Roasting Coffee, Brewing Community
In Detroit, some small, independent roasters are on a mission to bring more ‘third spaces’ into the city for people to gather, engage and enjoy a remarkable of cup of coffee.
COFFEE IS MORE than a beverage. It has been at the center of community and culture almost from the time the first beans were harvested, dried in the sun, roasted and brewed into an energizing cup of complex flavors.
First cultivated in Ethiopia centuries ago, coffee production spread to the Arabian Peninsula where in the 15th century coffeehouses became vibrant gathering places for conversation, intellectual life and creative stimulation.
By the 17th century, coffee and coffee culture spread to Europe, where coffeehouses also became hubs for sharing news and discussion. They were sometimes referred to as “penny universities” because for the price of a cup of coffee, anyone could engage in stimulating discussions with diverse people.
Fast forward to the 20th century and a little place in Seattle, Washington, called Starbucks revitalized the concept and made coffee shops popular “third spaces”—neither home nor workplace—for people to hang out, connect and commune.
In Detroit, some small, independent coffee roasters are working to bring more of those vital third spaces into the city and create inviting places for people to gather and enjoy a remarkable of cup of coffee.
One of those is Sepia Coffee Project, located on a thriving section of East Grand Boulevard not far from Woodward in the historic Black Bottom district of Detroit.
Building friendly spaces for people to gather
Sepia Coffee Project owner Martell Mason has deep roots in the community and extensive experience in the business of coffee. His goal is to make high-quality coffee affordable and accessible. Just two bucks will get you a cup of pour-over coffee (oat milk optional). His Paradise and Black Bottom roasts are both single-origin, meaning each comes from a single geographic area, and he produces a variety of blends in the Harmonie collection.
He named his coffee brand in honor of the sepia-toned photographs that depicted the vibrant Black Bottom neighborhood of the early 20th century. The name is also a nod to the residents of the predominantly Black neighborhood.
The bright, inviting café on East Grand Boulevard currently doubles as a roasting site, but Mason plans to open a roasting operation and tasting room just north on a commercial stretch of Hamilton Avenue in his hometown of Highland Park sometime in the spring or summer of 2025.
Mason, whose first job as a teenager was as a Starbucks barista, has a long career in coffee, a graduate degree focused on coffee supply chains, and years of experience as a coffee trader in East Africa. He is well versed on the subtleties of coffee growers, origins, roasts and grades. The coffee world is every bit as intricate and nerdy as the wine world. He knows his stuff but that’s not his priority.
He stresses that his larger goal is to build a friendly place for people to gather: “Our mission is to provide safe, inclusive spaces for underserved communities.”
A PERFECT POUR-OVER
Making drip coffee can be a comforting morning ritual. Here Teddy Shaska shares his own meticulous instructions for creating the perfect brew.
• Don’t store coffee beans in the refrigerator. Instead, keep them sealed in an airtight container away from the light.
• Use filtered water and a pour-over glass carafe such as a Chemex or a Hario brand.
• A burr grinder, whether electric or hand-operated, is best because it produces a consistent result.
• Measure both coffee and water by weight. Shaska likes to set his equipment right on a kitchen scale for convenience.
• Heat water to 94 degrees Celsius/201 degrees Fahrenheit, which is just short of the boiling point. Plan to use a total of 350 grams (about 12 ounces).
• Grind 20 grams of coffee and put it in the filter of the carafe.
• Pour water over coffee in 50-gram increments, letting the filter empty with each pour. Shaska lets the water cool a bit for the pours following the initial one, which “blooms” the grinds, releasing flavor and aroma.
He hopes his efforts become part of a larger revitalization. “Development needs to take place in a lot of enclaves and pockets throughout Metro Detroit,” he says. “But to be part of the change and growth happening here, it’s important to invest in small business and to patronize them. We can show the nay-sayers that it’s possible.”
Sepia Project coffee is also available online and served at locations such as The Congregation and Folk Detroit, and sold at retail stores including The Detroit People’s Food Co-op and Western Market in Ferndale.
THE HEALTH PERKS OF COFFEE
Raise your mug to the good news: Coffee is a virtual health tonic.
