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Agatha Petkau
“One moment, miss,” a young woman who looked to be in her mid-twenties assured me as she tended to the other customers who were ahead of me. I recognized the woman’s friendly voice as the one I’d heard over the quick phone call an hour earlier.
Wait. Did that mean she was the only person serving customers?
From the number of people clustering around the coffee shop, I could only imagine the load of stress, exhaustion, and pressure she must carry if she ran the place all by herself.
Impressive.
As I stood off to the side, I took in the small, aesthetic room that looked like it came off Pinterest, creative decorations brightening the atmosphere and capturing my admiration.
I’d heard about KOFFEE STAINZ from my sister, who’d discovered the shop on Instagram. With the pandemic, most cafés only served takeaway drinks, dampening my enthusiasm for leaving the house. But then I heard KOFFEE STAINZ offered a place for customers to hang out.
What? Way to spike my interest!
My intense curiosity drove me to KOFFEE STAINZ. The small coffee shop hides in an adjoining room to a larger concrete building known as the B Fit Gym. Customers driving into Orange Walk Town can spot the building from the highway. To get to KOFFEE STAINZ, they only need to turn onto Palm Wood Drive, take the first right, and drive into a large parking lot fringed with tall, waving trees.
The words “KOFFEE STAINZ” are painted in large black letters onto the fascia of the building. Round terraced steps lead into the entrance of the concrete establishment with large potted plants sitting on both ends of the top step. Glass doors with wooden frames stand open, welcoming in both the afternoon breeze and thirsty customers. The brief ascent is pleasantly rewarded with the sight of a plethora of alluring young, green, lively plants everywhere. Before entering the room where orders are taken, exuberant Monsteras, Dumbcanes, Arrowroots, Ming Aralias (otherwise known as houseplants, if you’re unfamiliar with plant terminology) sway in the gentle breeze, filling the air with an aura of youthfulness and tranquility.
Just outside the entrance sits a low, wooden coffee-table with iron stools, inviting a couple seeking a spot to sip on an iced latte and gaze into each other’s eyes, or a half-crazed “I NEED COFFEE TO MAKE IT THROUGH THIS SEMESTER” college student, such as myself, to sit with another textbook (and… well… coffee). The giant Monstera leaves hovering behind the table only add to the Pinterest-like setting.
My fingers itched to capture the dancing herbage with my camera.
Opposite the entrance sits a 12-foot-long curved wooden bench, also fringed by varying species of green. Green… so much green! The mere sight of these lively organisms is sure to put your bogged mind at ease. The bench can accommodate a group of boisterous friends or a handful of strangers (at a social distance). On one occasion, it became an observation spot for me, while I kept an eye on my toddling nephew who found KOFFEE STAINZ just as likable as I did. What can I say? The smell of coffee intermingled with the sight and smell of healthy plants is invigorating!
But wait! We haven’t even entered the shop yet.
In case you missed the memo, KOFFEE STAINZ is half coffee, half plant. If you’re not a die-hard coffee lover, don’t you fret! KOFFEE STAINZ serves teas and non-coffee drinks, including an assortment of teas, frappes (with and without coffee), milkshakes and more. In other words, something for everybody!
From where I stood, I spotted a variety of small potted plants decorating the counters and complementing the black paint of the walls. Large windows let in the outside breeze, giving the room an airy, light feeling.
Today I was feeling particularly adventurous, so I ordered a Vanilla Bean frappe partly out of wanting to try something different and partly out of my curiosity to find out whether or not the drink beat Starbucks’ version of it. After getting my order in, I plopped down on one of the stools and opened to where I had left off in Kathy Esquivel’s Benjy.
The inside room was fairly empty, and Diani (the shop owner) had given my little sister and me the OKAY to linger inside as she prepared our drinks. Diani is an ambitious young Belizean woman who renovated the once-empty room in the B Fit Gym almost completely on her own! Being the independent female that she is, her coffee shop is run single-handedly. This means she answers calls, takes orders, prepares those orders, manages the shop’s online presence, and most importantly, leaves customers feeling warmly welcomed—all by herself! Her response to my shocked question of “How do you manage that?” was a small shrug of the shoulder and simple explanation: “I like the pressure.”
Okay!
Considering that the vanilla bean frappe blew me away, I was only a little surprised to discover that Diani was a former barista at a Starbucks branch in Kentucky, USA. She also took a barista course in Florida. Of course, of course! It totally made sense. It was no wonder her drinks tasted ah-mazing.
To an avid coffee-lover, the quality of the coffee, the procedures in making coffee, are polemically important. Seriously though, people debate about these things! Where do the beans come from? What kind of roast do they have? How smoothly does the coffee roll off your tongue? Fruity coffee? Earthy coffee? Chocolatey coffee? Colombian coffee? Costa Rican? I mean, people write articles about coffee, and coffee shops, and… the art of making coffee… and the tragedies of making coffee from… instant coffee. People debate about whether or not it should be legal to add milk and sugar to your coffee. There are tons and tons of opinions, and feelings, attached to this very important subject that goes on and on and on. Regardless, all coffee fanatics would agree that freshly ground coffee from (obviously) coffee beans makes for a solid cup of coffee.
Okay, let’s not enter the realm of why roasting your own coffee beans is even better. I’ll just say that if you’re grinding fresh beans, you’re off to a fantastic start! This is exactly what Diani does using imported beans from Koffee Kult, a company known for sourcing the “highest quality 100% Arabica coffee beans from all over the world”. Rest assured you’re being served quality products with quality service.
Diani’s vision for KOFFEE STAINZ is to create a positive space where young people can socialize without involving alcohol. Perhaps her degree in psychology assisted her in creating such a space. Not only do her superb drinks draw thirsty customers to the door but the variations of aesthetic plants beg visitors to linger, refuging within the quietude supplied by the satisfying aroma of earth and coffee. Whether you need a place to converse with your friends, bury your head in a book, or tap away on your laptop, KOFFEE STAINZ accommodates all three… and so much more than you expected!
To contact KOFFEE STAINZ or view their products, call +501 600-8595 or browse their Instagram account at https://www.instagram.com/koffeestainz/.
Agatha Petkau recently graduated from the University of Belize with a Bachelor of Arts in English. She lives in Orange Walk town and enjoys long-distance running and playing instruments, among other things.
