UPDATED – June 2, 2020
Things have gotten complicated for cafes lately. With customers not allowed to sit down or hang out, shop owners are changing the ways they do business. Just because you can’t sit down inside of one now, doesn’t mean you can’t support your local coffee shop by ordering online or picking up from their location.
Big Creek Coffee Roasters – Hamilton, MT
As Montana prepares to enter Phase 2 of reopening the economy, cafes and restaurants are able to increase their capacity, while maintaining social distancing. One of those cafes is Big Creek Coffee Roasters in Hamilton, Montana. Big Creek is a Sweet Maria’s customer for over 15 years, and a Shrub customer since 2010.
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We are getting ready to open the doors on Monday!
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When Covid-19 made coffee shops restrict their customers from entering their front doors, Big Creek served coffee, pastries and beans to go, through their streetside pickup window, and continued to roast and ship beans nationwide.
https://bigcreekcoffeeroasters.square.site/
Facebook: @bigcreekcoffee
Instagram: @bigcreekcoffeeroasters
Twitter: @bigcreekcoffee
#bigcreek
Big Creek Coffee Roasters
301 Main Street
Hamilton MT 59840
Duck-Rabbit coffee- Cleveland, OH
This one hits close to home. Starting back in 2012 we were lucky enough to call the Duck-Rabbit owner, Cal Verga, a co-worker. He came into the Sweet Maria’s fold with a minor interest in coffee and major focus on his college studies, only to leave a few years later with plans in hand to open a cafe/roastery and Philosophy degree in his back pocket! In the few years Cal worked for us, his interest in coffee, and coffee roastingThe application of heat to green coffee seeds (beans) to create palatable material for brewing a great cup!: Coffee roasting is a chemical process induced by heat, by... specifically, grew into something much more meaningful and he eventually took over production roasting for the Sweet Maria’s subscription service. In 2016, shortly after moving back to his hometown of Cleveland, OH, Duck-Rabbit Coffee was born.
In just a few years since opening their doors, Duck-Rabbit Coffee have grown quite a bit, jumping from a single-person operation to employing half-dozen people. But in the last few months, the restrictions put in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic have not only halted growth, but have made it a challenge to make ends meet.
Cal, of course, had to close the inside of the shop, but they are still taking orders through it all. Duck-Rabbit maintains curbside service for to-go coffees and pastries, as well as bags of roasted beans. They usually have at least 4 single originSingle Origin refers to coffee from one location, in contrast to blended coffee. This term is particularly useful in discussing espresso, since most commercial espressos are made from... coffees available with options from Latin America and Africa being the norm.
Lucky us, Duck-Rabbit just launched their new lineup which includes BurundiBurundi coffee bears resemblance to neighboring Rwanda, in both cup character, but also the culture surrounding coffee. Burundi is a small landlocked country at the crossroads of East... Monge Murambi Hill and GuatemalaGuatemalan coffee is considered a top quality coffee producer in Central America. Due to our proximity to Guatemala, some of the nicest coffees from this origin come to... Xinabajul Familia Villatoro, two coffees currently on our offer list as well. We thought this presents a unique opportunity for home roasters to compare their own roasted coffee with that of Duck-Rabbits – a chance to taste someone else’s roasting “take” on a coffee that you may already be familiar with.
We caught up with Cal earlier in the week in preparationPreparation refers to the dry-milling steps of preparing coffee for export: hulling, grading, classifying, sorting.: Preparation refers to the dry-milling steps of preparing coffee for export: hulling, grading,... for this blog post feature. I’ve always enjoyed Cal’s relaxed personality and calming demeanor, which I think comes through in his answers to our questions. Because of this, I decided to include the full text of the interview. Give it a read below.
Do yourself a favor and order a bag from Duck-Rabbit here. They ship fresh-roasted coffee several times each week. And if you’re in the neighborhood, stop by and grab a cup. Say ‘hi’ for us too, will ya?
Website: https://www.duckrabbitcoffee.com/
Facebook: Duck-Rabbit Coffee
Instagram: @duckrabbitcoffee
(Sweet Maria’s) When and how did you start roasting coffee?
Junction Coffee Tiny House – Bethany, Oklahoma
Junction Coffee Tiny House is a unique, fun, top quality shop serving up a full menu of brewed coffeeBrewed Coffee refers to all coffee preparations produced by adding non-pressurized water to coffee grounds. Contrasted with espresso coffee, which is produced under pressure, brewed coffee is primarily..., espresso drinks, bags of roasted coffee and tasty treats from “Tess” an actual tiny house.

They are exclusively serving Kllr coffee via drive thru, their walk up window and mobile ordering on the Joe Coffee app. If you are anywhere near Bethany, safely head over to Junction Coffee Tiny House and fix your coffee fix.
Check their Instagram and Facebook for location and hours updates.
Facebook: @junctioncoffeetinyhouse
Instagram: @junctioncoffeetinyhouse
Junction Coffee Tiny House
6800 NW 39th Expy
Bethany, OK 73008
(Bethany is a suburb of OKC)
Open Daily
7-5 weekdays
9-5 weekends
JavaThere are several types of Abyssinia variety coffee, but they are not from Ethiopia but rather Indonesia. Abyssinia 3 = AB3. PJS Cramer, a Dutch plant researcher, introduced this variety... Central Coffee – Westerville, OH
Located about half an hour from the original Sweet Maria’s location in Ohio, Java Central Cafe and Roaster offers fresh roasted coffee, brewed coffee, espresso drinks, tea, grab-and-go lunches, baked goods, dairy, meat, bread staples. Toilet paper and sanitizer are available too!
They are currently offering curbside pick-up, walk-up orders and local home delivery. You can order ahead on their website.
Java Central’s “Pay it forward” benefits their local health professionals, police, fire, and first responders. It’s a way to donate to the local folks on the front lines of the current epidemic.

Before COVID-19, Java Central hosted a lot of concerts and art shows. You can expect the fun to continue once we all get through these times together. If you are in or around Westerville, we hope you will place an order with Java Central.
Java Central Cafe and Roaster
20 S. State St., Suite B
Westerville, OH 43081
(614) 839-0698
Ig: @javacentral1
Fb: @javacentralcaferoaster
Tw: @javacentral1
CLICK HERE to read our our previous cafe spotlight featuring ModCup in Jersey City, NJ.