Custom House Coffee Celebrates 10 Years

CUSTOM HOUSE COFFEE CELEBRATES 10^TH YEAR

Custom House Coffee has reached a major milestone for any small business: it’s 10^th year. A lot has happened over those 10 years, with the expansion to multiple locations and the addition of a new roasting and training facility in 2008 (see sidebar).

"My original focus in May of 2002 was on roasting and brewing the best possible coffee," says founder Bob Mastin. "I didn’t fully realize at the time how the store would become such a popular hub in the community, and how much fun it would be coming to work every day."

To celebrate the occasion both the Middletown and Portsmouth stores will hold all-day parties on Friday, May 11, the date the first store opened in 2002. There will be a free all-day buffet with assorted goodies, and raffles for several prizes, including free coffee for a year, a $900 value. All raffle proceeds will go to the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center.

A special Anniversary Blend has been developed for the occasion, featuring the finest African and South American coffees. It will be sold on Friday at a discount of, you guessed it, 10%.

At the Friday party Custom House Coffee will honor its faithful regulars, the people who have supported the business over the years. "I came in on the second day the Middletown store opened, and have been coming every day since then, usually twice a day," says Pete Silvia of Middletown. "I originally came back for the great tasting coffee, which is the best on the Island, but it has become more than that. I also enjoy the people who work here and who make me feel welcome every time I stop by."

Sidebar: 10 Milestones and Fun Facts in 10 Years

When Bob Mastin launched his business 10 years ago his main focus was on roasting and serving the best coffee possible. He had no idea at the time what interesting things would happen along the way:

1. Custom House Coffee has donated more than 1800 pounds of coffee, beans and brewed, and hundreds of mugs, goodies and gift baskets to numerous local charities, schools and causes including the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center, Child and Family Services, Aquidneck Land Trust, the Maher Center, the Potter League, and dozens of others, too many to list here.

2. The company has been voted "Best of Newport" by the readers of Newport Life magazine five times for coffee and espresso beverages, and has been voted four times "Best Coffeehouse" in Newport County by the readers of Rhode Island Monthly magazine.

3. The company has employed more than 100 local people, including 30 high schoolers (for many their first job), and helped put at least eight students through college.

4. The coffee can collection on display in the Middletown store has grown to 119 cans, many of which are rare antiques dating back to the 1890s. Custom House Coffee customers find most of the cans and trade them for pounds of coffee.

5. Custom House Coffee was listed in Yankee Magazine in 2005 as one of New England’s Best Roasters.

6. In 2006 Bob opened the second location in Portsmouth at Clock Tower Square on West Main Road, and in 2008 Mark Libby and George Doumaney bought the business and became part of the Custom House Coffee family.

7. Custom House Coffee won the 2011 Aquidneck Island Free-Pour Latte Art Throwdown with barista Holly Miller of Portsmouth. The event enjoyed national coverage in Barista Magazine.

8. Custom House Coffee has one employee who has been on staff the entire 10 years, Adeline Pfaff, who started in 2002 right out of high school, and worked through college at both the Middletown and Portsmouth stores. She still helps out at the Middletown store from time to time.

9. The roasting and wholesale business has grown significantly, with five qualified roasters now roasting more than 2-1/2 tons of coffee per month on two drum roasters for 75 wholesale customers, as far north as the Whole Foods Market in Providence, as far east as Cravings Café in Dartmouth, and as far west as McQuades Market in Mystic.

10. Since 2002 Custom House Coffee has served more than 1,237,000 cups of coffee, keeping countless people awake and energized.