A new genre of travel agents will soon be booking coffee lovers’ adventures in small batches.
Inside suite 140 of Gainesville Renaissance, specialty coffee roasters Murilo and Christine Santos are finalizing the details of their new cafe and coffee tasting lab, Boarding Pass Coffee, which is slated to open at the end of April.
An extension of the couple’s Milton roastery and tasting room, the new shop is staged to offer a ticket to specialty grade coffee from global destinations including Brazil, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, Peru and Colombia.
Like its sister location, Gainesville’s will house a coffee lab featuring a small roaster for workshops and tasting experiences in which participants encounter five different roast levels and origins, gaining a greater appreciation for the contents of their cup from aromatic notes to flavor profiles and aftertastes — an experience Christine recommends for both ends of the coffee-loving spectrum.
“If you’re brand-new to coffee or you’re a lifetime coffee lover,” she said, “you’re going to walk away learning something regardless, even if it’s just (gaining) more of an understanding of your palate and what you like, because flavor is so personal.”
The couple’s approach, according to Christine, is designed to serve “coffee as an experience, not just grabbing your cup.”
In Gainesville, the Boarding Pass menu will feature run-of-the-mill staples: drip coffee, espresso, lattes, cappuccinos and pour overs, along with a roast of the month.
For home brewing, patrons will be able to purchase beans by the bag, which the staff can grind on site.
As for food, in the same sphere of travel, the Santoses aims to introduce “some elements of our food and dishes that (are) off the beaten path, similar to our coffees and our stories of our roasts,” Christine previously told The Times, such as pão de queijo, a savory, gluten-free Brazilian cheese bread made with tapioca flour. The cafe also plans to offer kid-friendly options, Christine said.
For more information, visit boardingpasscoffee.com or follow @boardingpasscoffee on Instagram.
