First of all, we want to thank so many people for making this a reality. Without family, friends & Banyan supporters our coffee shop dream would not exist. We wanted to create a coffee shop environment for folks to feel welcome. The specialty coffee culture can be very intimidating therefore we launched our coffee truck to provide a more comfortable vibe to everyone. The coffee truck wasn’t enough for our coffee enthusiast, so we decided to build a coffee shop to meet the needs for the day-to-day coffee experience. Not only will you have the chance to grab a cup of coffee but we want to invite you to a more intimate side of Banyan Coffee. As you drink your coffee inside or at our outside patio you can visually see the coffee roasting process. As you sip your coffee you will see how the coffee is roasted and understand how much effort is required to get that cup of coffee you’re drinking. Hopefully at the end you can appreciate why Banyan Coffee is more unique and special than other coffee shops. We are one of the few in the area that roasts our own coffee, and it will be the freshest coffee you will have in Manatee County.
Features of the Palmetto coffee shop
We have a full 12 foot viewing area of the coffee roastery while you enjoy some coffee. By viewing behind the scenes, you can feel like you’re a part of the coffee roasting process. The warehouse in the back highlights all the phases of a coffee facility except for the coffee farmer.
We store our green coffee beans on pallets that come in from all over the world. Coffee farmers from all over the world will ship their coffee in a large container and import it to a port. Most of the coffee we purchase from farmers are shipped to Jacksonville, Charleston, New York & Atlanta. When they arrive at port, they get put in a coffee storage warehouse until we request them to be delivered at our Palmetto coffee shop. The green coffee bean can be stored for up to 1 year in GrainPro bags (green plastic bags). However, they are usually used up within a few weeks on average.
When green coffee is ready to be roasted, it is placed in our roasting section near the roaster. We roast all of our coffee on demand. We do not roast large bulks to sit in storage to be sold. One reason is that it loses the freshness of the coffee if it sits in the roastery and second reason is that it takes up too much space. We currently have 2 roasters with another one on the way. We have a 12 kilogram (24lb) and a 2.5 kilogram roaster (5lb). Depending on orders we will use the larger one for big orders and small batch roasts for little orders.
As we grow into our new roastery we would love to have coffee tour tastings for you. Folks would have the opportunity to come behind the scenes and sample some coffee that we may not have released yet. It gives you a say on your coffee because our goal is also to listen to the customer. At the sample tasting we can identify different flavor profiles from each individual coffee farm. By educating you on the flavor of the coffee you might identify other coffees that you didn’t know that you would like. Perhaps you always liked medium roast coffee but then you try a light roast coffee and you love it. One big reason we got into coffee was the exploration of different coffees. Just like wine or beer, there are many different options yet most people simply settle for what they are comfortable with. Coffee tasting gives you that option to explore. We also want to answer any questions that you may have such as cold brew coffee questions or everything espresso.
Post Covid, we realized more people are getting coffee “to go” rather than sitting down. Therefore, we want to have an app that you can order coffee well before you pick it up and have yours ready when you arrive. During busy times we want to create an express line for folks just wanting drip coffee. It’s still important for us to have interaction with customers but if you just want to get on with your day and get to work, our drip coffee express lane might be your best choice. For you retirees, extroverts, or slow pace folks we have some indoor and outdoor seating. Grab a light roast coffee or an organic tea and sit at our view tables. If the weather is nice, have a seat outside and soak up some sun. Perhaps enjoy the outdoor weather by sitting indoors. Our front windows collapse to let fresh outside air into the shop on beautiful days.
Our business started on home delivery as a Bradenton coffee source. We have no intention of changing that. In fact, we have expanded quite a bit over the years. We have been doing more shipping than delivery. Your coffee will remain the same freshness if it is shipped or delivered. Once our coffee shop is open you will also have the options to come and pick it up if you really can’t wait. If you order online there will be an option to “pick up coffee.” Please allow 1 to 3 days for pick up. If you are out of coffee and you can’t wait for yours to be roasted and processed, we always have plenty of prepackaged bags at our Palmetto coffee shop. Again, once your coffee order is placed, we will notify you that your coffee is ready for pick-up if you decide that option at checkout.
We know several folks have been craving a barrel aged coffee cold brew and now we will have that on tap along with our cold brew coffee concentrate. Our coffee keg will have several cold brew coffee concentrate options. Many folks ask us how we make the bourbon coffee beans and now you will be able to see this process.
If you are looking to open a coffee shop we would love to help and partner with you. By partnering with us you will receive coffee training from our Palmetto coffee shop as a training location. We will guide you through the process in our coffee shop until your location is available. However, we will continue to help you after you open by using our location as a coffee training facility.
We really wanted to call this coffee shop “the Banyan Coffee Experience” because we want you to experience not just the way we experience coffee but to educate the consumer as well as help them explore different coffees from various coffee farmers. We want to open up our Banyan Coffee side and share a different point of view. Plan on joining us this summer to begin the Banyan Coffee experience!