For starters, it’s loaded with polyphenols. These beneficial compounds are found in a variety of fruits and vegetables, but coffee is the single largest source of polyphenols in the average American’s diet. Polyphenols act as antioxidants in the body, reducing inflammation and slowing the cell damage that can lead to cancer. And for the record, this applies to both decaf and caffeinated coffee.
“The most important polyphenols found in coffee are cafestol, kahweol, and chlorogenic acid,” says Grace Derocha, a Metro Detroit–based certified dietitian who specializes in diabetes management and also coaches clients with chronic conditions.
In one study cited by Derocha, people who drank three to four cups of coffee a day were 25 percent less likely than non-coffee drinkers to develop type 2 diabetes. She attributes this to its antioxidant properties but also points out that coffee is a good source of magnesium, which is important for insulin function in the body. While an average cup of coffee has only 7 milligrams of magnesium, a few cups a day can make a solid contribution to the 320–410mg recommended dietary allowance for this mineral.
Other studies have demonstrated that coffee drinkers have a lower risk of developing neurogenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. In this case, it’s the caffeine in coffee that is likely beneficial.
Coffee is a net positive when it comes to heart disease also, says Derocha. Polyphenols support good kidney function and blood vessel health, which reduces the risk of heart attacks and stroke. Those polyphenols in coffee also contribute to a reduced decreased risk for some cancers including liver and colorectal.
Evidence also shows that coffee can help with gut motility, a fancy way of saying that it’s well known for stimulating bowel movements.
A few cautions
Derocha reminds her clients that how they drink their coffee matters. Added fat and sugar in many coffee drinks increase calories and decrease its health benefits.
Also, the evidence is strong that the caffeine in coffee increases the risk of low-birth-weight babies, so pregnant women should avoid it or drink decaf.
Some people also notice that they get the jitters or develop heart palpitations with too much coffee and will need to monitor their caffeine consumption to manage this.
And finally, caffeine is a stimulant that can affect sleep quality for many people, either making it hard to fall asleep or hard to get a good, deep sleep. “I always tell people, ‘Do a little research on yourself. Learn how much coffee you can handle,’” says Derocha.
Coffee as a conduit for connection
On Detroit’s east side, along a stretch of Kercheval Avenue heading toward Grosse Pointe Park, Honey Dirt Coffee Company aims to bring people on “a journey of flavors waiting to be explored and appreciated” at its lively location in a former post office. The aptly named Post is part gift shop, part workshop, part event space, part crafters paradise as well as the new home of Honey Dirt Coffee.
Teddy Shaska started Honey Dirt as a pop-up, serving coffee at a variety of locations, but he put down roots at Post in July. He serves up his coffee from a cozy corner of the common space and roasts the beans weekly, varying his blends and flavor profiles seasonally. Over the fall, he was working on a new blend that he calls “Short Days” that he thinks will be perfect for winter drinking. He describes it as, “sweet and warm” with Mexican coffee providing chocolaty and nutty notes and sweet tones from Ethiopian coffee. “It’s the kind of thing you could sit around a campfire and drink,” he says.
Shaska, who emigrated to Grosse Pointe from Albania with his family as a child, developed a passion for coffee early in life. His family moved to the West Coast for a period, and he found his calling in Portland—the mecca of American coffee—working for Dutch Bros, a regional coffee chain. He rose in the ranks and became a regional manager.
After he followed his family back to Michigan, he decided to add a roasting course to his credentials and start out on his own. Aside from the location inside Post, he still operates pop-ups around town and sells to retailers such as Western Market in Ferndale and Market Square in West Bloomfield. He also hopes to start distributing online soon.
Shaska will be the first to tell you that good coffee depends on a lot of things, including the region and the grower, but what matters more, he says, is the way it’s treated all along the supply chain. Routine things like storage and handling can make a huge difference.
For Shaska, good service and a friendly atmosphere are the true heart of the coffee experience. “Coffee is just a conduit for us to really connect with a person,” he says. Creating a high-quality product is important, he says, but that ultimately isn’t what drives him. “At some point coffee is just coffee,” he says. Connecting with his customers and creating a place where they always feel welcomed is his real mission.
“Coffee is such a ritual part of someone’s day,” he says. “How the entire experience makes a person feel is what really matters,” he stresses.
Laura Lyjak is an RN who writes about health topics. She starts every day with a pour-over made from the best coffee beans she can afford, frothed oat milk and a dusting of cinnamon.
