The centerpiece mural of the newly opened BlaCk Coffee Lounge is colorful, featuring a large tree, coffee beans and music notes, as well as a street light with two intersecting street signs labeled “culture” and “community.” The lounge itself strives to be that intersection, a place where people of all communities can congregate to celebrate black culture while enjoying great coffee.
“You wouldn’t walk into just any coffee shop and hear Cactus Jack (Travis Scott) rapping,” says Means Cameron, a Cincinnati native, avid coffee drinker and the owner of both BlaCk Coffee and the BlaCk OWned clothing brand/boutique, housed in the storefront next door.
To Cameron, there is a deeper connection between BlaCk Coffee and his boutique than their adjacent storefronts.
“I created BlaCk OWned to inspire a generation to be conscious of their community through fashion,” he says. “I created BlaCk Coffee to push the culture and give the community a space to build on their inspirations.”
If you like Hip Hop and R&B, the playlist at BlaCk Coffee won’t disappoint. Within the span of one hour on a Monday morning, two speakers in the corner of the shop reserved for live performances — both poetry and music — played songs by Queen Latifah, Prince, Solange, Playboi Carti and Jay-Z, Cameron’s favorite rapper.
The décor at BlaCk Coffee is modern and comfortable, with leathery couches and chairs. Stylized portraits of Tupac Shakur, Biggie Smalls, Cardi B and Beyoncé adorn the walls and a variety of plants get a healthy dose of sunlight from the row of floor-to-ceiling windows facing the street.
Cameron and a close-knit team of associates spent over three years working to achieve his dream of opening a shop at BlaCk Coffee’s current location and navigated a variety of setbacks and delays, including needing to redraw and submit floor plans three times to pass inspection from the City of Cincinnati.
Bla’szé, a local artist and a graduate of the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music, is BlaCk Coffee’s manager and has been a part of the process of opening BlaCk Coffee since its inception.
“(Cameron) is like my big brother,” Bla’szé says. “He’s very business savvy, so he teaches me daily and with my knowledge of customer service and the coffeehouse life, I’m able to help him, too. I forget he’s my boss most times because now he feels more like family.”
Cameron claims to have sunk a majority of his life savings into opening BlaCk Coffee and has been adamant in his vision of its success.
“My travels have revealed that coffee shops are some of the most important places in every community,” he says. “Coffee shops should provide energy and support to the communities that they are in. I think we have great coffee in Cincinnati, but I didn’t feel the coffee shops were really connecting with specifically non-white communities. We expect people to visit BlaCk Coffee for what it represents and brings to the community and while they’re here they’ll discover that the coffee is amazing, too.”
BlaCk Coffee’s coffee is supplied by La Terza and uses three roast varieties for its non-espresso-based coffee: their house “Wakanda” blend is a mix of Ethiopian, Rwandan and Brazilian beans; the other two use beans from Colombia and Sumatra. Alongside those options, the menu showcases a variety of teas, juices, sandwiches, pastries and baked goods.
All of the food served at BlaCk Coffee come from black-female-owned businesses in Cincinnati; pastries are provided by Sweet Petit Desserts, the cakes are from Shana’s Sweet Treats and sandwiches are made by personal chef Chanel Jordan of Chanel’s Upscale Homestyle Cooking.
“I chose Chanel because I respect her hustle. She’s a black-owned small business and her food is fire,” Cameron says.
The coffee shop held its soft opening on July 19 and was officially open for business July 27. Cameron says they had over 1,000 customers in the first week and expect more business as word of mouth travels.
“I believe the community fell in love with the space before we ever opened our doors,” he says. “We’re changing the downtown community and the way people do coffee in Cincinnati and people love that.”
Bla’szé says, “Everyone who has visited us are as excited to see us as we are to be here,” adding that the only feedback she’s heard is that patrons wanted longer hours. They listened. BlaCk Coffee is now open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
And as a steady flow of customers come in and out of BlaCk Coffee’s doors — some hunkering down to work, others just stopping by to get a caffeine fix — it’s clear that Cameron’s long-delayed dream is well on its way to being realized.
BlaCk Coffee Lounge, 824 Elm St., Downtown, facebook.com/blackcoffeecincy.