It’s easy to get lost in the sizes, customizations, and foreign names on the menu of your favorite java joint, but a new Great Falls coffee shop is taking the guesswork out of ordering coffee.
Broadwater Coffee owner Heather Kunz wasn't always a coffee connoisseur.
“I would go into the big chain stores and I would look at the menu and go, 'I know what a caramel latte is, so I'm gonna order that.’ And I would literally get anxiety because I didn't know what else to get,” Kunz said.
And she didn't want anyone else to feel that way.
“I didn't want anybody to be intimidated by the process or the menu or the terms that are foreign. I wanted anybody to be able to walk in the door, in Great Falls, Montana and not have to have a dictionary to know what to order,” Kunz said.
Now that she has a coffee shop of her own, she keeps an eye out for confused customers by watching for blank stares and long pauses.
“Have you been here before and can we coach you?” Kunz asks.
From there, Kunz and her baristas break it down step-by-step.
Barista Hayley Nelson determines the taste the customer is craving before suggesting a beverage she thinks they’ll like.
“Do you like the coffee taste or do you not want to taste the coffee? And that usually can dictate whether we're gonna get them a cold brew or a drip or something like one of our white glaciers or our carmel clouds,” Nelson said.
At Broadwater Coffee, the goal is to make sure every customer leaves with a little bit of joy to go with their cup of joe.
“They don't have to know the terminology, just that they can always walk in the door and say, ‘Just make me something amazing,’ and we can send them out the door happy."
Kunz hopes Broadwater will have its grand opening sometime in September.
Until then, you can have the Broadwater baristas whip up a drink without all the confusion at Broadwater Brewing Company, Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. and on Saturdays from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m.
They are located at 721 6th Street SW (the building that formerly housed Ryan's Station restaurant).
