Well, it finally happened. As our annual Build-Outs of Summer series rolls on, we’re breaking new ground by featuring a BOOS alumnus getting ready to open, get this, another Sprudge-worthy cafe. When PERC Coffee in Savannah, Georgia wrote in to us back in 2013, we just knew we had to feature them on the site. So imagine our surprise when we heard from PERC again this summer, in advance of opening another cafe there in Savannah. Now that’s a great food town, full of history and character, and PERC is helping lead the way with bangin’ coffee and wicked design.
This is PERC Coffee in Savannah, Georgia.
As told to Sprudge by Jon Chandler.
For those who aren’t familiar, will you tell us about your company?
PERC Coffee is dedicated to roasting the world’s finest coffee. We source seasonally to ensure the coffee is at the peak of its potential. We taste dozens of samples before deciding on a new offering. Once chosen, we pay premium prices to secure these coffees. This model celebrates the hard work and precision of the producers and establishes relationships built on integrity and trust.
Can you tell us a bit about the new space?
The space is an old warehouse on the east side of Savannah. We are across from a reclaimed wood factory who built all of our tables for us. We salvaged and refinished a beautiful old workbench that serves as our bar. We are just across from the train tracks and twice a day the locomotive powers through town blasting it’s whistle. It is close to perfect.
What’s your approach to coffee?
Roasting coffee is our heart. Dynamic flavor is not inherent in great green coffee—it’s latent. With that in mind, we create individual roast profiles for each coffee to maximize varietal expression. Once roasted, every batch is cupped and scored, and its roast data evaluated for consistency. We truly believe this attention to detail makes our roasts some of the best in the world. The bottom line: we don’t buy, roast, or sell coffee we’re not totally crazy about.
Any machines, coffees, special equipment lined up?
Nothing too crazy—we have a La Marzocco GB5 with an Anfim Super Caimano grinder for espresso. We also pull shots grinding on the Mahlkönig EK 43 for single-origin coffees. We will offer 3 espresso options at all times. We brew with Chemex, Kalita, and Hario V60. We are looking at stepping up to the Mahlkonig Peak for espresso later this year.
What’s your hopeful target opening date/month?
We had an old friends, new friends, and family opening August 1st and are now open full force.
Are you working with craftspeople, architects, and/or creatives that you’d like to mention?
As I said before, our friends across the way at Southern Pine Company have done all of our build out. Jon Chandler built our display box and menu and Taylor Wyrosdick has developed our menu with some help from Kelly Spivey, pastry chef of local restaurant The Grey, helping with our special drink concept.
Photos by Jon Chandler.
