Follow a Farmers Market regular to their coffee shop
So, you’ve been going to the Highlands Farmers Market every week since June. You buy your produce, you might pick up some honey or other interesting provisions to get you through the week. And then … so that you can continue to enjoy that feeling of ‘fresh’ that envelops the market, you buy yourself a cup of coffee from the Rob’s Roast Coffee stand. Ahhh … the taste, the smell!
But wait. You realized last week that there is only one Sunday left of the market (the market ends on Oct. 25). What are you going to do for that perfect weekly cup of coffee?
Never fear. Rob’s Roast Coffee isn’t just a cart, but a real storefront in Newburgh, located at 42 Liberty Street. Back on July 26 Rob and Stephanie Popper celebrated their first anniversary in that location.
It’s the Marlboro couple’s first brick-and-mortar venture. For two years, Rob had a mobile coffee service — the Velopresso, the pedal-powered espresso cart that you see at the Farmers Market — first selling coffee on the streets of East London in 2017, and then trying to set up a mobile coffee business here in the Hudson Valley in 2018.
“But that proved to be much harder in New York, with freezing cold winters and more stringent requirements from each county’s Department of Health, so we decided at the start of 2019 to open a coffee shop in a fixed, permanent location,” the couple says.
“We try to keep it simple but really lovely, special and somewhat unique.”
Why Newburgh?
“We had looked very seriously in Hudson, Woodstock, Saugerties, Rhinebeck, Poughkeepsie, Beacon and even got very close to signing a lease on a space in Kingston,” they said. “But, there was something very special about Newburgh and the people we met as we got closer to making our decision — we would probably sum it up by saying it was a strong sense of community and an incredibly warm welcome from our new neighbors that drew us to Newburgh.”
Their shop is small — “about 12 seats under normal conditions”, and they don’t cook any food there. Instead, they have a long-standing relationship with Bella’s Home-Baked Goods (from Highland) for a “wonderful selection of biscotti” that they serve.
The Poppers focus on the coffee.
“We try to keep it simple but really lovely, special and somewhat unique. In the shop, we serve up fresh-ground, fresh-brewed pour-over, filter coffees as well as a small range of espresso-based coffees: macchiato, cortado, cappuccino, latte and mocha,” the Poppers say. “The menu on our wall is pretty simple, with some graphic representations and explanations of what each of those words actually mean and how we make the coffees for you. We try to de-mystify the process for our customers by making the coffees right in front of you, answering questions, offering tips and advice for making coffee at home.”
They also usually have a home-made batch of cold brew coffee available in their fridge, and have some non-dairy alternatives, such as Organic unsweetened soy milk and oat milk for your frothy, foamy coffees.
“We use Hudson Valley Fresh for all our dairy products including their magnificent chocolate milk for our increasingly famous HVF Mocha coffee drinks,” they said.
Rob’s Roast Coffee also takes a lot of pride in its decaffeinated coffee, making sure it still has a dark, bold, smooth, delicious flavor “but with a lot less caffeine in it — a Swiss Water Process claims to remove at least 99% of the caffeine”.
“We spend a lot of time and effort choosing Organic, single-origin beans to order in wholesale quantities, and then we roast up the green beans to a very dark, but sweet, smooth, bold roast. And, of course, one big advantage we have as a smaller company serving to mostly local customers is that we can ensure a high degree of freshness.”
While this year they’ve really just been ‘on the road’ in Highland Falls, they’ve done a few one-day events in Orange County, such as Washingtonville and at Wagon Wheel Farm in Goshen, and next year, hope to do many more events around a wider area.
They also do some smaller, private events, such as weddings, parties and special events for local businesses.
“The smaller size of the events actually suited the Velopresso very well, because people love to see it in operation, ask lots of questions and chat with us as they see how the pedal-power drives the coffee-making process, they said. “So, we also purchased a vintage 1965 Shasta trailer, that will allow us to tackle much larger events next year.”
While they never had to close due to the pandemic, they did have to adjust.
“In April, when we had to switch over to take-out and delivery offerings, it gave us a chance to highlight our coffee roasting specialties a lot more,” they say. “That month, we tripled our coffee roasting production! It really saved the business and has given us a whole new direction for the future that we thought we might not reach for another year or two.”
Right now, their shop is open six days a week — Monday-Saturday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. “Google us for updates on that,” Rob and Stephanie say.
A final question for the Poppers? Who makes better coffee, Rob or Stephanie? They say that by virtue of the fact that Rob makes more coffee every day, he is probably better at making a wider range of drinks. However ….
“Rob is pretty obsessed with the details of the coffee-making process, from choosing the beans to roasting the beans to getting the combinations and preparations just right. On the other hand, Stephanie loves the coffees she makes at home and shares with friends. So the idea that coffee making can be a simple process and anyone can make great pour-overs and cappuccinos at home is something that we’re passionate about.
In the end?
“We’re not sure if that means that Rob makes a better cup of coffee or if he is just more opinionated about it!”
