There is new ownership of the Tully's Coffee in Hoquiam. Owners Samuel and Cristina have been in the area for about five years. Sam had worked at Harbor Paper and was also working in Real Estate before this. " I've always had a passion for coffee. Being Hispanic from the Caribbean we drink a lot of coffee. And so when this opportunity came available, I thought wow what a great opportunity to service people with coffee; with what I like to do," said Samuel.
Samuel plans to bring fresh food to the shop, "Our plans for the store are to always provide fresh baked goods as well as homemade soups on Mondays,
Wednesdays and Fridays, and to grow to eventually do Panini's in the new year. The soups are always fresh and homemade," said Samuel. Samuel explained that they're in the business of service, and not just coffee. " We don't want coffee to be where you come and order and then you're just a number. We will have impeccable service and I want to know all of the customers. You come as a guest, and you leave as a friend," said Samuel. Hot chocolates for children at Tully's will be $1. "One of the scariest things is when my kids ask for chocolates when we go to the coffee shop, because they cost as much as the coffees," said Samuel. Samuel went on to explain that with the price-reduced hot chocolates he aims to have families be able to enjoy going out together without having to suffer the consequences.
Samuel explained how it was that he selected their coffee blend to have to serve in the shop, "We serve our coffees in a smaller cup. We had eight people come in and we tried ten different beans from five different roasters and, the testers were blindly tasting all of the coffees, and the coffee we have was the one that won the tasting 100% of the time." Sam also explained that when you order an iced coffee, that they don't serve that. They serve frozen latte, where you're not only getting your two shots of espresso with milk but they're being poured over cubes of frozen coffee.
Samuel then demonstrated with all the different sizes of cups, that other coffee shop chains will use the same amount of coffee for each size, yet fill the rest with milk. Samuel explained that with his system, he will have more coffee depending on the size and the same amount of milk for each size proportionally, instead of filling the rest of the cup with milk. So that you "can have milk with your coffee, instead of coffee with your milk."
A new item on the menu, the Cafecito Con El Sequita has been increasing in popularity since the new owners have moved into the business. Cafecito Con El Sequita is a coffee drink that is made with an ingredient that Samuel collects from the beans called the "crema" that is mixed with sugar and a little bit of salt to make a paste, which two shots of espresso are then poured over into a cup.
Be sure to stop in and support your local coffee shop, and check out what the new owners have to offer.