MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - The creator of a new coffee club in the Heights neighborhood seeks to create conversations about the historical intersection between Black people and one of the world’s most popular drinks.
Three days a week, those driving or walking on National Street will see a sign “We Got Black Coffee, Mane!” next to a circular table with a coffee thermos and two chairs. The coffee is prepared inside the space named “Not a Coffee Shop.”
Bartholomew Jones opened “Not a Coffee Shop” at 761 National St. two weeks ago. Jones, whose given name is Maurice Henderson, is a rapper and coffee entrepreneur who lives in the Heights - a neighborhood around Summer Avenue and National Street encompassing Brinkley Heights, Mitchell Heights, Highland Heights and Graham Heights.
Jones and his wife, Renata Harrison, are the founders of cxffeeblack, which also produces original content, sells apparel and its own roast, Guji Mane.
Not a Coffee Shop is the company’s latest endeavor to re-imagine the Black narrative around coffee in Memphis, and Jones could not think of a better place to open the coffee club than his own neighborhood.
“Us being in the neighborhood, in the ’hood, gives us the advantage of talking to Black and brown people every day about coffee,” Jones said. “They’re my neighbors. … It gives us an advantage because we get to create our own market.”
“Not a Coffee Shop” is open Tuesdays through Thursdays from 6:45 to 11:15 a.m. and serves all of its coffee, including pour overs and espresso shots, black. The coffee club offers first sips of all of its products for free, and then charges $2 for a full serving.
The search for a “Not a Coffee Shop” space ended when the Heights Community Development Corporation loaned one of its spaces on National Street to Jones for his business. It’s a unique partnership between a nonprofit centered on housing and Jones’ focus on cxffeeblack.
“He’s a visionary. He has a deeper meaning to everything, that’s been really helpful,” said Heights CDC Executive Director Jared Myers. “The relationship has been one of learning.”
Jones’ interest in coffee grew during his college years in Chicago and intensified after his wife gave him an espresso machine several years ago. That allowed him to explore coffee both in terms of making and learning about its origins - it hasn’t slowed down.
That inspired cxffeeblack’s mission to educate Black people about their history and the origin of coffee, which as told in one legend, can be traced back to Ethiopia in Africa centuries ago, according to the National Coffee Association.
“Maybe the issue is Black people haven’t had coffee presented to them as something that is inherently Black,” Jones said. “I started doing a lot of art and education (on coffee’s origins) because I was a teacher and rapper. I used those two skill sets to present information to people.”
Memphian J.C. Cofield manages “Not a Coffee Shop.” A former Starbucks manager, Cofield used to serve a far bigger variety of drinks to customers in a shorter period of time, in about 30 seconds or so. By comparison, a pour over of black coffee at the coffee club takes about 3-4 minutes.
Cofield has grown to appreciate the beverage in its pure form.
Just as she also hopes natural coffee can be accepted, she hopes through building relationships and conversations at the coffee club, the same can be achieved in ending racism.
“I think people look at coffee and think in order for this to be good it needs x, y and z, and I think for Black people in order for these people to be acceptable in this society they need x, y and z they can’t just be who they are intrinsically,” Cofield said.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.