RAILWAY COFFEE

Railway is a fully immersive experience into the complexities of coffee. With three locations open in Ruston, Railway Coffee is bringing out the best in people and coffee.

ARTICLE BY VANELIS RIVERA
PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANDREW BAILEY

Five years ago, “native Rustonian” Michael Davis drank bad coffee at work. Not inclined to empty the sugar box into his cup to make it taste better, he Googled the search threads “good coffee” and “better coffee.” What he found was a world of specialty coffee that would lead to opening three locations of Ruston’s optimum brew house—Railway Coffee.

Davis has seen Ruston go from a small family, college town to a bustling hive. In those early years, most college students went home on the weekend. “They weren’t commiting to the community idea yet,” he says. He remembers driving through what looked like a ghost town wondering what it would be like if the downtown had attractions that would encourage people to stay and engage. “I knew from growing up that it would be cool to be a part of it. I didn’t know how it would look like. I didn’t have coffee in my mind at that point, certainly not owning a business at that point,” he says, enthusiastically adding, “We have such cool bones here.” Ruston pride runs deep in Davis. A Ruston High School alum, he played baseball with the intentions of going pro. He also played at Centenary College in Shreveport as a health and exercise science major and then at transferred to Louisiana Tech as a sociology major. He met his wife, Jana Davis, at Tech and married as a postgrad, quickly taking a job at his father’s construction company (where he had his coffee epiphany). In his Google search he learned that there are homeroasters who buy directly from small farmers all over the world. Though they pay a little bit more than the commodity price, they’re assisting the development of small farms and the local communities of that area. Davis began buying from a co-op in Nicaragua called Gold Mountain Coffee Growers (a relationship he still maintains) who use their premiums to build schools, clean water wells, and offer computer programming classes for the girls of the community. The idea that he could have better coffee at home if he roasted the beans himself was his personal rabbit hole.

Davis began roasting as a hobby around November 2014, transforming his relationship with coffee. “I look forward to the process of brewing,” he says, appreciating the array of smells and flavors. From that place of respect, he had the idea to expand his brewing to the community with the hopes of impacting the communities of the small farmers he bought from as well as his own. Suddenly he’s buying green beans from countries like Colombia, Guatemala, and Brazil, quickly turning his small-scale home roasting around. Tastings for family and friends became e-commerce, then farmers markets, and finally, a location.

The first Railway Coffee location opened on October 13th 2016 in downtown Ruston. They stayed there for two years before moving the coffee shop a block away, keeping the original location with the intention of opening a wholesale roasting facility. Not only would that allow them to roast, grind, and bag at a larger scale, they also want to use the space to bring the community in for home brewing workshops. A year ago, the couple’s current partners came on board—Brooks and Nicole Harris. Thanks to their investment and hands-on involvement, the team opened up the current location of their downtown café directly parallel to the railroad tracks. Around the same time, the team signed a lease for the northside location and opened both locations within four days of each other. Each location has its own personality. The northsider is a smaller space with a modern minimalistic layout, whereas the downtown location, more spacious, vindicates the old bones of the storied building. “The look just evolved,” says Davis, referring to the mod-boho look of their downtown location. The team has taken advantage of the extensive space, creating a variety of areas suitable for different customer needs. Lounge areas are marked by natural rattan wingback chairs accented with patterned throw pillows and are located at old display windows and the side-center of the room where a velvet steel-blue couch invites chatty friends. Small wooden tables seat four, two tall dinner-style tables cozy-up a back corner, and three mounted wood work-desks (local handy-work of Legacy Woodworking) seat two. An exposed wood ceiling compliments the industrial look of the main walls—one peeled to its patchy first layer then sealed, and the other layered with galvanized metal. Hanging Edison string lights complete the chic subterranean feel of a relaxed space, saturated with the invigorating smell of coffee.

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What distinguishes Railway Coffee is their crafty know-how of specialty coffee, which is typically free of any major defects that occur because of bugs, harvesting, and/or processing. In other words, it’s a purer coffee. These special batches of beans are graded on a scale of sixty to one hundred through a process called cupping where coffee is grinded int0 a cupping bowl and smelled for identifying aromatics. Water is then added, the mixture is steeped for four minutes, and when a crust forms, it is broken, revealing a new aroma. Aromatics are again explored, the Q graders (that’s what the experts are called) further identifying aromatic descriptors—sweet, harsh, bitter—then they slurp the coffee, “which is the nerdiest thing,” laughs Davis. When slurping, an expert’s teeth are meant to water-hose the coffee so that it is aerated into all parts of the mouth, where a seasoned palate would pick up sweet up front, sour on the sides, and bitter in the back. Q graders analyze whether flavor notes are balanced or if one flavor is overpowering another. They’re also looking for specific descriptors, like hints of blueberry, dark chocolate, toffee, or floral. “People get so stuck on the coffee terminology of medium roast or dark roast, or bold,” says Davis, adding, “It’s not wrong. It’s just incomplete.” Every coffee has distinct flavor characteristics based on where it’s grown, country of origin, altitude, variety of coffee, and how it is processed. Davis considers his job as a roaster is to understand all of those variables in order to roast in a way that brings out the best in that coffee. Anything less he considers an injustice to the farmers who base their livelihood on producing a crop that costs more to produce.

