QUESTION: You were winner of a 2006 Barista competition. Your thoughts?
ANSWER: The great thing about competition is that it always helps you become better. One of CREMA’s guiding principles is to be a learning company, to never stop educating ourselves, to never stop challenging each other and to know our strengths and learn from our weaknesses. We recognize that we will only grow by challenging ourselves at a higher level. And so with a little anxiety and a shot of excitement we’re making plans to compete at the Specialty Coffee Association of America’s (SCAA) Barista championship. The SCAA is a highly respected organization and the authority on special coffee. Competing in this event, if we only bring home a “thanks for participating” ribbon, raises the bar. Our customers are the real winners, this competition ensures our drinks will only get better.
QUESTION: Just about everybody I talk to says your coffees are the best in Nashville. Other coffee shops use the beans roasted at Drew’s Brews. So what do you do with the beans that makes your coffee so tasty?
ANSWER: It’s simple really, we soak Drew’s beans in Jack Daniels before brewing. Ha! No, don’t print that, it’s not true! Oh, but that is a good idea, anyway…
This is not a one sentence answer, there’s more than several key things that make the CREMA experience. First, we believe deeply that originality, creativity and a pure passion of what you do makes the difference, it makes us different. I think sometimes the record store industry might be a good analogy for understanding CREMA. If you want to talk to a real music enthusiast, someone who just loves music and is always exploring new music you go to Grimeys, not to the Big Box Store’s music department. Same parallel could be made with the wine industry, you don’t find Oenologist’s in the Big Box Store’s wine isle, you find them in your local wine shop. They’re the ones you really want making recommendations because they know and love wine! We love coffee! At CREMA you’ll find a community who loves espresso and coffee, and is always adventuring with new blends, roasts, varietals and coffee concoctions. We’re coffee geeks, but we’re nice geeks, that makes a huge difference. It’s obvious to our customers that we want to share this experience together and are committed to our and their education of coffee.
Second, our people (employees) are CREMA’s first and most important asset. We’ve adopted in certain ways the Southwest view that employees are first, customers second. When your people are empowered, trusted and supported we think in the end that will have the greatest return. We have rigorous training and a high expectation that they be experts, enjoy and love what they’re doing. We’re young, still developing our strategies, but already we see the difference this makes.
Third, a close relationship with our Roaster, Drew, allows me to better understand the roasts and so I have a better knowledge of our product and preparation. I spend time with Drew regularly to understand what he’s blending, roasting and why/how he’s choosing certain beans. Because we have this relationship, it allows me to ask questions, gain insight and relay that information to my staff and to customers. I feel like I will never stop learning, there is always something to improve on.
This knowledge and commitment to excellence are what make a better, consistent cup of coffee.
QUESTION: What about your background? Places lived? Your work at Sam & Zoe’s? Hobbies and interests (not related to coffee)? College or not?
ANSWER: I grew up in a small farm town 60 miles west of Chicago, in a large farming Italian family where food and wine were very important to our daily lives. Since I can remember I would bake, cook, can vegetables, you name it with my mom in the kitchen. Food was very important to us. My first coffee shop job was when I was in high school. We didn’t know what we were doing, but we had an espresso machine, grinders, and syrups. I enjoyed it so much that when I moved to Colorado for college I got another job at a coffee shop. This time the owner’s were very experienced. They had been in business roasting coffee since 1979. The owner’s spent a lot of time training us on the espresso machine, as well as understanding roasting and coffee brewing techniques. I was the Assistant manager at their second location for over 3 years. This is when I discovered that I truly loved this industry, and could see myself working in it for quite some time. During my last year of college I was engaged to my childhood sweetheart, Ben, he lived here in Nashville. I graduated, packed up my bags, and moved to Nashville. My first job in Nashville was working at Sam and Zoe’s. I worked at S&Z’s as the manager for just over four years. At Sam and Zoe’s I was given the space to really push myself to be a better barista and manager. All my experiences as different as they were, have really paid off in the end. As far as hobbies outside of coffee, I like camping, hiking, boating, playing music, cooking, and eating….wait did I say eating? I’m not afraid to spend money on good food.
