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The Red Rooster Tasting Room gives coffee lovers an opportunity to learn more about the process of their beloved beverage.
The Wasena neighborhood is celebrating the recent arrival of the Red Rooster Tasting Room, a coffee bar unlike any other. This is not a traditional cafe that you pop into for a to-go cup, but rather, a place where visitors can experience and learn all about single-origin coffees.
“We want people to know and understand specialty coffee and to see that coffee can be more than just a hot, caffeinated beverage that gets them going in the morning,” says accounts manager Philip Hatter.
At the tasting room, customers can taste coffees, many of them award-winning, before purchasing them by the bag. Hatter says the main focus of the space is coffee education. Along with the information you’ll learn while tasting coffees, they offer two-hour coffee classes to the public on topics such as brewing coffee at home, coffee history and tasting coffee, among others.
“We’re also what is known as a coffee lab,” Hatter says. “It’s a place to train other coffee professionals and baristas, as well as dial in our coffees on a variety of brewing devices.”
Red Rooster Coffee is roasted in small batches and brewed down the road in Floyd. As people become more aware of what they purchase and why, the owners decided to reach into the Roanoke area to offer coffee education, as well as a place to purchase bags of coffee and brewing accessories.
The tasting room is located in Wasena, a location they feel is an up-and-coming neighborhood with a lot to offer. With the Wasena Tap Room, the Green Goat and River Rock Climbing offering food, beverages and activities, it was an easy decision to join the party. The spot they’ve selected is growing fast, with a yoga studio and barber shop joining the tasting room’s sweet real estate spot.
“We’re happy to be an addition to this community and grow with the neighborhood,” Hatter adds.
Hatter and the team are excited to share the hard work they’ve done right in our own backyard. Because many people today are used to and enjoy experiencing beer and wine in tasting rooms, they believe great coffee is an extension of that, and a beverage “on par” with a great craft beer. For anyone who wants to be adventurous, this might be just the ticket.
“We hope when people come in, they feel welcome, but also that they have their minds blown by all of the wonderful diversity in the various coffee regions,” Hatter says. “We also hope when they leave, they have a better understanding of where their coffee comes from and maybe even begin to change up their coffee routines.”
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