Windfarm Coffee Bar is a new stop in Southside that is carving a niche for the arts while selling coffee to raise funds for economically downtrodden societies.
“Coffee can be a means of economic development in very poor countries of the world,” said Chris Sorensen, priest for The Mission Chattanooga, which owns and meets in the Camp House Building where Windfarm Coffee Bar resides. “It’s almost like a missions project just selling the coffee. We’re spending more money on our coffee, so the farmers can make more.”
Windfarm Coffee Bar opened in May and now serves two brands of coffee – Land of a Thousand Hills, produced in Rwanda, and Counter Culture Coffee, which uses coffee beans from several countries. The single-origin coffees the shop offers are extremely fresh, delivered and served only a few days after roasting , Sorensen said.
Windfarm Coffee Bar manager Aaron Rauch, craft leader Michelle Newton and The Mission Chattanooga priest Chris Sorensen, from left, welcome guests to the coffee shop that supports local artists and countries in need.“We are buying coffee specifically for developing those impoverished communities,” he said. “What we’re trying to do is pay as much as we can, but still keeping our price competitive.”
Windfarm Coffee Bar also offers a breakfast and lunch menu. The space, which can hold up to 275 people, is also focused toward supporting local artists.
“We have coffee and we have art,” Sorensen said. “We feel like there was a time in history when the church was the greatest patron of the arts. We are a church that wants to help foster and support those things. We believe the greatest patron of the arts is God.”
The walls of Windfarm are decorated with local artwork, with new works rotating into the coffee bar often. There is also a space in the building where artists can work undisturbed if they wish to create outside their homes or studios. There is free Wi-Fi and an upstairs loft called The Quiet Room, where talking is discouraged so guests can write, draw, read or even just relax without being disturbed.
Along with visual arts, Windfarm supports music as well, featuring a stage set up for performances and live recording.
“People can come in and record an album in front of an audience,” Sorensen said.
Open mic night is hosted every Thursday from 8 to 11 p.m., featuring local bands that perform three original songs each. The bands can then pay $5 for a recorded album of their performance. Sorensen said there is also a special music night hosted once a month, with the next performance scheduled for Sept. 24 at 7 p.m.
“We really do want to serve this community, but to serve them we have to know them,” Sorensen said. “The coffee bar gives us a chance to get to know them. It’s a place to just relax and create community.”