Savannah Coffee Roasters re-emerges as local coffee shop

SAVANNAH, GA (WTOC) - Savannah Coffee Roasters has been manufacturing and roasting beans for more than a century in its namesake city, but it only re-emerged as a local coffee shop seven months ago.

"In fact it was quite funny, because we ship our coffee all over America, and probably more people knew about the company in the last ten years than the local people," new owner Lori Collins laughed.

Savannah Coffee Roasters was located at the Oglethorpe Mall under previous ownership years ago, but Collins wanted Savannanians to know the true taste of freshly ground and brewed coffee, which you can see in house.

"This is what we're calling third generation." Collins said. "There's a trend now to actually seek out better quality, local producers, local manufacturers."

"This is one of the joys of this particular place; the coffee is always good," said Byron Grainger Jones.

Jones has been visiting the city for three weeks and has been to the shop every day. Along with the coffee quality, he said there's another aspect to the shop.

"It's not all squashed in here as some other places, and you don't feel like you're being harassed in any way at all," he said.

In the seven months Collins has opened her doors, she's brought on 14 employees, including someone from the Centers for Disabilities. Soon she'll be helping the homeless through a job initiative.

So from the bagged beans, to the burr (coffee grinder), a Savannah tradition is seeing a rebirth.

"This has got a lot of movement, right around America."  Collins says.  "You'll find in most small cities a coffee roaster, and they compete very well against the giant corporations."

Collins said not only is it a rebirth for her, but she's helped bring a little manufacturing surge to Liberty Street. She rents out some of her space to Frali Gourmet, which manufactures and sells pasta.

Collins is also a huge supporter of the troops as well, sending a little bit of home to Afghanistan. Troops there have built a tiny station for their coffee, dubbing it the Savannah Coffee Roasters Forward Outpost Kabul.

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