Consider a squirrel. They are hearty creatures belonging to the taxonomic family Sciuridae. They vary in size and stature among nearly 300 species and related genera. From the famed flying squirrel (Rocky was a member) to the Pacific Northwest whistling alpine marmot (a genus of marmots and the largest member of the squirrel family) to the smallest pip squirrel, of which the squirrel comes in many wonderful forms. There is also the gray squirrel, a species of squirrel uniquely adapted to successfully inhabit and grow. This is the scene you will find Gray Squirrel Coffee in Carrboro, North Carolina, where this squirrel – in the form of a café – is celebrating its recent expansion into a brand novel space downtown. With much more space to spread out, Gray Squirrel will be able to expand its offering to include more seating, baking and a lounge area where you can enjoy delicious coffee. Let’s find out more.
For those who don’t know, can you tell us about your company?
Gray Squirrel Coffee Co. is a tiny specialty coffee roastery, espresso bar and bakery in Carrboro, North Carolina. We like to keep it straightforward: roasting in tiny batches with care to bring out the best in the coffee, creating unique drinks and homemade baked goods in our café, taking care of our team and focusing on developing great relationships with our customers and community partners.
Can you tell us something about the novel space?
We are expanding our café and roastery into a space adjacent to our current store in downtown Carrboro, North Carolina, adding 1,600 square feet with approximately 30 additional customer seats, a larger roastery and an additional bar. The idea was simply to expand on what we have become and share what we do behind the scenes in a fun and accessible atmosphere. To this end, the novel space offers an open view of the roasting room (with two larger roasting rooms to augment our capacity), as well as additional lounge-like seating for customers and a snail-paced bar area where we happily showcase unique brewing methods and host cuppings and conversations in an intimate setting. We have also extended our opening hours in hopes of becoming a popular lounge where people can go before dinner or a show at another local venue.
What is your approach to coffee?
We try to present people with the most compelling and delicious coffees in the world, sharing our knowledge in an accessible way so that our customers feel the same passion for coffee as we do. By working with our supply chain partners, we are able to source the highest quality green coffee beans while providing farmers with fair prices and long-term business relationships. We attach great importance to cupping and roasting in tiny batches, thanks to which we are able to give each green coffee an individual roasting profile that will extract the best flavor and aroma from the beans. We believe that cafés are necessary to providing a secure place to have significant conversations, so we’re excited to offer more space for our wonderful community.
Any machines, coffees, special equipment in the queue?
We are adding two renovated ones It proves it roasting rooms (L12 and L5), along with a destoner and novel packaging equipment that will lend a hand improve production. We’re also refreshing our packaging design with novel coffee bags and labels.
How does your design incorporate sustainability?
Having more space will enable us to consolidate shipments for fewer deliveries and a greener impact. We will continue to compost kitchen and bar scraps and donate the chaff to local farms.
What is your expected target opening date/month?
We expect to open by June 2026.
Do you work with any craftsmen, architects and/or makers you would like to mention?
We took the lead on this project ourselves, with the goal of designing a space that would complement our existing café while also providing a more laid-back feel. We are grateful to all the local craftsmen, experts and friends who helped make this expansion possible.
Thank you!
Thank you!
