So you LOVE coffee, and you believe you know everything you need to open a coffee shop. Keep reading, and I will show you some of the must-have coffee business magazines. These magazines are full of useful information to help make the best of your up and coming coffee shop.
There are several must-have coffee shop business magazines. These include Roast, Fresh Cup, Caffeine, Barista, BeanScene, Standart, and Sprudge.
The internet can offer so much information. The one thing the internet cannot do is, sit on a coffee table, in a booth, or next to the cash register. Offering your customers a place to relax, enjoy their coffee and something to read.
Coffee Shop Business Magazine Must-Haves
“ROAST Magazine” https://www.roastmagazine.com/
A bi-monthly technical trade magazine dedicated to the success and growth of the specialty coffee industry. Roast addresses the art, science, and business of coffee by covering the issues most important to the industry, with high-quality editorial focused on the technical aspects of coffee. https://www.roastmagazine.com/
A preview of this magazine was very informative. It covered so many topics from different types of coffee, such as Fair Trade and Single Origin Coffee, as well as the coffee crisis and techniques in coffee processing.
Roast is a must-have, and at $35.00 for a year subscription, it is well worth your investment and time.
“FRESH CUP Magazine” https://www.freshcup.com/
“Fresh Cup Magazine” offers a section for new and upcoming ideas. One of the topics this month was researching the effects of CBD added to drinks. An interesting concept on its own, Fresh Cup’s article was very informative and written for the general public. Many times you see articles regarding researching anything, and the dialect and statistics are geared towards highly educated people making if difficult to understand, not Fresh Cup writers, they are artful in their words and descriptions while providing information for everyone.
A part of this magazine I found unique was their developed concept of helping new coffee shop business owners. They have a training course, Workshops, and Consultants to help the coffee entrepreneur make his dream a reality.
A deal at $48.00 for a year subscription, this magazine is delivered in six issues.
“CAFFEINE Magazine”
An award-winning European Magazine on the coffee business this magazine was a pleasure to read. I could almost smell the coffee. Articles in this magazine are rich with information on topics like coffee beans, European Coffee Roasters, developing your own brews, and more.
Another must-have, this magazine will cost you $59.73 or 55euro’s delivered six times a year.
“BeanScene Magazine”
This magazine has so much to offer; some of the sections include: How To, Features, Coffee News, and Products.
The How To Section includes articles like “How to correctly tamper for the consistent espresso extraction” and “How do we taste coffee?”
With information like this, not only can you become an artful, consistent, and professional specialty drink crafter for coffee products, you can train employees in the same techniques for consistency.
The Features section includes a celebrity section and an Origins section. The Origins section provides information on the different origins of coffee beans.
In the Coffee News section, you will find information on anything that has an impact on coffee. From flooding to ruined crops and other events that affect coffee.
You can pick up this subscription for $85.00 a year, delivered six times a year.
“BARRISTA Magazine”
Barista is a leading trade magazine for coffee communities around the world. https://www.cartacoffee.com/blogs/island-blog/top-coffee-magazines.
A compelling read, this magazine offers articles written by coffee shop consultants, authors with different backgrounds from coffee to management, and a feature article in every issue. The writers are exceptional, and their pieces are informative, creative, and professional.
It is delivered six times a year for a $30.00 subscription.
Digital Must-Haves
“STANDART Magazine”
A magazine that is NOT your traditional coffee magazine, it offers many different types of articles on coffee as well as other topics. These topics range from music to industry and technology.
Each of these articles seems to highlight coffee in some way, either in your face or subtly.
Subscription pricing and offers are unique. You can get one issue for $20.00 plus shipping, four issues, four sample bags of coffee and free shipping for $80.00 or four issues plus four bags of coffee, free shipping, and one previous issue for $99.00.
Offering sample bags of coffee with your subscription, I found it to be a unique feature in a magazine subscription.
Many coffee magazines you will find in digital copies. Others you will find in digital copies only. Not hands-on for your customers, but a wealth of information for an up and coming coffee shop owner. I wanted to add two online versions of coffee magazines and a brief synopsis on them.
“IMBIBE”
This magazine is not a traditional coffee magazine. It features coffee in many different ways from, adding liqueur to coffee recipes to the technology of crafting the custom equipment used in making your favorite coffee or cold brew beverage.
Imbibe is an excellent magazine that is full of information on various ways to use coffee in hot and cold drinks—Offering recipes on drinks and pastry.
