"We're putting life in this corner," Kolsto says. "We want to help be part of the responsible growth of this neighborhood."
He's also putting milk behind the counter. While known for what Kolsto calls his "adventurously black coffee," the new shop will serve milk-based espresso drinks in addition to pour-over coffee.
"It will be confusing," Kolsto says. "There's adventurously black coffee with milk behind me that I won't serve you. But if people ask why that is, I tell them it's for their joy."
Kolsto is not militant about the decision to serve black coffee - Kolsto regularly buys reticent customers their cups in order to explain his stance - but instead sees it as an opportunity to talk about what you're drinking and where it's from.
"I don't want people to come here because we're local," Kolsto says. "I want them to come to be exposed to something new."Whereas the design of the original space was based on need, the new cafe has been deliberately laid out as a community space. Oddly Correct employee Randy Taylor has spent the better part of five months bringing Kolsto's designs to life. A bank of stools by the front windows doesn't have access to electrical outlets (although the three raised tables on the left-hand wall do) because Kolsto wants you to interact with your fellow coffee drinkers. The number of seats has tripled - Oddly Correct can now hold 31 coffee drinkers.
"We felt like we couldn't accommodate people," Kolsto says. "Now we can build on the base of our success."
The major work has been done. Oddly Correct is waiting on its final city inspections and a few finishing touches. Edison light bulbs with glowing filaments keep the feeling of a coffee laboratory. The plaster walls from the former B-Bop Comics space have been replaced with exposed bricks, an orange steel support beam and lacquered sheets of plywood.
The concrete counter has been poured, but the custom glass for the pastry case hasn't yet arrived. A floating shelf still needs to be extended over the coffee bar."This space is symbol of everything we want to be as a company," Kolsto says. "We want to be innovative and flexible."
The L-shaped counter will feature espresso service, a pastry case (stocked with Little Freshie and Dolce baked goods) and the pour-over coffee that comes with conversation.
"There's a lot more space," Kolsto says. "But you still can't escape us."
Oddly Correct will serve espresso drinks made on a Slayer, a custom-built espresso machine from Seattle with a five-figure price tag. Kolsto recently spent two-and-a-half hours at the company's headquarters to learn about a machine that may very well do for espresso what the pour-over method has done for coffee: Let baristas continually tweak their pour in search of a perfect cup.
Oddly Correct will serve macchiato, gilbraltar (a cappuccino in a small glass tumbler) and cappuccino, while 12-oz. lattes and Americanos will be available to go.Kolsto intends to keep the current space and turn it into a roasting and letterpress facility. The shop creates prints and the art for its bags on-site. He can even envision a small bakery operation. The new cafe will have extended hours, from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Saturday. And Kolsto foresees keeping it open later in the evening in the future.
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