Kopi Coffee
by Keighton Allen
205 Cincinnati Ave El Paso, Texas
El Paso’s newest coffee shop, Kopi Coffee, opened January 19th of this year. Kopi Coffee, whose bean took 1st place out of 1,267 coffees at the 2016 “World’s Best Coffee” competition, was established by El Paso native, Ahmed Orozco. Ahmed explained that “kopi” in the Bahasa language (Indonesian) means “coffee”. Ahmed created Kopi Coffee after he was unable to find the remarkable coffee he drank while traveling the equator a.k.a “the coffee belt of the world” in El Paso.
Kopi Coffee’s value proposition is its customer service through serving specialty coffee. Ahmed proudly avowals he and his staff are exceeding knowledgeable of their products and are able to effectively present their expertise to customers. Kopi Coffee also prides itself on its new wave, state of the art brewing equipment. Besides gourmet coffee and teas, Kopi Coffee also sells pastries made locally from scratch.
Because of the multitude of coffee shops and teashops in the area like Starbucks, Kinley’s, Hillside Coffee, Tippi Teas, and The Tea Spout, it may seem that a new coffee shop is at a competitive disadvantage. This could not be further from the truth for Kopi Coffee. Kopi Coffee does not consider itself in an identical market to these competitors. While these stores sell “fast food” coffee and teas, Kopi Coffee offers its customers specialty, gourmet coffee. Specialty coffee is defined through its supply chain management of the bean. Specialty coffees are limited to those drawn from the proper junctions of microclimate, soil chemistry, and plant husbandry. Furthermore, the bean must be picked at a precise time of ripeness in order to be persevered properly. The initial processing stage of the beans is incredibly intricate and designed to prevent any harm to the coffee. Experienced roasters must identify the potential of the coffee, properly develop the flavors, and package the roasted product. However, before the coffee meets the end consumer, the final process must take place - the coffee must be brewed. Kopi Coffee is taking brewing to the next level with their hi-tech equipment and filtered water. From coffee tree to final consumer, this process is carefully orchestrated. When you patron Kopi Coffee, you’re not just drinking a cup of coffee; you are drinking the creation of a sophisticated and meticulously coordinated operation completed by the efforts of many people throughout the world.
The long-term goals of Kopi Coffee are of course to remain profitable in the coming years, install a vegan bakery in the shop, and purchase an older property to remodel to a gold standard green build. There are many live events at Kopi Coffee. They host art shows for local artists and allow local jewelers to showcase their work. Kopi Coffee’s next event is “Acoustic Night” with local musician Christina Gurrola, February 12th 7 – 9 p.m. It will be exciting to see how this new coffee shop fares and its impact on the Kern Place neighborhood.
El Paso’s newest coffee shop, Kopi Coffee, opened January 19th of this year. Kopi Coffee, whose bean took 1st place out of 1,267 coffees at the 2016 “World’s Best Coffee” competition, was established by El Paso native, Ahmed Orozco. Ahmed explained that “kopi” in the Bahasa language (Indonesian) means “coffee”. Ahmed created Kopi Coffee after he was unable to find the remarkable coffee he drank while traveling the equator a.k.a “the coffee belt of the world” in El Paso.
Kopi Coffee’s value proposition is its customer service through serving specialty coffee. Ahmed proudly avowals he and his staff are exceeding knowledgeable of their products and are able to effectively present their expertise to customers. Kopi Coffee also prides itself on its new wave, state of the art brewing equipment. Besides gourmet coffee and teas, Kopi Coffee also sells pastries made locally from scratch.
Because of the multitude of coffee shops and teashops in the area like Starbucks, Kinley’s, Hillside Coffee, Tippi Teas, and The Tea Spout, it may seem that a new coffee shop is at a competitive disadvantage. This could not be further from the truth for Kopi Coffee. Kopi Coffee does not consider itself in an identical market to these competitors. While these stores sell “fast food” coffee and teas, Kopi Coffee offers its customers specialty, gourmet coffee. Specialty coffee is defined through its supply chain management of the bean. Specialty coffees are limited to those drawn from the proper junctions of microclimate, soil chemistry, and plant husbandry. Furthermore, the bean must be picked at a precise time of ripeness in order to be persevered properly. The initial processing stage of the beans is incredibly intricate and designed to prevent any harm to the coffee. Experienced roasters must identify the potential of the coffee, properly develop the flavors, and package the roasted product. However, before the coffee meets the end consumer, the final process must take place - the coffee must be brewed. Kopi Coffee is taking brewing to the next level with their hi-tech equipment and filtered water. From coffee tree to final consumer, this process is carefully orchestrated. When you patron Kopi Coffee, you’re not just drinking a cup of coffee; you are drinking the creation of a sophisticated and meticulously coordinated operation completed by the efforts of many people throughout the world.
The long-term goals of Kopi Coffee are of course to remain profitable in the coming years, install a vegan bakery in the shop, and purchase an older property to remodel to a gold standard green build. There are many live events at Kopi Coffee. They host art shows for local artists and allow local jewelers to showcase their work. Kopi Coffee’s next event is “Acoustic Night” with local musician Christina Gurrola, February 12th 7 – 9 p.m. It will be exciting to see how this new coffee shop fares and its impact on the Kern Place neighborhood.
