First, coffee.
While South Royalton has emerged as a bit of a food hub in recent years, its caffeine options have been limited — to say nothing of the bean science, foam artistry, flavor experimentation and other trappings of the modern coffee shop experience.
No longer. First Branch Coffee, a specialty coffee shop that, in addition to all the aforementioned novelties, roasts its beans on the premises, is now open for business.
The shop has been long in the making, leaving residents in a state of anticipation. People practically had their faces pressed against the glass in the days leading up to the Oct. 14 opening, according to co-owner Andy Puchalik.
“It’s been a little bit of a long road. We’ve been saying we’re opening a coffee shop for a year now,” he said last Friday afternoon, taking a short break at one of the pub tables fashioned out of repurposed wooden barrels clustered in back of the spacious cafe.
In the kitchen behind him, chef Daniel Sherburne was massaging cheese curds into a ball of mozzarella and tending to a smoked pork shoulder, its scent handily winning the war of aromas and hinting to latte-sipping customers that there’s actually more to find at First Branch than a caffeine fix.
Puchalik and co-owners Chris Perry and Ivan Tomek first conceived of the business as a way to showcase their craft beer to the public. Puchalik, a former teacher at Hanover High School who began brewing as a hobby, opened Upper Pass Beer Co., with Perry and Tomek in 2015. They make two popular brews at their farmhouse brewery in Tunbridge and contract out larger batches of additional varieties to von Trapp Brewery in Stowe, Vt.
The coffee shop takes its name from the First Branch, which flows through Chelsea and Tunbridge before joining the White River in South Royalton. It’s housed in a historic building on the wide main street that runs through South Royalton, and it will also serve as a tasting room for Upper Pass Beer.
“It’s kind of a natural fit,” said Puchalik, who spends a good deal of his time serving as the face of Upper Pass, distributing its products to taverns, inns and shops all over Vermont, as well as a few retailers in New York. “We thought a coffee shop would be a nice complement (to the beer).”
Puchalik applies the same fastidious approach to coffee that he does to beer. One of the things that sets the business apart, he said, is its high standards for selecting beans, which the shop also sells by the pound. He works with single-origin sellers and purchases only beans that receive an 87-percent or higher rating by the Specialty Coffee Association. Roasting them on site in an enormous commercial coffee roaster, which doubles as a conversation piece smack in the middle of the cafe, also allows him to carefully control the quality of the beans and ensure their freshness.
But even with the best beans, quality coffee doesn’t make itself. There’s a steep learning curve to producing the perfect cup, Puchalik said. To that end, he brought in a consultant to train him and his baristas on equipment and practices. Even so, he acknowledges that they’re still learning, and that that’s a good thing. “We’re not afraid to dump out a drink,” he said.
On a chilly Friday afternoon, though, no drinks were headed for the drain. A slow trickle of customers kept the coffee grinders whirring and the espresso machine hissing, churning out traditional Americanos and cappucinos, as well as trendier brews such as a tumeric latte with hemp-infused honey from Luce Farm in Stockbridge, Vt.
Meanwhile, Puchalik, Sherburne, and other staff members were gearing up for their first “Flatbread Friday,” a casual, community-oriented dinner featuring draft beer from their brewery and food from local farms.
“Most of the veggies for this came from putting my garden to bed,” said Sherburne, lifting the lid on a tray of herbs and vegetables he’d prepped for his imaginative menu, which included a yellow curry and coconut flatbread with potatoes, bell peppers and a drizzle of ginger sour cream. The pork shoulder, purchased from Back Beyond Farm in Tunbridge, was also destined to top a flatbread.
“We’re trying to keep the food fun,” said Sherburne, who earlier in the week had prepared 300 tacos for the cafe’s first “Taco Tuesday.”
With the twice-a-week dinners, the First Branch crew know they’ve taken on a lot at once, but they want to build on the excitement surrounding the cafe as well as draw in people from the local farming community who appreciate the farm-to-table fare. Their first event, which also featured live music, was a big success. The tacos sold out in three hours, and customers seemed happy to have a choice of either beer or coffee, Pachulik said.
Those who prefer to visit for a morning coffee break or an afternoon pick-me-up can also find something to indulge in on the cafe countertop, including oversize donuts from Jupiter Rising in Rutland and a variety of sweets from Piecemeal Pies in White River Junction and other local bakers.
For more information about First Branch Coffee, go to www.firstbranchcoffee.com.
Sarah Earle can be reached at searle@vnews.com or 603-727-3268.