From beer to coffee brewing: Belleville-based coffee roaster to open new café at train depot
So remember when I reported back in May that Balance Coffee & Tea would not reopen?
This is still the case. However, the old train depot will still be home to a café and coffee roasting facility.
Belleville-based LongStory Coffee announced this month via Facebook that they will open a café and roastery at 732 S. Illinois St. in Belleville.
Balance closed in mid-March. The owner wanted to sell the Balance Coffee & Tea brand in hopes the café could be reopened.
In May, the Balance Facebook page said that would not happen, and the café permanently closed.
Word of LongStory setting up shop in the old train depot was kept pretty quiet (not always an easy thing to do here in Belleville).
Once word got out, LongStory Coffee owner and head roaster Erik Busch said that public response to the July 18 Facebook announcement was huge, bringing excited responses from existing followers of LongStory Coffee, as well as those from Balance.
Plans for the shop
In the weeks leading up to the announcement, Busch worked inside the building, clearing the entire space to start with a clean slate.
New construction will include a partial wall on the west end of the building, hiding the existing restroom areas (because no one really wants to see those while sipping their morning joe or nibbling on tasty vittles).
In keeping with the latest design for LongStory’s coffee packaging, a book-themed mural will adorn the new wall.
Work is also being done on what was Balance’s former roasting room. This space was stripped down to the studs and will be rebuilt as a kitchen.
Busch is currently looking for a business — such as a new start-up or home-based kitchen or food truck looking to expand — interested in renting the kitchen space and providing hot breakfast and lunch food items for the café. The kitchen will have a walk-up order window, and the tenant will be able to make their own hours of operation.
Whoever leases the kitchen area will be able to “offer better food than we could ever offer,” said Busch.
Anyone interested in leasing the kitchen space at the new café can send an email to longstorycoffee@yahoo.com.
LongStory’s own serving counter will be placed at the front of the building, just inside the main entrance. Bar seating will run along the counter.
Busch said that in old photos of the train depot, the ticket counter was in this space, so it makes sense to him to have their serving counter in the same place.
In addition to coffees and other beverages, cold food items – pastries, grab-and-go items – will be available.
The main seating area will be loungy (yes, this is a real word), living room-themed and take up a good amount of the building’s floor space.
All of the building’s existing doors will be functional, as will the small windows above them, according to Busch, allowing for an open, airy atmosphere during nicer weather.
The new roasting room is in the east of the building, which was previously closed to the public. A new roaster delivered to the site in mid-July looks a bit like a train, very fitting for the 1920s building.
Outside, the small driving path along the front of the building will be an entry-only lane that will lead to a lined parking area at the east end of the building. Handicapped parking and numbered curbside pickup spaces will be available in front. The back of the building will have additional angled parking.
Busch plans to expand the outdoor seating area at the front of the building. A partition between the tables and entry lane will be included.
One of the doors in front of the building will connect to the inside counter area. Busch said he would like to see that as a way for staff to access outdoor customers.
He would also like to have a walk-up window in that area for placing orders too.
From craft beer to coffee
Busch previously studied brewing and fermentation technology, interned at 4 Hands Brewing Co. and recently ended a five-year gig working for Schlafly Beer.
He even planned to open his own brewery, once upon a time, but those plans never came to fruition.
In 2019, Busch said he received a small, tabletop coffee roaster for Christmas from his fiancée’s father.
Busch said he loved it and “just became obsessed with it.”
It wasn’t long before what started as a hobby started to grow. Plans he once had to open a brewery evolved into the start of a productive coffee roasting business.
LongStory Coffee became an official business in February 2020, when Busch attended the Schlafly Winter Market as a first-time vendor to sell his coffee.
Things “went very well,” said Busch.
LongStory Coffee continued to sell at area markets, through its website and in local shops like Belleville’s Down the Hall Homebrew and Vincent’s Market in Soulard.
In May 2021, Busch secured a vendor space at O’Fallon’s Vine Street Market and was able to really grow the business and build a stronger customer base.
A quality coffee experience
LongStory will serve pour-over coffees, espresso drinks, and even drip coffee.
Busch plans to include multiple taps for their nitro coffee, a style that is increasingly popular among coffee drinkers. (Think coffee with a thicker, creamier texture and a dense, foamy head, like a Guinness.)
He uses what he’s learned about brewing beer and incorporates it into his coffee roasting and brewing.
Some of LongStory’s coffee is aged in used beer and whiskey barrels.
One recent blend was LongStory’s Yamaraja, a medium roast coffee aged in a Buffalo Trace barrel. (Unfortunately, this one’s sold out. And no, I didn’t get any either, but there will be others.)
Busch is building relationships with area liquor stores to obtain empty barrels to age his coffees.
Currently sitting in the new roasting room are two bourbon barrels, one from a batch of Old Elk, donated by Randall’s Wine & Spirits, and another from New Riff, donated by Clayton Winehouse.
Some of these barrel-aged coffees are packaged and sold directly to LongStory’s customers, but the bulk of it will be returned to and sold by the stores that donated the barrels.
Busch said there’s interest from Stumpy’s Spirits Distillery and Switchgrass Spirits for a similar collaboration. He also said that somewhere down the road he hopes to work with Schlafly too.
Working with Teatopia in St. Louis is also “getting my tea game up,” said Busch, who would love to do a nitro tea.
Busch takes coffee roasting classes, saying that there are always new ways to roast and ferment coffee beans.
He plans to continue his education to stay on top of his game and make the best quality coffees possible.
He would also love to offer roasting classes and cupping, or tasting events.
Busch said he wants to give people more than just a caffeine fix. He wants to provide an experience.
About LongStory Coffee
LongStory Coffee’s café and roastery is located at 732 S. Illinois St. in Belleville.
Busch expects to open in late summer/early fall. Until then, LongStory Coffee can be purchased at O’Fallon’s Vine Street Market 8 a.m. to noon on Saturdays or online at longstorycoffee.com.
For updates and info, visit facebook.com/LongStoryCoffee.
This story was originally published July 29, 2022 at 11:09 AM.
