Tacoma’s open-flame coffee roaster now pouring at downtown cafe

Summer 2020 will go down as one to remember for Quincy and Whitni Henry — not because of COVID-19 but rather in spite of the dreadful pandemic.

While Washingtonians hunkered down at home in April and May, the couple behind Campfire Coffee was awash in orders for bags of their beans roasted over an open flame. Day after day, the shop would post on social media, and in a flash, every item would sell out from the online store, so created to accommodate the setback of the coronavirus lockdown.

“In some weird twist of fate, it’s just given us tailwinds,” said Quincy Henry last month inside the cafe at 1554 Market St. in downtown Tacoma. “It’s been a hell of a pivot.”

With the support of his intrepid wife and company co-owner Whitni Henry, Campfire Coffee has splashed right into not just the local coffee scene but also the broader industry.

Roast Magazine profiled the concept for a Daily Coffee News story published in July, and as Black business owners, the Henrys also attracted customers looking for ways to support the Black community following ongoing protests against police brutality and systemic racism.

They also landed their first wholesale account: The Patio at Alma Mater, a new outdoor-only restaurant, exclusively serves a house Campfire blend for its drip coffee.

With names like Fireside Vibes (a Colombian decaf roast), Lakeside Livin’ (Rwanda-sourced beans aged in bourbon barrels), Starry Night (Ethiopian Yirgacheffe), Midnight Hike (Honduras Cartagua) and Summer Camp (Mexican Chiapas), the brand smells like the outdoors — even before you peel open your long-awaited bag of beans.

“We listen to it and we watch it,” said Whitni of the roasting process, which differs from traditional technique that prioritizes consistency in color and flavor.

A roaster would typically look “for every bean to look the same,” added Quincy, “whereas this is just — by the nature of roasting over open flame — our beans are gonna run the gamut of colors, which means they’re gonna run the gamut of roasts. In some roundabout way, it’s kinda like you get a more accurate depiction of the flavor profile of the beans.”

BRINGING THE OUTDOORS IN

Though the Henrys hoped to open earlier this summer, they have taken advantage of Pierce County’s prolonged sojourn in Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the state’s recovery plan to build an audience and create a cafe that brings the outdoors in.

That feeling threads from the coffee itself to an ever-expanding backpack of camping swag: hats, tees, enamel mugs and travel mugs.

“We’ve been able to really dial in on the aesthetic and the company,” said Quincy.

As of this month, it will emanate throughout the brick-and-mortar cafe, which the Henrys have transformed from a barren cement square on the ground floor of Koz on Market Street to an urban campground getaway.

Rustic wood adorns the walls and wraps the custom-built coffee bar. It frames the chalkboard menu and the future wall of the Campfire Explorers Club, the company’s youth activity arm that aims to increase diversity and access to the outdoors. Grab a table in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows, or cuddle up to a vapor-steam “campfire” in the back nook. Eventually, they will host roasting demos over a fire pit outside the shop.

“We wanted it to be as close to a campground feel as possible,” said Quincy.

In searching for the right pieces, they often came up short — despite falling down Pinterest rabbit holes — leading to do-it-yourself solutions. Aside from a few Ikea patio tables and chairs, much of the furniture was at least partially self-designed and hand-built.

If you camp enough, you learn how to build a fire, joked Quincy. That patience and skill, and that appreciation for what Mother Nature throws at us, has found a new home — not in the woods, but in the city.

As they told The News Tribune in April, “It’s a concept that everybody can get.”

CAMPFIRE COFFEE

▪ 1554 Market St., Tacoma, welovecampfire.com

▪ Details: Monday-Saturday 7 a.m.-4 p.m.

This story was originally published August 18, 2020 at 5:05 AM.