Written by Jenna MacFarlane
Haven, Winter Haven’s newest coffee shop and roastery seeks to educate its visitors on good craft coffee while providing a hospitable space for connection with one another.
Enthusiasts around the world agree that coffee is an art form. From sourcing green coffee beans to brewing a pot at home, a detailed process must be followed in order to produce a great-tasting cup of coffee.
Unless we work in the industry, it’s not often that we get to see the roasting process up-close. At Winter Haven’s newest coffee shop, Haven Coffee Roasters, customers can see the process from start to finish and get a great cup of coffee while they’re at it.
Jonathan and Lynsey Lane are the founders of Haven Coffee. The Lanes take the word “handcrafted” seriously; not only is coffee roasted in-house at Haven, but sauces and toppings are homemade, too. Even specialty flavors and syrups — like toasted marshmallow and lavender — are made completely from scratch.
The Lanes have been roasting and producing specialty coffee for over a year. The path to opening the shop, though, has been anything but linear. After attending culinary school, Lane went into real estate, but his passion for craft coffee never left him. He eventually connected with a Columbian coffee producer who owned five farms and began travelling back and forth to Columbia and across the United States to thousands of cafes and roasteries.
After learning in-depth about how coffee is grown and sourced, the Lanes became passionate about the power of good coffee to connect people to one another. When the Winter Haven Farmers Market resumed last year, they set up a tent and began selling freshly roasted beans. They credit the Farmers Market as a launch pad for the shop and its now-faithful supporters. “We were able to get a customer base there. We were able to make connections with people and form relationships, and they knew about us and were ready for us to open,” Jonathan says. “Their support built anticipation for the shop.”
The Lanes also credit Six/Ten, a real estate development agency in Winter Haven, as a major help in the whole process. “I told them what I want to do, and they said, ‘Yes, we want you.’ They gave us a ton of support, and really set the stage for us,” Jonathan says.
Along with Six/Ten, several local businesses have come together to support Haven. Since the Lanes started wholesaling last spring, they’ve expanded their offerings to several local restaurants, like Nutwood and Union Taproom. Local business Home Remedy created a coffee-based body scrub from Haven coffee beans. HTeaO — one of our favorite local shops in Lakeland — created a special “Blue Haven” iced tea. It’s made from jasmine butterfly pea flower, so it produces a vibrant bluish-purple color and is a refreshing pick-me-up when paired with lavender syrup.
The Lanes believe that events and specials are a great way to engage with customers as they connect with one another and prove the shop is here to stay in the community. Haven follows special themes and events every month, crafting specialty beverages for each one. For example, on May 4th, or “Star Wars Day,” Haven offered themed beverages like “Leia’s Lavender Latte” and “Dark Side” and “Light Side” bean blends. They host yoga on the lawn and roast beans right in the shop twice a week.
Jonathan and Lynsey Lane look forward to connecting their community through cups of really good coffee — coffee that is meant to be slowly savored in the company of one another.
HAVEN COFFEE ROASTERS
140 3rd Street SW
Winter Haven, FL 33880
havencoffeeroaster.com