Baristas of DFW: Coffee Talk Series # 3 with George
What was the inspiration behind starting George?
We’ve lived in Coppell for about 15 years, and we really wanted a place where we could connect and cooperate with people’s agenda on what they are after that day. We wanted to create a local’s living room. A safe place where people could meet with their team for meetings in the larger rooms or meet with friends and chat on a sofa by the fireplace. We also wanted some outdoor space and to have the gardens and lawn, and rocking chairs was intentional so kids can play on the grass, and feel the sunshine, and people can enjoy coffee in a natural setting.
What makes a good barista stand out in the world of competitive coffee shops in DFW?
Every shop is different. Some stores have baristas who are competing in barista competitions and dedicated to training in the art of coffee, which is a very different ball game to what we want to represent. We wanted to own the host role, have upstanding hospitality and service and also serve excellent coffee. We’ve said no to big resume award-winning baristas before because their mindset is coffee first, people second. And our passion is the other way around.
Where is the coffee scene standing in terms of the coffee movement in DFW compared to the rest of the USA and even around the world?
Coffee here is very communal now. The beverage now is more about community and sitting down and enjoying time with friends, family or colleagues. Where is used to be on the caffeine, now coffee in the USA is more about complimenting conversations. As a business model to be in coffee, we were told you need to be on a corner with high visibility to the main road, and pump put coffee to be successful. But that’s the opposite of what we wanted. We are more passionate about our community and having a space that people can enjoy good simple coffee in an area where they feel like they are at home.
What was the inspiration behind starting George?
We’ve lived in Coppell for about 15 years, and we really wanted a place where we could connect and cooperate with people’s agenda on what they are after that day. We wanted to create a local’s living room. A safe place where people could meet with their team for meetings in the larger rooms or meet with friends and chat on a sofa by the fireplace. We also wanted some outdoor space and to have the gardens and lawn, and rocking chairs was intentional so kids can play on the grass, and feel the sunshine, and people can enjoy coffee in a natural setting.
When we were thinking of a name for the store we wanted to pay homage to the area and something about Coppell. George Coppell is obviously who this town was named after, but also George is also Greek for the worker of the earth, and we wanted to pay homage to the generosity of the farmers and land and locals to Coppel , so it just felt right.
How did you become a barista and what was your training?
I was in the service industry; I had a heart and knowledge of wanting to do coffee well and do it with intention and excellence. Edison Coffee in Flower mound gave me an opportunity to work with them and train under them as a barista. Coffee is science and art, but it’s not rocket science. There’s room for all types of coffee here. Our business model is more about serving our guests with the best quality we can.
Our syrups are made in house, and we make everything with pure ingredients and without preservatives. Sourcing local ingredients is important to us. It may only be coffee, milk and sugar but we wanted it to be made with the freshest local ingredients we could find, so it’s made with integrity.
What keeps customers coming back to George?
No one would have started here without the Starbucks culture. They created a vacancy for a small business like us. There will always be a market for drive-throughs and safety in the knowledge that this will serve peoples needs quickly and with uniformity. That’s why we train our staff to be able to meet the customer request and become a reliable alternative to what they have. If our customers are used a caramel macchiato, then we say sure, we have a salted caramel latte, try this and stead. We can train the coffee, but our first love is to host and give people what they want in service first. My family lives upstairs, so my staff know that we treat our customers like they are guests coming into our home, because they are.
What makes a good barista stand out in the world of competitive coffee shops in DFW?
Every shop is different. Some stores have baristas who are competing in barista competitions and dedicated to training in the art of coffee, which is a very different ball game to what we want to represent. We wanted to own the host role, have upstanding hospitality and service and also serve excellent coffee. We’ve said no to big resume award-winning baristas before because their mindset is coffee first, people second. And our passion is the other way around.
Where is the coffee scene standing in terms of the coffee movement in DFW compared to the rest of the USA and even around the world?
Coffee here is very communal now. The beverage now is more about community and sitting down and enjoying time with friends, family or colleagues. Where is used to be on the caffeine, now coffee in the USA is more about complimenting conversations. As a business model to be in coffee, we were told you need to be on a corner with high visibility to the main road, and pump put coffee to be successful. But that’s the opposite of what we wanted. We are more passionate about our community and having a space that people can enjoy good simple coffee in a space where they feel like they are at home.
Other than your coffee house, where’s your favorite place for coffee in DFW and why?
There’ so many, but we love Local Press, and Brew near Bishops Art District which is a husband and wife team and the husband also has an auto shop called Local Moto, and he also sells his coffee in there too. They’re both just little gems and family-run businesses where they have a great sense of community.
Pics supplied by George Coffee and Provisions
