The enticing aroma of fresh coffee beans permeates the air, wafting from wall to wall — a smell familiar to many in Moscow. The odor of the beans is bold, rich and pungent and fills the roastery in its entirety.
Whether it’s whole beans or freshly ground coffee, it can all be found just outside the confines of Moscow on the quiet country roads of the Palouse. The rolling hills are home to the origin of coffee locals have come to know and love –– Landgrove Coffee.
Landgrove’s Coffee is the source of coffee for many local shops around town — a town whose caffeine addition does not go unnoticed.
Nearly every coffee shop is littered with students cramming for exams and community members enjoying a hot cup of joe around weathered tables.
The PNW is no stranger to the coffee craze. About 50 percent of all adults 18 to 24 drink coffee regularly, according to Statista. In Moscow, nearly 39 percent of the total population ranges from 15 to 24 — an age group who loves its coffee.
As time passes, numbers show young adults are progressively drawn to their daily jolt of caffeine. Between 2008 and 2016, the consumption of high-end coffee drinks among 18 to 24 year olds increased from 13 percent to 36 percent, according to the 67th National Coffee Drinking Trends Report.
Late nights and heavy workloads push both high school and college students to reach for the closest cup of coffee or energy drink day and night. And, no one is ever left short of coffee options in Moscow.
“There is a lot of different things that (the coffee shops in Moscow) all have to offer,” Sara Beth Pritchett, Co-Owner of One World Cafe said. “It is a good community for coffee and food and drink. We are really lucky to have such good places to go out and eat and drink coffee and be downtown.”
From chains like Starbucks and Dutch Brothers to more local coffee houses scattered downtown, coffee is around nearly every corner.
Milk for a latte is prepared at One World Cafe.
Landgrove, established on the Palouse in 1998, is the coffee source for a handful of coffee retailers and cafes, including One World Cafe and The Moscow Food Co-op.
A few months out of the year, large trucks wind their way through the quiet country roads outside of Troy before pulling onto a gravel road and delivering nearly 40,000 pounds of coffee beans to Landgrove Coffee owners Jon and Hannah Binninger.
Raw beans from all around the world find a home on shelves of the warehouse where the roasting takes place. Landgrove collects coffee orders throughout the week before taking the beans to the roaster to roast the beans all at once.
The process, while meticulous and delicate, takes around 15 minutes from start to finish, Chris Malberg, production manager at Landgrove said.
“It’s very quick, it’s very methodical,” Malberg said. “As soon as one roast comes out we are loading another one in and cycle again.”
The freshly roasted coffee is then bagged and sent out to various vendors throughout the region and across the country.
“Usually it (the coffee) goes out in within at least three days,” John said. “It’s pretty much just shipped or delivered pretty much immediately after it’s roasted.”
Despite its tucked away location, Moscow coffee drinkers are probably more familiar with the local business than they realize.
Pritchett said the love and care put into roasting the coffee is carried over into the drink crafting at her cafe. Barista’s, she said, are trained to care for and love the product from start to finish to ensure that the final product is top-notch quality.
“I think that is really important and that is hard to translate when it gets into big corporations,” Pritchett said.
Although Landgrove is just 30 minutes outside of Moscow, it is not the only local coffee roaster. Bucer’s Coffee House Pub roasts its coffee in-house.
Pat Greenfield, owner of Bucer’s, is in her 24th year of roasting coffee and her 18th year as the pub’s owner. After starting in Lewiston, Greenfield said she brought her business to Moscow because the small town has a coffee shop “it-factor” many other locations in the region do not –– college students.
“College kids just drink a lot more coffee. It tends to be the culture,” Greenfield said.
Much like any other city, big or small, larger coffee shop chains are still abundant in Moscow. However, these shops are not seen as competition, rather they are extended options for customers, One World Co-Owner Brandy Sullivan said.
There are different spots around town for everyone, and room in the Moscow coffee economy for more than one coffee shop, she said.
“We’ve been open for 13 years, I think it’s pretty clear there is room for all the different coffee shops that exist here,” Sullivan said. “We’ve all been here so I think there must be enough demand and niches that the different shops are serving.”
Since its beginning, One World has only grown, Sullivan said. Between 2012 and 2016, the cafe expanded both its business reach and profit.
One World is not alone in its Moscow coffee market success. Although it is not specified as a cafe, inside The Co-op sits a coffee bar and numerous options for coffee wholesale. Between 2013 and 2017, coffee sales through the cafe and wholesale increased $39,000 and $62,000, respectively, according to Kerry Morsek, The Coop Store Manager.
Despite the growing market, not all cafes have the staying power.
Senior Brendon Harker takes a customers order at One World Cafe.
In her 18 years as the owner of a successful coffee house in Moscow, Greenfield said she has seen cafes come and go.
“Anybody would be a liar if another coffee house is about to open and their just like, ‘Another one? Why can’t someone open like an Urban Outfitters or something? Why does it have to be a coffee house?’” Greenfield said.
Despite the fluctuating market of coffee shops, Greenfield said her focus has always been on making Bucer’s the best it can be.
“When other coffee houses open, yeah, you wonder what it is going to do and that kind of thing, but you just keep your focus on doing your best because that’s all you can do,” Greenfield said. “Just keep doing your best and keep drumming up new business and treating your customers well and then usually the word gets out.”
The various shops scattered around town are beneficial, not only for the community of coffee drinkers as a whole, but for the student coffee drinkers as well, One World barista Seneca Jensen said.
“They (students) are very open about engaging you about coffee talk and then there are the students who are like, ‘I am on my 12th cup of the day, just got to get the caffeine in,’” Jensen said. “No matter what they can tell the difference. I mean I’ve been in places drinking coffee that’s not very awesome and it’s not enjoyable. You want to be able to, enjoy it for more than just something you are trying to wake yourself up with.”
Coffee drinking is a lifestyle.
Despite providing the same goods and services, the assorted coffee shops do not view each other as competition, but rather as a team.
“If Bucer’s runs out of coffee lids or something they can call us and we will definitely lend them some coffee lids, and I know that relationship can go back and forth,” Pritchett said. “Everybody has their place. But, as a community, we want to see our community prosper.”