QUESTION: Since you’ve been open, what customer trends have you noticed?
ANSWER: Nashvillians are more eager to learn and explore coffee than we ever could have imagined! Our customers are adventurous and brave, they love to try new things, step outside the box a little with coffee! Out of all the coffee shops I’ve worked in we serve more straight espresso than any other. People who come to CREMA come to find what new single origin coffee we have, try a ristretto espresso, or just shoot the breeze about coffee. They are looking for more than the typical overly sweetened, monster sized espresso drink. We do have some espresso snobs that come in, and we love that!
QUESTION: Any unusual stories that have unfolded since you opened? Eccentric customers? Equipment failures that forced you to improvise. Neighborhood happenings? Work on Rolling Mill Hill? (things of that type)
ANSWER: I’ve been surprised by the immediate community around CREMA. So many different occupations. Within walking distance we’ve got Nashville’s first fine dining restaurant, Andrew Chadwick’s, the oldest children’s theatre in the country, Nashville Children’s Theatre, a fraternity headquarters, architect firms, city planners, graphic design companies, and a large radio station. Rutledge Hill has some of Nashville’s oldest buildings, and I’m so glad to see these old homes and building being reused for new businesses or living spaces. We’re very excited to see where Rolling Mill Hill and the SoBro areas will be in 2-5 years!
QUESTION: CREMA takes no commission from the sale of artist’s work. Instead, you request that a portion of sales are donated to a local charity of the artist’s choosing. Thoughts?
ANSWER: We are fortunate to have great artists want to display their artwork at CREMA. We’re a tiny bit tired of everyone wanting a little piece of everything as it often seems. So, instead of taking commissions we think it can be a unique avenue for CREMA and artists to give back to the community. We want to be a part of the community, be a contributor to making it better, this idea seems like an easy first step towards where we want to be.
QUESTION: Your thoughts on Nashville’s “café culture”?
ANSWER: The cafe, or coffee culture, in Nashville is in many ways undeveloped and under served. Someone once said that until everyone can walk from their place of work or home to a coffee shop, we’re not even close to saturation of the market. We’re just getting started. You come to CREMA because you will experience coffee in a way you’ve never had before in Nashville. That is not to say we don’t carry the best local pastries, after all what would coffee be without Sweet 16th’s Heavenly Scone or the Wild Muffin’s all organic Cinnamon Buttermilk muffin.
QUESTION: How would you describe the CREMA customer base? The vibe of the café? Your menu?
ANSWER: Our customer base is coffee fanatics, just like us. And we love them for their adventurous exploration of coffee and their yellow teeth! Our customers undoubtedly are the ones who grind their own beans at home (some at work we’ve heard!), regularly read about coffees and always seek new coffee experiences. We’ve discovered our target audience choice set is “grind my own” or CREMA; not “coffee from the chain” or CREMA.
This love affair of coffee and the experience is intentionally reflected in the vibe and menu of CREMA. As I said earlier, we strongly believe that when you’re truly passionate about what you do it’s a different experience for your customers. The sweat and creativity that we put into our building and business, that help to create the experience, are true to our beliefs, and we think prove, that original ideas are always the best ideas.
The first CREMA Christmas event raised over $800 for Safe Haven! That’s a big deal for a small shop. And we have many to thank - just a quick nod to all that made this possible, most importantly our talented artists, Sara-bellum (a.ka. the parking fair), Margie, and Rachael W., and least but not last YOU - it was you that made this a success with your purchases and donations.
First a bit of shameless commerce, we got mugs! $7.95 each and a free cup of coffee with purchase. Get them while supplies last (ah, the ole’ urgency sucker punch, as if we couldn’t order more…).
Nothing goes better together than muffins and coffee. Nothing! Maybe Italians and coffee… but we’re not what ya call “wild cannibals.” Nor are we good writers. But we do know muffins and do so very dearly love us a wild muffin or two. Those jumbo organic Cinnamon Buttermilk muffins are so very tasty in the morning with a steaming cup of Drews Brews’ Gravel Springs roast.
