Brooke Bierhaus Sutton. Courtesy photograph.

Opening a espresso store would possibly appear to be an unlikely path for a documentary filmmaker, however for Brooke Bierhaus Sutton, the connection is evident. 

Connection is on the core idea of Sutton’s personal documentary movie, “The Linked Cup,” launched in 2019, and inside her new vegan cafe, Third House Espresso in Bentonville, Arkansas.

“I’ve simply at all times been amazed at how espresso is a language itself,” Sutton lately instructed DCN. “Individuals who know me would in all probability chuckle at this as a result of I’m considerably extroverted, however I really feel like I’m form of socially awkward, to an extent that espresso gave me an avenue to know find out how to work together socially. If you happen to meet somebody and ask them to exit for a cup of espresso, you’ve gotten parameters on how lengthy that dialog will go. It simply gives a pleasant, straightforward technique to get to know somebody. And I’ve at all times actually liked that.”

Filming “The Linked Cup” documentary. Courtesy photograph.

“The Linked Cup” adopted 4 years of analysis and manufacturing, together with 318 interviews with espresso producers, farmers and shoppers in 9 totally different nations. The collected tales spotlight the impacts of espresso as a connector and supply of consolation in individuals’s lives. 

These ideas stayed with Sutton, and when she realized {that a} new animal rescue, Greatest Buddies Animal Society, was searching for proposals to open a espresso store within the area, she noticed it as a chance to create a neighborhood espresso nexus. 

Together with her husband Don Sutton and enterprise companion Josemiguel Gomez, Sutton submitted a profitable proposal, and the three have been left with a 12 months to plan out the store. 

Third House Espresso ribbon chopping. Courtesy photograph.

“It took us so lengthy to provide you with the title,” she shared. “We knew we needed our mission to be mirrored within the title… Third areas are so vital in society, so we thought the title ought to let individuals know that it’s their third area – a spot to return in, get pleasure from and really feel welcome.”

The espresso store sources its roasted espresso from Quapaw Nation O-Gah-Pah Espresso Roasters in Joplin, Missouri. 

Drip coffees, espresso-based drinks, chilly brews, teas and youngsters’ drinks are served alongside the vegan meals menu of burritos and baked treats — all inside furry-friendly environment. 

“It’s a real cat cafe,” Sutton stated. “We now have adoptable canines and cats in the entire useful resource middle.”

On the new Third House Espresso bar in Bentonville. Courtesy photograph.

For company on the transfer, Third House Espresso gives a walk-up and bike-up window. 

“Bentonville is branding itself because the mountain bike capital of the world, so biking, generally, is big right here,” Sutton stated. “It’s enjoyable to have a bike-up window.” 

Right here’s extra from DCN’s current dialog with Brooke Bierhaus Sutton…

What about espresso excites you most?

It goes again to what has at all times excited me, and that’s its connecting energy. I feel espresso is such a device for connecting individuals and connecting us to how we eat meals. I really feel like there’s extra transparency inside espresso and figuring out the place your espresso is coming from, or no less than inside specialty espresso. However espresso as a language is absolutely thrilling to me. I really like its means to attach individuals and take you locations you by no means actually thought you’d go. Espresso took me so many locations I by no means dreamed I’d be capable to go to. 

What about espresso troubles you most?

I feel I’d have had a distinct reply a few years in the past, however proper now as a enterprise proprietor, I really feel like what troubles me most is the environmental influence of a espresso store and seeing so many paper to-go cups. We use 100% compostable cups, and I want bigger chains that might have a much bigger influence would accomplish that as effectively. 

What would you be doing if it weren’t for espresso?

I’d nonetheless be working in movie.

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