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September 24, 2010
Serving the community
Kafka’s prides itself on high quality and service.
KYLE BERGER
Aaron Kafka has always understood the value of serving his community, but never has that been more important than it became this summer when he opened Kafka’s Coffee and Tea, a gourmet shop at the corner of Main and Broadway in Vancouver. While Jewish community support has been strong so far for Kafla’s new venture, he hopes the customers will continue to come for the quality of his product as well.
“We want to have a place that has really high-quality everything, so it takes a while to develop that reputation,” he said of the local response. “We are trying to put out a better product than everyone else and we hope people will respect that and seek that out.”
Kafka explained that the difference between his independent café and mainstream shops is the care he takes in making the coffee experience the best it can be for the customer.
“There are some drinks we won’t make for people if they order them because we are trying to provide customer education,” he said. “For example, we don’t serve dark roast coffee here because dark roast beans are poor-quality beans that were roasted enough to taste like coffee.
“We only make light and medium roast because they are quality beans that are lightly roasted to preserve the flavor,” he continued. “So if someone sells you dark roast, they are just hiding poor quality in the roast.”
Kafka added long espressos to that list of no-gos, noting that stretching out the shot of espresso just leaves a bitter taste.
“We care about every cup that we make and if it’s not right we throw it out,” he said.
A native Vancouverite, Kafka caught the bean bug while living in Seattle for a few years. He had what he called “an amazing espresso” one day at a shop and returned the next day to find it was never made the same way. He became obsessed with seeking out the best espressos available and started to make connections in the coffee world.
“I started to have the thought in the back of my mind that maybe one day I would open a café. When he recently moved back to Vancouver, he decided the time was right.
The location, however, wasn’t quite on the same page. One week after taking possession of his Main Street space, the buildings next door burned down, leaving smoke and water damage to his then empty store. Kafka was forced to wait six months to open for business and his patience was tested.
“I was upset,” he stated. “But I told myself that, in the grand scheme of things, six months was not a big deal. And now it’s all good.”
The shop comes with Wi-Fi and has plenty of space to hang out, meet friends and read a good book.
“We have the best Wi-Fi in the city,” he quipped before talking about some of the regulars who already call his shop home. “We have a drawing group that comes in regularly and draw together. To me, that’s what a coffee shop is all about. People should come to socialize, share ideas and relax a little.”
Before becoming a coffee guru, Kafka had been involved in various aspects of the Jewish community. He was the executive director of Camp Solomon Schechter from 2004 to 2006 and served on the steering committee of the Eidan Youth Movement at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver. He also spent several months last year volunteering for American Jewish World Service, working with nonprofit organizations in India. Most recently, Kafka was the co-captain of the 2010 champion Team Pink in the JCCGV’s co-ed softball league. He proudly displays the trophy in his shop.
“It’s a dream come true,” he smirked while showing off the trophy. “There is only one place to go now ... and that’s the Greek Orthodox softball league.”
No word on whether that community is prepared to drink his coffee though.
More information on Kafka’s Coffee and Tea and its products can be found at kafkascoffee.ca.
Kyle Berger is a freelance writer living in Richmond.
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