Hattie’s Fine Coffee in Prairie Village is building a roasting operation in downtown Mission.
After remodeling their coffee shop at 4195 Somerset Drive in Corinth Square two years ago, co-owners Gretchen and David Copeland outgrew their space for roasting beans in house.
“We were just roasting so much that it wasn’t all fitting,” Gretchen said. “We were going to have to get rid of almost all our seating to be able to just fit the bags of coffee in that spot.”
Their new roasting operation — tentatively named Hattie’s Tasting Room — will be located at 5918 and 5920 W. 59th Terrace, behind the Mission Theatre. The 800-square-foot space will have “that Hattie’s flavor to it,” although it serves a different purpose, Gretchen added.
Tentative hours for the new operation and tasting room are 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.
The Copelands said they expect to open the roasting operation accompanied by a small retail space within the next six weeks. Coffee lovers can stop by the shop during business hours and purchase pounds of coffee. Once they get settled in that new operation, they plan to open a tasting room sometime this summer for people to sample French pressed, pour over or aero-pressed coffee.
“(It will) be mostly black cups of coffee; we won’t do our full menu,” Gretchen said, “but still just a great way to check out our offerings.”
New roasting operation speaks to coffee shop’s growth
Hattie’s coffee beans are imported from multiple sources across South America, Africa and Indonesia; a local favorite is their “Colombian crowd pleaser.” With this transition, Hattie’s Fine Coffee will continue roasting its own label of grade one competition-level coffee beans, Gretchen added.
“Having a space that’s going to be dedicated to the roasting that people will also be able to stop by and visit is exciting for us,” Gretchen said. “Because people have really missed having the roaster there and being able to hang out and watch Dave do his work.”
The Copelands took over Hattie’s Fine Coffee in 2010 as the coffee shop’s fourth set of owners. Hattie’s Fine Coffee has been located in Corinth Square since 1999. Once the roasting operation and tasting room are set up, they plan to look into options for opening a second and maybe even third coffee shop.
“We’re just delighted by the response of the community and how much they’ve enjoyed it,” Gretchen said of their coffee shop. “I think we have gotten to needing the space a little faster than we had thought we would, which is a true delight.”