Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/912148
28 STiR coffee and tea / Issue 6, 2017 (December / January) By Sherri Johns HOUSTON, Texas A strong spirit binds the coffee folks in Houston. It's a Texas trait. Specialty roasters and retailers like Greenway Coffee, Fix, Catalina Coffee, Southside Espresso, Black Hole, Revival Market, Beans, Brasil, Kaffeine Coffee, Siphon, Boomtown Coffee, and others paved the way for Houstonians to enjoy a delicious cup. Harvey certainly tested their resilience. Individual cafes and a few roasters were flooded. Everyone felt the economic im- pact, some lost homes. But rather than focus on the damage and losses this is a story of character. Since Houstonians began their recovery, there have been more hurricanes, more coffee communities devastated. Tropical storms hit Central America and hur- ricanes devastated the Florida Keys and Puerto Rico. All these communities are now working together to recover. When disaster struck, the Houston coffee community pulled together and helped one another in spirit, demonstrating resilience and pride. No one expected the magnitude of Hurricane Harvey's impact. Cafes might have prepared for the hurricane beforehand, taking precautions like making an extra-large batch of cold brew so customers could have the comfort of coffee if power failed. One could envision baristas covering windows with plywood, roasters raising their equip- ment to higher ground and moving big sacks of green to safety? But the answer was "no, we didn't expect it to impact Houston," recalls Matt Toomey of Boomtown Cof- fee and the Honeymoon Café. There was very little Houstonians did to prepare. They were unaware of the scope of the storm, he said. During the storm Boomtown flooded, but damage was minor. Honeymoon had to shut down for a while. "All I know is that we opened back up as soon as possible, it was an amazing feel- ing. People had been cooped up and just needed some normalcy. Some rhythm. And, good coffee," said Toomey. Houston, a Coffee City of Spirit, Resilience, and Community Matt Toomey and roaster Savannah Childers pitched in to help Houston Houston's Boomtown Cafe Hurricane Relief The needs in coffee producing countries are immense. Catholic Relief Services (CRS), Catholic Charities USA (CCUSA), and Mercy Corps provide disaster relief. CRS: https://support.crs.org CCUSA: www.catholiccharitiesusa.org Mercy Corps: www.mercycorps.org