An easy read. The layout and information are eye-appealing and relative to the information provided.
“SPRUDGE”
An online magazine about coffee. With a multitude of articles written on types, origins, and how to’s. This magazine highlights bars in different areas of the country: offering tourists and locals insight on where to get the best cup of Joe.
I enjoyed the information provided, and I do love my coffee. However, there were too many ads on other unrelated topics for my liking. If I owned a coffee shop, I would have this in my arsenal for my personal growth, doing what I can to get my business listed as a goal.
“COFFEE TALK”
I liked this online magazine a lot. It offered so much information on coffee, coffee vendors, and the newest technology.
With so many issues, due to the online version, it was easy to find issues from current to 2019 on the first page.
Even though I have been stressing the importance and value of physical magazines, I do believe that this online magazine is an excellent resource for your business.
The Why and What for of physical magazines
It’s the digital age, and we are surrounded by everything digital. Wouldn’t it be nice to go back in time and be able to relax, read about your favorite topic, “Coffee” and not have to squint from the glare on the screen?
Think about how it makes you feel when you walk into a coffee shop. That first whiff of coffee that takes over your senses, the peaceful atmosphere, the comfortable corner nooks, and the pastries. What’s missing?
A magazine, the way the glossy paper feels as you flip through, the information it provides from knowledge on Coffee to quirky clips and recipes. Now your coffee shop experience is complete.
Having subscriptions to must-have magazines, laying on the table in the comfortable nook will offer your customers just that.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. A subscription to your typical coffee shop magazine will not be able to provide you with all the information you will need to open a coffee shop.
What these magazines can do is keep you informed on the different types of coffee, the newest drinks made from coffee and offer you ideas while reading on the things you may want to implement for your coffee shop.
To properly open a coffee shop business, you will need ideas, such as those that come from these magazines, as well as professional and legal advice, documents, and help.
There is no definite answer to questions like these. Simply a coffee shop CAN be VERY profitable. All of this will depend on your location, what you offer, pricing, which makes YOU UNIQUE from all the other coffee shops, and more.
Many different things can help your business stand out from all the others. To learn about mistakes to avoid click here!
Advertising is the most significant source for any business, make sure that when you advertise it stands out, you are placing flyers of your grand opening in all the local establishments and billboards that will let you.
Try open mic days/nights. A feature like this, gives local musicians, poets, up and coming book writers, and even magicians a place to entertain. They will offer customers a place to enjoy live music, original compositions of poetry and books possible spine-tingling performances of many different kinds. By doing this, you reach an even more significant customer base. The performers will be bringing in their family and friends, making word of mouth spread even farther.
To learn more on how to start your own coffee shop checkout my startup documents here
Please note: This blog post is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Please consult a legal expert to address your specific needs.
Hi! I’m Shawn Chun
My adventure in coffee began when I first launched my first coffee shop back in the early 2000s. I had to figure out so many things on my own and to make it worse within 2 years of opening two large corporate coffee chains moved in just blocks away from me!
As I saw smaller and even some larger coffee shops in the neighborhood slowly lose customers to these giant coffee chains and slowly close up shop, I knew that I had to start getting creative…or go out of business.
I (like you may be) knew the coffee industry well. I could make the best latte art around and the foam on my caps was the fluffiest you have ever seen. I even had the best state-of-the-art 2 group digital Nuova Simonelli machine money could buy. But I knew that these things alone would not be enough to lure customers away from the name brand established coffee shops.
Eventually, through lots of trial and error as well as perseverance and creativity I did find a way to not only survive but also thrive in the coffee/espresso industry even while those corporate coffee chains stayed put. During those years I learned to adapt and always faced new challenges. It was not always easy, however, in the end, I was the sole survivor independent coffee shop within a 10-mile radius of my location. Just two corporate coffee chains and I were left after that year. All told the corporate coffee chains took down over 15 small independent coffee shops and kiosks and I was the last one standing and thriving.
Along the years I meet others with the same passion for coffee and I quickly learned that it is not only “how good a barista is” that makes a coffee shop successful, but the business side of coffee as well.
Hence why I started this website you are on now. To provide the tools and resources for up and coming coffee shop owners to gain that vital insight and knowledge on how to start a coffee shop successfully.
Stick around, browse through my helpful blog and resources and enjoy your stay! With lots of LATTE LOVE!
Shawn
