Outside of new Kinship Coffee on Broadway (Meghan Sackman)
April 19, 2019 By Meghan Sackman
Kinship Coffee, a small batch, artisanal coffee shop run by an Astoria couple, opened its third Astoria location last week.
The new cafe, located at 30-10 Broadway, is just a few steps away from the Broadway N/W subway station.
The 450-square-foot locale focuses on highlighting the taste of carefully sourced, and individually tailored coffee for each customer, according to co-owner Ashley Wood-Rivera, who says they are now better able to do this with the new equipment they have brought into the Broadway space.
The two other cafes, located at 30-05 Steinway St. and 32-14 Steinway St., originally had a manual pour over system, meaning each cup of drip coffee was custom brewed. Due to the size and volume of clientele at the second space, this was no longer an efficient method of making coffee, so they had to stick with primarily large batch brewing techniques.
A Poursteady machine, which can custom make five single-origin pour-over coffees at a time, has been installed in the new location, allowing the creation of custom coffees while still preserving time for employees to remain personable and available for conversation.
The single origin coffees available for pour-over are sourced from places such as Ethiopia, Honduras, Kenya, and Colombia, where coffee is treated seasonally like fruit, so the origins available will change by seasonal availability.
According to co-owner Ashley Wood-Rivera, who owns the store with her husband, Stanley Rivera, these coffee machines are widely used in Europe but they are rarely used in New York.
(Photo: Meghan Sackman)
“It takes out that human error,” Wood-Rivera said. “We still have to taste test it and dial it into what tastes best but it’s going to be the same every time in a consistent way and still allow us to interact and engage with people.”
Currently, the roasters being utilized at the new spot include Tandum Coffee, from Portland Maine; Heart Coffee Roasters, from Portland Oregon; and Stumptown Coffee Roasters, which originally started on the west coast but also roast in Brooklyn.
These roasters cover coffee flavors from light to dark respectively. Kinship coffee is open to exploring different coffee tastes and plans to offer more than one brand.
The location also serves pastries and baked goods such as croissants from Amy’s Bread, and homemade goodies, baked on the premises of the second Steinway location, at 32-14 Steinway St, such as banana bread, muffins, scones, and other simple, homey, treats.
Although the location does serve specialty drinks such as an almond honey latte and an iced maple brew, Wood-Rivera says their best sellers tend to be their classic drip and cold brew coffees, along with their home made banana bread.
“What we really try to focus on is just highlighting the coffee itself, not so much adding anything to it because coffee can be that good on its own, so we’re so glad that our top two sellers really are our drip coffee and our cold brew,” she said.
Wood-Rivera and her husband Stanley, who moved to Astoria from Iowa in 2009, had knowledge of coffee and running a cafe from helping Stanley’s parents with their cafe.
Wood-Rivera said the couple likes Astoria best out of all the neighborhoods in other potential boroughs because it makes the big city feel smaller and more like a community.
“People are just a little more willing to talk, they want to have a conversation, it’s such a great community to hang out with. We love it. We love Astoria,” said Wood-Rivera, who’s businesses are all currently located in Astoria.
The cafe owner also said that if they were looking to open another location in the future it would be in the Astoria Ditmars area to be able to better reach the other side of town as well.
The new Kinship Coffee is open seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Kinship Coffee (Photo: Meghan Sackman)
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4 Comments
Kinship is my favorite cafe in Queens. I love that they took over the location that once housed the Cafe Benne chain. It’s great to see the independent owners win over the franchises. I’m sure this new location will be another success. That robotic barista thingy sounds wild.
Kinship Coffee took over the old Cafe Bene spot on Steinway
Posts on We heart Astoria and Astoriapost who trashed Cafe bene claiming it wasn’t local but a Korean co.
(how many more Starbucks in Astoria and no one complained?!
i feel that Cafe Bene offered so much more than just a coffee joint. UGH!
I’ve loved Kinship from the moment they opened their first location. Which…happened to be around the corner from my previous apartment. I’m so happy to hear about their expansions. The owners and staff are so super friendly, they deserve it in abundance!
Now….get your butts to Ditmars, please!!
I like banana bread!! Good Luck!