Stumptown Coffee Roasters have confirmed plans, first reported yesterdayย by NOLA.com, to open an officially branded cafe in the American city of New Orleans, in conjunction with the new Ace Hotel New Orleans project. Both are slated to open in mid-2016. This will be Stumptown’s 11th coffee bar, and marks entry into a fifth American market for the Portland-based brand, which has cafes in Seattle, New York City, Los Angeles, and Portland. It’s also marks a third collaboration between Stumptown and Ace Hotel, following cafes in the brand’s Manhattan and Portland hotels.
The project in NOLA is “well under construction now,” Stumptown Vice President Matt Lounsbury told Sprudge. It’ll be located immediately adjacent to the Ace Hotel in New Orleans’ Warehouse District, atย 600 Carondelet Street,ย in the site of an old furniture factory showroom & garage structure. The neighborhood is home toย significant recent residential construction, and is in the midst of a boom for “next wave food, beverage, beer and coffee scenes,” as per Lounsbury.
Early indications on the coffee bar is that it will be similar in size and scope to the existing Ace Hotel / Stumptown cafes, clocking in at around 1000 feet and fitted with custom interior pieces from Roman And Williams, a noted NYC design firm. Fitting the hot and humid environs of NOLA, Lounsbury has indicated that cold brew will be a major focus of the projectโ”it’s like a cold brew coffee bar that happens to have hot coffee,” he told us, going on to describe the cafe’s plan to showcase cold brew taps. This will be
paired with a La Marzocco espresso machine and batch brew station.
Roasting for Stumptown NOLA will be handled by the brand’s roasting facility in Los Angeles. The brand envisions a hiring process that combines local NOLA barista talent and veteran Stumptown staff from elsewhere across the country. If we worked for Stumptown we’d be putting in for this transfer like right now, because New Orleans is awesome.
And the million dollar question: in accordance to New Orleans custom, will Stumptown develop a chicory & coffee option? “Nothing’s been decided yet,” Lounsbury told us. Stay tuned.
Top photo via Curbed.ย
