrapped La Marzocco KB90 espresso machine, Curtis Corinth hot water tower, Kalita Wave pour-overs, Curtis G4 brewer, E80, an EK43 Mahlkönig grinder.
We’re featuring our Tin Lizzie Espresso blend and a wonderful single origin Colombian decaf coffee called Madre Laura. We source that coffee from Campesino Coffee. We rotate the pour-over offerings with whatever is freshest and most exciting in our lineup.
How is your project considering sustainability?
On the coffee sourcing/roasting side we aim to work as closely with the producer as possible. If we’re working with importers, which we most definitely are, many of our partners are Certified B-Corp. We’re just aiming to do business the best way, where all parties benefit and sustain long and fruitful relationships.
All of our to-go items in our cafes can be recycled or composted from our coffee bags to our cups plus all the packaging for online orders.
What’s your hopeful target opening date/month?
August 2024
Are you working with craftspeople, architects, and/or creatives that you’d like to mention?
Carpenter – Jason EnisContractor – Shea ConstructionPhotographers – Riley Sims, Jackson Trewern, Anisa TaghirdiLumber – Frost HardwoodCustom Wrap for our espresso machine – SD Designs
Thank you!
Thank you for all the work you guys do in highlighting the lil guys!
The 2024 Build-Outs of Coffee is presented by Ceado and Dona. The 2024 Build-outs of Coffee is sponsored by Pacific Barista Series, La Marzocco, Acaia, and Ghirardelli.
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Sprudge Staff
August 16, 2024
