Carmen Swasey learned the hard way that roasting coffee in your oven is not the best idea.
“Roasting coffee, I learned, produces so much smoke that it spills out from the roaster and it like burnt popcorn. My house smelled like old movie theater popcorn for a week,” Swasey writes on his Honeycomb Credit page.
Luckily for Pittsburgh, this early hiccup didn’t discourage Swasey from continuing to roast coffee. After years of perfecting on the technique, he is now the owner of Creative Coffee & Supply, a new coffee shop located on Smithfield Street in Downtown Pittsburgh.
The shop opened in September of 2019, taking over the space previously occupied by Crazy Mocha.
As the name alludes, Creative Coffee aims to be a community space in addition to a coffee shop. The brand hopes to bring people together in a welcoming space where ideas can be born.
“We are in the process of transforming our space into the kind of place where magical moments happen: where a local artist can sell his first piece; where a couple meets for the first time; where a young architect drafts her first skyscraper. Creative Coffee will be the space that catalyzes life-changing experiences and we invite the community to join us,” Creative Coffee writes on their Honeycomb Credit page.
As their first location, the Downtown shop will be something of a homebase and roastery for the brand, where coffee blends like their “Yinzer Blend,” can be produced and packaged.
Swasey recently completed a campaign on Honeycomb Credit, a Pittsburgh-based crowd-financing company, to raise funds to update their space.
Events and education, such as roasting and extraction classes, will be another keystone element of the shop.
And with their first location officially open, Creative Coffee is already in the process of opening a second Pittsburgh location in Bloomfield with an expanded beverage menu.
“It’s cool to see it all come full circle,” Swasey told Good Food Pittsburgh. “Everything is happening super quickly, but it’s exciting.”
Creative Coffee is open Monday – Friday, 7:00 AM – 3:00 PM. They offer a discount for Point Park University students.
Keep an eye on Creative Coffee’s social media for updates.
Creative Coffee (309 Smithfield St)
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