Want a cup of joe from Mexico? Colombia? Sacramento’s newest coffee shop has you covered
A new coffee shop just opened in Sacramento with a mission it hopes will set it apart from competitors.
Terra Forte Coffee opened a brick-and-mortar at 1125 Second St. on Saturday at the Old Sacramento Waterfront with coffee from around the world.
Customers choose a cup of joe from a list of countries — Colombia, Guatemala and Mexico — and will be educated on its beans.
“It’s hard work for the people in their country to give us a cup of coffee ... I get chills,” co-owner Miriam Ponce told The Sacramento Bee on Friday at her coffee shop. She owns the business with her fiance, Francisco Quintero.
After a successful run selling coffee beans for a year and a half, the couple from Mexico started conceptualizing a coffee shop of their own.
The duo toured the space in Old Sacramento in December, which was once home to a Subway, and signed the contract. Three months later, they were open for business.
The roughly 2,500-square-foot space was calm on early Friday morning before customers began trickling in.
“Don’t Stop Believin’’” by rock band Journey played from the speakers as the smell of coffee wafted throughout the shop.
Quintero, who has been living in Sacramento for 22 years, said the Old Sacramento Waterfront is a great location because of its historic significance to the city. Being on the corner of the block is a plus, he said.
“We would like to be remembered,” Quintero said, adding that he specifically wants to impress tourists who visit the region.
Sacramento coffee shop owner: ‘The smell makes me wake up’
Ponce has loved coffee for as long as she can remember, stealing cups from her mother and grandmother when they weren’t looking. For her, this business venture is special for more reasons than one.
“I was waiting for them to leave from the kitchen to go and steal a little coffee ... the smell makes me wake up and remember my grandma and my mom making food together, said Ponce, who has lived in Sacramento for 24 years.
Ponce and Quintero, who met five years ago over a cup of coffee at Starbucks, know a good brew solely based on its color and taste.
“The taste is very important,” Ponce said, adding that coffee that sits out for a while tastes burnt.
What’s on the menu at Terra Forte Coffee?
The menu at Terra Forte is coffee-heavy; options include both hot and cold drinks and a couple of iced tea flavors. A specialty menu is also in the works.
Prices range from $1.85 for a medium regular iced tea to $5.75 for a large hot mocha or iced frappe.
Also available are lattes, cappuccinos and macchiatos.
Quintero said that customers will soon be able to order food along with their drinks.
Various sandwiches will be available for purchase in roughly two weeks including ham and turkey, and avocado and tomato. Paninis and croissant sandwiches will also be on the menu.
Sandwich prices will range from $10.99 to $12.99.
When is new cafe open?
Terra Forte Coffee is open Monday through Wednesday, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; and Thursday through Saturday, from 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.
The coffee shop is closed on Sundays.
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