Procter & Gamble – Sips Espresso Roasters Finds its Stream in MiamiDaily Espresso Information by Roast Journal

Adapting to fulfill altering demand has been an enormous a part of doing enterprise in 2020. But approach again within the earlier than occasions, in 2019, it was turning into obvious to the founders of Sips Eatery in Miami that there may be extra demand for one among their core choices than initially anticipated. Thus, final month, Sips Eatery formally turned Sips Espresso Roasters.

Whereas nonetheless providing meals and a lovely Well being District cafe area wherein to take pleasure in it, the brand new identify places the main focus of the Black-owned household espresso enterprise squarely on the rising espresso operation, together with a full espresso bar and a roastery on web site.

Founders Gail Hamilton Azodo and Uche Azodo have been roasting espresso for Sips because it opened in July of 2019. “We knew it was time to rebrand when we realized that people kept coming into the eatery asking how they could buy some of our coffee to take home,” Hamilton Azodo informed Each day Espresso Information.

The Azodos have been driving about 90 miles north of their house in Miami to entry a manufacturing roastery, however about 4 months after opening, they determined to construct a roastery proper within the Sips area, which was previously a restaurant.

“We were able to use underutilized kitchen and storage space,” Hamilton Azodo stated. “It worked out better than we could have imagined.”

Gail Hamilton Azodo, a former model marketer for Procter & Gamble and Bacardi, and Uche Azodo, a doctor, break up time overseeing the 15-kilo Ambex roaster. The 2 moved by means of about 1,000 samples earlier than deciding on 9 core choices to introduce the roastery, Hamilton Azodo stated.

“We like coffee that tastes good, so roasting for us is as authentic as it gets,” she added. “We are not roasting to be part of an exclusive group… We roast because we genuinely want really good coffee for everyone. We are teaching our staff how to roast now, as well. We teach them like how we learned — first showing them the basics of roasting — then we draw parallels to cooking and creating, and let them know each roast has been created with taste in mind, just like a great meal.”

The brand new Sips Espresso Roasters luggage.

These coffees at the moment are launched in Sips Espresso Roasters packaging designed to sign the sort of informal, approachable enjoyment supplied by the completed brew.

“There’s a lot of beautiful packaging out there, so we spent a lot of time looking at brands in a lot of industries to see what worked and what made us feel happy inside,” Hamilton Azodo stated. “You go to any of our platforms and it’s all aligned from a visual standpoint — earth tones and neutrals that pop. Your eyes feel relaxed, but it’s also an enjoyable visual experience.”

Whereas introducing on-line gross sales of Sips espresso to the entire nation, the Sips store in Miami has additionally tailored considerably to host pop-ups from visitor eating places.

“When COVID hit, we realized quite a lot of native food-based companies have been both closing down or, in the event that they have been food-truck-based, didn’t have a capability to achieve their prospects, Hamilton Azodo stated. “So once more, as a result of Uche and I really like including issues that enhance not solely our lives however the lives of others, we opened our kitchen as much as different food-based companies.”

The espresso bar at Sips Espresso Roasters in Miami.

Though the pandemic has slowed some foot visitors on the store, such native partnerships are half of a bigger purpose of constructing group round espresso — significantly in Miami, Hamilton Azodo stated alternatives for specialty espresso progress abound.

“From a demographic standpoint, we are Black coffee roasters,” she stated. “There are no other Black coffee roasters in Miami that we know of. We support initiatives that help educate Black coffee professionals and are excited to bring more into the space.”

Sips Espresso Roasters is now open at 1951 NW seventh Ave. #190 in Miami.  

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