The Long View

DC contractors recently cut back the tree in front of Qualia revealing a pretty stunning view of the National Cathedral.

The National Cathedral is well over 2 miles from the shop.

Drink and Ride

Is there a more natural combination than coffee and bicycles? Well, maybe, but they still go damn well together.

For the past couple of Saturday’s, Qualia has been host to a free bicycle maintenance and repair clinic sponsored by the Bike House, a Petworth-based bicycle coop. Here are some pictures from this past weekend.

The Qualia Chorus

Qualia Coffee is now listed on google maps, yelp and and menupages. Feel free to add your, uhhmm, rave reviews…

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Qualia Reopens

Qualia reopened today to little fanfare. If you haven’t stop by yet, come check us out. I have been working hard to create a unique and gratifying coffee experience. All coffees are served within a week of roasting, most just within days. Qualia is also the only coffeehouse in the world to feature the Brew-O-Lator 5000 one-cup-at-a-time hand-poured coffee maker.

The Owen-ater on the Brew-O-Lator

This past weekend we even brought in the big guns, a couple of coffee spokesmodels all the way from New York.

Amanda and Lauren handing out free cold-brew samples in front of Qualia

The Name Has Landed

Perhaps the only thing more difficult in the process of opening the coffee shop than navigating DC’s bureaucracy has been settling on a name. With the help of numerous people and a lot (I mean a lot) of soul searching, I have decided to call the shop…

A philosophical term, Qualia are the subjective experiences of the human senses, such as the feeling you get from seeing a rose or savoring a delicious cup of coffee. At Qualia, we will strive to create a whole new experience in fresh coffee.

So look for our grand opening in April. Yeah!

www.qualiacoffee.com

Coffeehouse Gets Press

The Washington Business Journal featured me in their Top Shelf column published yesterday. Here’s what they had to say:

“Caffeine High » Joel Finkelstein has been selling his home-roasted coffee as a hobby for years now. Soon he will be in the caffeine business full time.

Finkelstein has decided to rent a commercially zoned row house at 3917 Georgia Ave. NW in Petworth to sell his coffee line, Fresh Off The Roast. The former freelance journalist also is opening a full-service coffee shop. His coffee was previously available at the now-defunct Western Market, an open-air market in Adams Morgan.

Finkelstein says he approaches coffee as a connoisseur’s drink (he can talk for hours about roasting beans yourself and the freshness and flavor it brings), and he plans to distinguish his product by roasting and selling beans that he knows the exact origins of — often right down to the farmer’s name.

Finkelstein is aiming for a March opening for his yet-to-be-named store. He is brainstorming with some George Washington University marketing students on ideas for names. Talk about low overhead.”

Construction Is Complete

It’s been awhile since I last posted, but now without good cause. I have been very busy overseeing (getting in the way of) the final construction. I think it came out really great and once again I have to give a lot of the credit to my contractor David Robertson of Something Different Contracting. I still have to get through three more DC inspections (fire, health, ummm fire again?) and a lots of bureaucratic red tape. There is furniture and supplies to buy and lots of small details to address. But I am finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. So this might be a good time to update you on some of what I have been doing this past month. For one, I have settled on a name for the coffeehouse, which I will announce soon. I also have been meeting with some students from GW’s business school who are helping me define a comprehensive marketing strategy for Fresh Off the Roast. In an unexpected development, buzz about the shop has helped me make some new relationships in the industry that will enable me to offer a number of new direct-from-the-farm coffees. And finally, I have been working on a unique brewing apparatus for the shop that will expand on the success we have had brewing one cup at a time at the market stands. So stay tuned.

Construction Update

The countertop was installed on Thursday and plumbing work should move forward next week. We’re getting very close people.

Well, I’m off to a food safe handling class. Woopee!

Construction Update

The bar is shaping up nicely. Plumbing work starts today.

Construction Update

Work is moving along nicely. Electrical work started yesterday and plumbing starts soon.

Day 6