The summer’s almost over, but it’s not too late to slip into a pair of short sleeves at Short Sleeves Coffee Roasters in North Carolina. Let’s take a closer look.
The 2024 Build-Outs of Coffee is presented by Ceado and Dona. The 2024 Build-Outs of Coffee is sponsored by Pacific Barista Series, La Marzocco, Acaia, and Ghirardelli.
As told to Sprudge by Daniel Lancaster.
For those who aren’t familiar, will you tell us about your company?
Short Sleeves Coffee is a teeny tiny roasting company based out of Swannanoa, NC founded by Daniel and Emily Lancaster, and their three kiddos: Elliot, Theodore, and Louise.
The name “Short Sleeves Coffee” is a nod to the simple moments in life. The ordinary, but delightful things.
We’re going to make you incredible coffee, sure. Our coffee is top notch… and we care about it deeply. However, we want to share it with you in a laid back, accessible, down to earth, friendly manner. We’re not gonna be pretentious about it; and we’ll hope we’ve got something for every kind of coffee drinker out there.
You know that feeling when you get home from work, and swap out your uniform for your favorite t-shirt? That’s the feeling we hope our coffee gives you. And when you enter our cafe (coming fall 2024), we hope you’ll see that this isn’t a place where you have to put on a bunch of layers, and pretend. Nope…there’s no dress code here. You can be yourself, and get comfortable. You can come in your Short Sleeves.
Can you tell us a bit about the new space?
Situated in Swannanoa’s historic Gas Station built in 1928, we’re excited about the moments already shared in this space and are looking forward to the many new moments to come. There is a lot of work required to restore this iconic building, but in the end, we’re going to have a really delightful space for our community.
There are three rooms in the building, with two entrances in the front, and a large garage door entrance in the back. We’ll have seating in each room, and a pretty large outdoor seating area as well. We’re really leaning into a soft pallet, and a light-hearted feel inside. We’ll be tiling our bar with a super fun scattered color palette that we think will really welcome folks inside.
We want the walls, colors, and style inside to really encourage you to loosen up your tie… and maybe undo that top button too. You don’t have to put on layers and pretend here… there’s no dress code; just come in your short sleeves.
What’s your approach to coffee?
Coffee is a pretty regular thing that most people drink every day. However, there is quite a bit that goes into getting those brown beans to your home. Within that process, there’s also a lot that can go wrong for the earth, the people on the margins, and the supply chain.
We’re trying to be part of what’s going well… and work tirelessly to only source coffee that is both delicious, and is ethically sourced. We then roast, prepare, and brew that coffee in methods that we believe offers an excellent product, that also serves our staff and customers with care.
We don’t believe we are called to simply enter this world, use up the resources with lackluster methods, consume, and dissolve into the earth. We rather are called to work for more sustainable methods of coffee production, care for the environment we are given, work towards better conditions for farmers and their families, and spend time doing justice to the piece of creation we’re responsible for.
Things shouldn’t be formed to simply be produced cheaply and tossed out—but instead we are invited to come alongside the work that has already begun in taking broken and ordinary things and making them undeniably beautiful.
We are pretty detailed, and love experimenting. We don’t believe we’ve mastered coffee, nor ever will… and that’s what we love about it. An espresso from the same lot can taste completely different, and will require a totally new dial on a different day. That’s what’s fun about coffee.
Any machines, coffees, special equipment lined up?
Espresso Machine: Slayer LP Steam, two-group, in white
Coffee and Single Origin Espresso Grinder: Mahlkönig EK43
Slow Bar: we’ll be doing pour-overs and flash brew with our V60s
Espresso Grinders: Still finalizing these!
How is your project considering sustainability?
A lot of people will just bulldoze a space, and make it exactly how they want it be. However, the space is already a space… so to just come in a rewrite everything about the space would be a sad shame for the people who have already invested deeply in it, and a waste of resources. Rather, the most sustainable use of resources is to preserve as much as possible, and we’re really trying to do that in our buildout.
Furthermore, we’re considering how light and energy can be preserved as much as possible in our design, and we’re making steps to do just that. As often as we can, we’ll opt for open windows and an open garage door to let the natural air and breeze circulate within.
In our roasting, we work very hard to choose coffee from farms that use sustainable practices, and only work with importers that do the same as well. Once it comes to us, we don’t bother with overly expensive and wasteful packaging, but instead, try to find creative ways to get coffee in customers hands without using a bunch of wasted materials. As we’re currently in packaging redesign phase right now, we’re working really hard to keep that true.
Finally, the most important thing we believe we can do for sustainability in the coffee industry is to continue to educate the consumer. At the end of the day, people are voting with their dollars, and if the voters don’t care about sustainability in coffee… then we’ll never be able to build the traction we need as an industry to create a true, thriving, sustainability culture. So, we will definitely offer classes on this topic at times, but will also look for creative ways to portray information to customers in other ways.
What’s your hopeful target opening date/month?
September 2024
Are you working with craftspeople, architects, and/or creatives that you’d like to mention?
Yes!
Emily Worley is our interior designer. She’s top notch and really helping us make this vision a reality from our lighting down to our floors.
Mark Joseph Oliver is a woodworker (MJO Studios) who is helping us make beautiful tables, shelves, benches, and a bar top.
Sam Chastain is our general contractor and has an excellent vision for creative, yet resourceful projects.
Sully Pierce of Pierce Carpentry is our primary trim carpenter and has a fine attention for details.
Rocks and Rhododendra are our creative gurus helping with photography, videography, and launch marketing.
Brock Forrer and Angel Martinez (Angel M. Designs) are the graphic designers who each have helped with the project along the way. I (Daniel Lancaster) also have a small background in graphic design and have developed a number of our assets.
Thank you!
The 2024 Build-Outs of Coffee is presented by Ceado and Dona. The 2024 Build-Outs of Coffee is sponsored by Pacific Barista Series, La Marzocco, Acaia, and Ghirardelli.
