Sometimes you get the bear. Sometimes the bear gets you.
But at the new Little Bear Coffee in Albuquerque, New Mexico, an inclusive and supportive approach to coffee has made for a great cafe experience that’s open to everyone. This cafe opened earlier this year and joins a small cub-grouping of Little Bear locations across the greater ABQ area. 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 Sarah Gonzales.
For those who aren’t familiar, will you tell us about your company?
Little Bear Coffee is a specialty coffee company and roastery serving fully-traceable, ethically-sourced, specialty-grade coffee in Albuquerque, since 2017. With the slogan, Love People Use Coffee, Little Bear works to be an inclusive, supportive space for the community and provide an experience as great as their coffee. Little Bear coffee has three cafes in Albuquerque: the original cafe in Uptown, the industrial, converted vintage garage cafe in Nob Hill on historic Route 66, and the bright and airy Civic Plaza location in Downtown Albuquerque. Little Bear’s passion for good drink goes beyond coffee; in the evenings the Nob Hill cafe becomes Little Bear PM, a viby natural wine bar serving premiere natural wines, beer, and cocktails.
Can you tell us a bit about the new space?
This cafe’s space and interior draws inspiration from nature and is curated to have a completely unique feel and identity from its preceding cafes. The space is airy, filled with natural light, muted earth tones, walled with leafy, green plants, and features a custom work from Marquez Torres and a collaboration piece with Torres and NEO THREAD. It is a quaint cafe, perfect for catching up with friends or coworkers, a relaxed coffee break or reading a good book under the fronds of the foxtail palm tree. We consider it Little Bear’s prettiest cafe yet.
What’s your approach to coffee?
We are people-people over coffee-people. But we are also, very much so, coffee-people.
We are proud to intentionally and ethically source all of our coffees. We are continuously creating direct partnerships and friendships with producers and farmers to ensure that every coffee we purchase primarily benefits the individuals involved in its production. At Little Bear, exceptional flavor should be a given, but the best coffees are the ones that purposefully improve the communities they come from.
At Little Bear Coffee, we work to bring the best coffees the world has to offer and create spaces that are as thoughtfully-designed as they are welcoming; all in an effort to encourage more shared moments and make new friends.
Our ethos is simple: Love People, Use Coffee.
Any machines, coffees, special equipment lined up?
We have a couple of new coffees hitting the shelves, one we are excited about is a Java from Colombia. Our Colombia Huila La Bonita is fruit-forward and incredibly unique in the cup; with notes of passionfruit, green apple candy, and guava. It came highly recommended by our producer and friend, Luis, and it does not disappoint!
Our equipment:
Espresso machine – Synesso S200
Grinders – Mahlkönig EK43, E65S, K30
Brewers – Fetco CBS
Pour overs – Hario Switch, V60
Water – Reverse osmosis filtration system
How is your project considering sustainability?
A lot of consideration and intention went into the planning and building of this cafe. We worked hard to preserve and utilize much of the existing materials, equipment, and layout for minimal construction waste.
Additionally, this year, we were proud to find partners and make the switch to fully recyclable to-go cups and retail coffee bags. Significantly reducing sediment waste for online sales and in all three of our cafes.
What’s your hopeful target opening date/month?
We had our grand opening earlier this year on January 25th, 2024
Are you working with craftspeople, architects, and/or creatives that you’d like to mention?
There were so many incredible and talented folks that brought life to this cafe. We’d like to mention: Isaac Fox designer, visionary and craftsman, Tim Fox woodworking sage, Josh Vaive helping hand and jack of all trades, and artists and friends NEO THREAD and Marquez Torres aka Wishbone Ink.
Thank you!
Thank you for your time!
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.
