The 2018 Build-Outs of Summer has been all about repeat appearances. We’ve seen roasters, cafes, and individuals all making their second appearances in our little summer series, and we are here for it. Today’s entry falls right in line thematically, with Share Coffee Roasters in Amherst, Massachusetts. Back after a three-year hiatus, Share is here to show off their brand new space in Amherst Center, and it somehow both elegant and cozy. But don’t just take my word for it, have a look for yourself.
As told to Sprudge by Lucas Smith.
For those who aren’t familiar, will you tell us about your company?
Share started with the mission of bringing the best coffee to the hands of our costumers in an accessible and easy way. In the Pioneer Valley everyone knows their farmer and has farm shares, we wanted to create a way to have that same experience but in coffee. We work super hard and have a lot of fun sourcing, roasting, and brewing really tasty, clean, sweet coffees! Values that mean a lot to us are have fun, be nice, and always be learning.
Can you tell us a bit about the new space?
It’s super sick! We are so excited to share this space with the world. We feel it’s finally an accurate representation of what we are doing in coffee. We moved from our old location in Amherst that before was Rao’s (formerly Scott Rao’s roastery/cafe) and left a space that had over 25 years of history. Ken, our owner worked under Scott as his roaster and had personally been in there for the last decade so leaving the old shop was a bit bittersweet, but our new home is a beautiful, light, welcoming space that we just want to hang out in.
What’s your approach to coffee?
We do coffee the best way we know how to right now. We are really big on education for our staff. We want our baristas to have the skill to artfully and comfortably slay the coffee game! A big thing for us is being truly accessible, not just saying we are, so we work really hard to make sure we have the knowledge and the skills needed to create the most accommodating guest experience. On the backend of things we are huge on data logging. We do same day QC on every batch we roast before we send it out, to us its the only way that makes sense. But in the end of the day we just love coffee and want to enjoy it with our friends.
Any machines, coffees, special equipment lined up?
We have a Kees van der Westen Mirage Bastone. We are pretty stoked on our Rhinoware pitcher rinser. We use Mazzer grinders for our espresso and Mahlkönig EK43s for our FETCO batch brew. The new space also has a full kitchen that we are super excited about!
What’s your hopeful target opening date/month?
July 3rd
Are you working with craftspeople, architects, and/or creatives that you’d like to mention?
John LaValley: Master of all trades, builder of amazing furniture.
Sarah Ettelmen Interiors: Interior design, materials, paint selection, lighting and plants. Makes everything look beautiful.
Jason Tuthill: Tracksaw wizard
Pete Clark: Captain polyurethane
Ron Sheppard: Electrical
Jeff Pickering & Sons: Plumbing
Thank you!
We made it!!
The Build-Outs Of Summer is an annual series on Sprudge. Live the thrill of the build all summer long in our Build-Outs feature hub.
