Itโs easy to zoomย right by Presta Coffee Roastersโ new namesake cafe in midtown Tucson. Housed within an industrial-looking building that is set back a ways from 1st Avenue, the shop has little outward flash or flair. Their presence is madeย only by a small wooden sandwich board. Guests enter through a patio area, wherein the true genius of the buildingโs layout becomes obvious. Huge windows, shaded by an intricate system of steel beams and sheet metal fencing, reflect an unobstructed view of trees and blue skies. The walkway, though cool and private, gives the illusion of being open and airy. Inside the space (shared with Repp + McLain Design and Construction) is a gorgeously curated shop that points toward a larger trend in southern Arizona coffee.
Tucsonโs specialty coffee scene is growing up and blowing up. The college town, home to the University of Arizona, has been a quiet hotbed of roasting activity for the past five years. Other area roasters like Exo, Yellow Brick Coffee, and Cafe Aqui have somehow managed to slip under the national radar for the past few years, despite producing some pretty solid stuff. Presta Coffee has quickly joined them in silent eminence.
Weโre not quite sure exactly what can be held responsible for Tucson’sย fairly sudden shift towards specialty beansโbut weโre willing to speculate. Tucson is a liberal stronghold in the middle of a red state. It has a thriving art and design scene, and a populaceย that doesnโt hesitate to lean on locally-owned businesses. Thereโs a co-op for everything. Like other similar mid-to-large sized cities that serve as cultural oases in their states (Kansas City, Austin, etc.), Tucson has managed to cultivate an unexpectedly cosmopolitan food scene catering to a more casual audience. With this has come an influx of restaurants, cocktail bars, and of course, coffee shopsโeach of which have offerings on par with those of any major metropolitan area.
The flourishing local coffee scene has allowed for healthy competition and curiosity-fueled innovation in Tucson. Presta Coffee Roasters stemmed from a small mobile coffee cart called Stella Java, which initially served beans roasted by Exo. The cartย was startedย by Curtis Zimmerman in early 2012, and named for his wife. Zimmerman developed an interest in coffee in the same way many people doโby first indulging an interest in racing bicycles. His proclivity forย cycling is evident in Prestaโs dรฉcor: fast, fancy bikes hang above the shopโs merchandise display; impressionistic paintings of helmeted racers deck the walls.
Businessย grew quickly, and within a year Stella moved from its original location in the lobby of St. Maryโs Hospital to a more permanent spot inside open-air specialty marketย Mercado San Agustin. And last September, Stella started roasting itsย own beansโunder the name Presta Coffee Roasters. In early May, Zimmerman opened Presta Coffee, a sister shop to Stella Java, which features a simple, scaled-down menu and welcoming interior.
Presta Coffee Roastersย have tables. It has a table. Itโs communal. Additionally, thereย are seats along the aforementioned window that gaze out onto the quiet patio. Which means that most of the space is open, and artfully minimalistic.
The bar floats, freestanding, open on each end. A cobalt blue Joper roaster sits in one corner, surrounded by jute sacks. Unfinished wood planks line one wall, forming the backdrop for a beautifully curated merchandise shelf. A built-in record player stand provides music; a fermentation tank holds cold-brewed coffee which will eventually be put on nitrogenated tap.
Bags of Prestaโs espresso blend (named โ120 PSIโ) are hand-labeled with their contents and their respective proportions (75% Colombia Valle de Cauca Suprema, 25% Ethiopia Guji Adalaa Andararaa). The shop is breezy and full of light, which makes it feel deceptively beach house-yโdespite its being in the middle of the desert.
Prestaโs drinks are served in beautiful, earthy, stoneware-style mugs, which, Brackeen explains, have been handcrafted by Anthony Wolking, an Ohio-based friend of the Zimmerman family. His vessels are fired in an underground kiln, each slightly different from the next.
The service, too, feels uniqueโkind and genuine, despite the cool-kid bike vibe and clearly rising trajectory. Prestaย has all the hallmarks of a big city shop with none of the pretense or nonsenseโand we canโt wait toย come along for theย ride.
Zaida Dedolph is a Sprudge contributor based in Phoenix, Arizona. Read more Zaida Dedolph on Sprudge.
