The beautiful thing about coffee is that is pairs with pretty much anything. And I’m not even talking food here. Coffee plays the perfect sidecar for bike shops, tattoo parlors, plant shops, clothing stores. Any time there is an establishment with someone thinking deeply about what is going on, coffee is an easy fit.
We thought we had seen all the expressions of Coffee And… the world had to offer. And maybe we had, until this latest pop-up added to the rolodex. In Greenpoint, Brooklyn, Kawabonsai is a new coffee pop-up inside a jiu-jitsu studio.
A new concept by New York-based creative agency Garnish Studios, Kawabonsai combines the two passions of Thi Lam: coffee and jiu-jitsu. “It’s undoubtedly a random concept, but I really wanted to break the monotony of a typical coffee shop experience,” Lam tells Sprudge. Opening Saturday, August 31st, the new space is welcome to all levels of practitioner, both jiu-jitsu and coffee. There are mats to roll and a La Marzocco Linea Mini for spro.
While seemingly disparate disciplines, Lam finds them to have more in common that one may expect. “To dial in a great shot of espresso, you have to test many variables: roast level, grind size, puck preparation, temperature, and timing. Playing around with all those variables requires a lot of trial and error and an indomitable spirit to keep chasing the perfect shot,” Lam states. “Jiu-jitsu practitioners exhibit the same intensity when it comes to improving their craft. We are constantly making adjustments to our game depending on the opponent we face.”
The name Kawabonsai is itself an expression of duality. It came to him in a dream, Lam says. The most obvious touchstone, at least for any Millennial, is Cowabunga, the catchphrase of the ’90s skate and surf icons the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles that represents the laid-back cafe experience Lam is after. But it’s more than just a fun nod to nostalgia. “Kawa” means “coffee” in many languages, and in Japanese it means “river”; “flowing like water is a common motif in martial arts,” he states. And “bonsai” invokes the practice of bonsai tree pruning, that “requires discipline and artistry to grow successfully—just like one’s jiu-jitsu game.” It’s amazing how things end up making perfect sense after the fact!
Kawabonsai is the latest in La Marzocco’s Espresso Anywhere initiative, where they empower individuals to take coffee (and a Linea Mini) to new places. “It is very much inspired by the adventurous spirit of home baristas and coffee enthusiasts who’ve pushed their love of coffee beyond the walls of their home,” La Marzocco’s Ben Blake states. “Anyone who dives into coffee knows it’s a journey filled with questions of ‘so, what’s next?’ Over the past decade, we’ve seen home baristas ask that question often, and then answer it with the Linea Mini. Garage pop-ups, espresso in far-away places, adding good espresso to a cocktail menu, upgrading the office setup, creating a traveling pop-up or a farmers’ market stand, etc.”
Other installations of Espresso Anywhere include Hannes Becker’s Midnight Sun Pop-up on Norway’s Lofoten Islands, Race Service’s LA Garage pop-up, and Justin Sajda’s Thirsty Whale pop-up. And now Kawabonsai.
Currently, Kawabonsai is open on Saturdays from 9:00am to 4:00pm, but hours and availability is expected to change. For current hours, make sure to follow Kawabonsai on Instagram. Gi or no gi, caff or decaf, however you roll, roll up to Kowabonsai.
