The coffee bean breakdown

For Vidi Kaufman, being a barista at Red Star isn’t just a job — it’s a passion.

“I drafted out so many applications and resumés before I ever got a call back. But I love working with coffee and working at the stand is so much fun. It’s the best job ever,” Kaufman said.

Living in a college town like Moscow, it’s no surprise that coffee shops like Red Star are such a hit. Tired university students need to get their caffeine fix somehow. What better way than to make a trip to a local coffee shop?

While this is a no-brainer, what may not be as obvious is why people seem to enjoy the actual coffee shops just as much — if not more than — the coffee they provide. 

Walking into a coffee shop, it’s usually not too hard to pick out who’s been there for a while based on the workload in front of them, or by the empty coffee cup at their side as they catch up with an old friend. 

Even Red Star, a drive-thru location, has their regulars. 

“We have one older couple that comes in and they always get a 32-ounce caramel latte,” Kaufman said. “They just talk to us and are super friendly.” 

To get a firsthand look into what it is that makes a coffee shop so appealing to its customers, I went to four locally owned shops, hung out for a while and talked to people.

A major draw for coffee shops is, obviously, their coffee — which is especially important at a drive-thru like Red Star where the judgement of the shop is primarily based off of the quality of the drinks. 

“I absolutely love Doma Coffee; it’s a Post Falls  coffee  company,  so  Red Star  is supporting local businesses which is super nice,” Kaufman said.

Along with integrating local coffee roasters, like Doma, into their business, Red Star has a wide variety of drinks to choose from. 

“We have Zipfizz (an energy drink), lotus, cold brew, coffee, chai, and we also have a lot of alternative milks,” Kaufman said. 

At Red Star, you don’t have to leave the comfort of your vehicle to get local, high quality coffee on the go. It’s an aspect that’s extremely convenient for college students and anyone else that have tasks to juggle. 

While some get coffee in a pinch for the caffeine   boost,   others   go   for   a  very  different experience. 

“I come here a lot when I want to do homework or think or chill out, because it’s a very quiet place since people are working on things,” Johanna Kasper, a University of Idaho student catching up with a friend at Bucer’s Coffeehouse Pub, said. “It’s a good place to come and to focus because you get good coffee and comfortable chairs — it’s very much the vibe I come for.” 

Located on Main Street, Bucer’s is a cozy establishment with an impressive menu. Customers have the ability to order anything from an Americano, to a beer and even a six-layer Guinness chocolate cake. But their staple item, is their house roasted Arabica coffee. 

“We have an official roast master,” Sarah Miller, a barista at Bucer’s, said. 

She pointed towards a large, old-looking metal machine. 

“The roaster is in the middle room back there,” Miller said. “And it’s really cool…the roaster really adds to the atmosphere.” 

Even on a busy Saturday afternoon, Bucer’s is comfortable, dark and quiet — the perfect study space that locals in Moscow have utilized for years. 

 “Bucer’s is kind of fun for me, because when my brothers came to college this was the coffee shop they hung out at. 20 years ago my brothers were here,” Kasper said.

Sentimentality for a place turned out to be a common theme that I hadn’t anticipated. While visiting Steam Coffee, John Miller, a bartender and barista, discussed what motivates him to come to work every day. 

“It’s different from my other job — I used to run a kitchen here in town. It’s a change of pace,” Miller said. “I missed working with people instead of for people. People here actually like coming back for me, or the other kitchen staff, or my other bartenders.” 

Steam is probably the least conventional of the four coffee shops I visited. Sharing a space with Slice and Biscuit Pizza, it’s a lot louder than a typical coffee shop, with ESPN playing on multiple TVs. Families giggled and chatted over pizza while drinking beer. But with that came a powerful sense of community. 

I watched Miller make his way through the place, stopping to catch up with multiple customers and families as he did so. It’s evident that what keeps people coming back to Steam – besides the coffee – are the people like Miller who work there. Miller on the other hand, credits it to the building’s atmosphere and history. 

“The ambiance is nice. It’s a historic building that’s been around since 1954, I believe,” Miller said. “It used to be an auto body shop, that’s why we stick to the cloth napkins – they’re all shop towels – and we have Pennzoil oil cans where you put them in when they’re dirty. We definitely tried to keep it original, while also just making it our own.” 

Atmosphere, as my trips to Steam and Bucer’s made clear, plays a huge part in a coffee shop’s success – and visiting Café Artista just brought this point home. 

“We joke and we’re all like, ‘this is our second home basically.’ Sometimes we just find ourselves here,” Londan Wray, a barista at Café Artista, said. “It’s very calm and relaxing – I can do the most work here and I love doing homework here.” 

With its big windows, comfortable couches and the lingering smell of fresh coffee cake, it was easy to see where she was coming from.

 “I really love this place because they’re quite eco-conscious,” Wray said. “They’re very good at keeping things sustainable – we have for-here cups, so people don’t have to use paper waste. Our boss does all she can to make it the least impactful, which is really cool.” 

Wray is an environmental science major at UI, which makes Café Artista’s environmental emphasis all the more important to her. That said, she’s just as passionate about the coffee.

“Kamiak (the roaster Café Artista uses) really makes quality coffee, and they roast their beans really nicely where you can actually taste the flavors of each different roast. They do a really nice job,” Wray said. 

After exploring Red Star, Bucer’s, Steam and Café Artista, it’s obvious there are multiple elements that draw people in. When asked what she thought kept people coming back to coffee shops, Natalie Wiley, a customer at Café Artista, put it simply: “You can come and do homework, you can come and socialize – you can pretty much do anything you want in a coffee shop.”

Story by Abby Fackler

Photos by Abby Fackler

Design by Trent Anderson