Railway has direct trade relationships with co-op farms in Nicaragua, Guatemala, and the African countries of Burundi and Uganda. Davis also buys from importing companies that sell beans from countries like Costa Rica, Brazil, Colombia, and Indonesia. “We try to always keep some of the Nicaraguan because it’s really good,” enthuses Michael. While usually associated with a medium roast profile, Railway’s Nicaraguan has flavor notes of cherry and sometimes chocolate. The Colombian is usually used for espressos, while other beans are rotated based on their growing season. For obvious reasons, coffee is a staple that has been regarded solely for its ability to wake us up. “Caffeine—it’s a means to an end,” Davis jokes. But he likes to talk about coffee as if it were a fine wine. “When we start to tell people about fruity notes in coffee, some of them are like I don’t want that mess, just give me the darkest thing you have.” Of course, Railway is happy to oblige, but “you’re missing out on some really good coffee,” says Davis. Immediately, he brings up the birthplace of coffee, Ethiopia, whose beans are known for their distinctive blueberry notes. “We’ve had some that have tasted like blueberry pie,” Davis eagerly informs, noting that some people may not appreciate that. But, he prompts people not to shy away from different flavor profiles. Davis understands that a coffee menu can be overwhelming because the item listings are often traditionally Italian or Spanish drinks: cappuccino, macchiato, cortado. But Davis encourages you to have a conversation with your Railway barista, who is prepared to supply recommendations based on your level of comfort or curiousity.
As a general rule, Davis does not encourage sugary, chocolatey drinks, because they mask the flavor of the coffee. A coffee novice should try a Railway latte with oat milk, one of their in-house sugar free syrups (vanilla, almond, lavender, and other seasonal flavors), and a sprinkle of cinnamon. An intermediate drinker is encouraged to try any Railway brew but just black. It’s a bolder way to drink your coffee but not as risky as the concentrated espresso. Expert drinkers should test their fiend-level with a Railway manual pour-over, which invites all of the coffee into the “extraction party” and also keeps sediment at bay, resulting in a cleaner pour. “It’s like the pulp free version of coffee,” Davis says. In addition, tag-team your pour-over with the coffee purist’s dream: the espresso. Treat yourself further with one of Railway’s tasty baked goods. Their baker, Emily Allen dishes out warm flaky croissants, savory bacon and cheddar scones, artisan breads, and a few paleo and health conscious option. “We can’t keep her stuff in stock,” says Davis.

Railway is a fully immersive experience into the complexities of coffee. And while it all begins with a green coffee bean, the roasting process is where science and art meet. “It’s a lot of using data to make a plan, but we have to check how our plan worked and retool it if we have to, but then there is no right way to do it,” informs Davis. Dedicated to maintaining the integrity of the bean, he researches new beans with the help of knowledgeable importers. He then compares the chemistry of a bean to his built database, which provides him an idea of where to begin the roasting process. Even then, there’s a lot of trial and error. Michael has ended up roasting three batches three different ways, cupped them, and then scored them in an effort to find the best one. When teaching roasters, Davis’ discourse becomes precise, referring to development time, a certain time during the roast process between “first crack” to the end of the roast. That time slot can be shortened, stretched out, or altered, and is often described in a percent of development time. “That’s just a really coffee nerd way to say it,” he laughs.

Now that he thinks of it, he has, in fact, used his sociology degree in his business. Watching human behavior is not only key in understanding consumer behavior, it also widens our social lens. Railway wants to enhance people’s lifestyle, whether it’s the people that work for them or those seeking a caffeinated sanctuary. For Davis, connecting with coffee is a holistic experience: “It makes me think about so many different people. I think about the farmers, I think about us roasting it, I think about the people that come here and enjoy it as well. To me, it’s a spiritual experience in the way that I’m connecting with so many people.” There is unity in sharing, and when it comes to Railway’s coffee, there’s an interconnected web that spans the globe, one that reminds us to be more socially aware, kinder, and giving—but first, coffee!

Visit both locations at 130 W. Park Ave. Ruston, LA and 103 Pelican Blvd. Ruston, LA. Follow them on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to be the first to know when their wholesale will open.