GREEN LIGHT COFFEE CO.
by Matthew Diaz
Maybe it was the image of a busy coffee house that I was comparing it with, but when I was asked to interview an up and coming coffee company, the green camper van we approached wasn’t what I had in mind. To be fare this is coming from someone who’s anything but a coffee connoisseur, my thoughts on the subject hardly go beyond the over saturated image of Starbucks and the happy couple drinking Folgers in the morning.
That is of course before I met Sarah and Jordon Hans. A coffee loving couple who brought the foreign concept of the beloved beverage back with them after a residency in Europe. As the owners of Greenlight Coffee, a company that operates out of a vintage camper van, they provide the downtown area with their organic local friendly concept of the coffee they cherished while abroad.
It was only earlier this year that they obtained the dated camper van from a seller on craigslist. After some much needed restorations, the van dawned the iconic greenlight logo and rolled out to provide the people of Corpus with its prodigious drinks.
Many out there live with the idea that coffee is coffee. Being nothing more than roasted beans and hot water. Having been one of those thinkers, hearing what goes into greenlights products has made me think otherwise. It starts with an expresso machine straight from Europe. In this machine goes the finest expresso beans, roasted locally in Austin. The Cappuccinos, coffees, and macchiatos they offer all stem from these shots of expresso. For anyone who isn’t fond of coffees bold tastes there’s always tea. Originally meant for the non-coffee drinking friend of the customer, greenlights tea has grown to become their best seller.
With numerous other coffee shops it’s safe to say they all share the fundamental love for coffee, but not one offering the organic local friendly concept this company does. To put it simply comparing greenlight to corporate billionaires would be an insult to what it means for them and to what they provide to the community.
Plans for expansion are already in the works. Not far from where the van operates downtown, the Hans couple has created a store front in the 600 building. If it didn’t already seen perfect that you could get your coffee from walk-in to walk-by, a drive thru in the Bluff has been mentioned adding to the collective of Greenlight operations
With so many choices out there for your morning coffee, picking which one you want can take some thinking, but if you want to keep seeing your favorite mom and pop coffee shop continuing to do as well as they are, show them some love and pay them a visit on your way to work.
Here at Hyperlocal we would like to wish you luck at your future endeavors.