When Julius Delacruz, Eric Mason, Alan Smith, Allison Maves and Aimee Maki of Afterglow Coffee Cooperative added a café to their worker-owned roasting and production space in Scott’s Addition last year, they focused on daytime hours and a menu of high-quality, sustainable coffee, espresso drinks and pastries. But the vision went beyond that. Having traveled to cafes around the United States and Europe, they knew they eventually wanted to expand their hours. “It was kind of our plan all along to add some wines we love and some things we like to eat,” co-owner Eric Mason says.
In late July, Afterglow Coffee Cooperative added its first evening hours, staying open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Around 2 p.m., the coffee menu, which remains available all evening, is complemented by wines, spritzes, mocktails, a few beers, and some locally sourced snacks. Nonalcoholic beers and cocktails are available as well.
The goal is to provide Richmonders with a spot for a quick snack and drink before they head to dinner elsewhere, with a heavy focus on wine. “A lot of our coffee ethos has transferred into wine,” Mason says. “We’re sourcing from people doing cool things on the ground in countries where they live with a focus on organic, biodynamic and sustainable … wine and coffee are really parallel worlds at different times of day.”
To that end, you’ll find about 20 bottles of wine to choose from in the $15-$30 price range, along with around three wines by the glass. “We rotate whatever we are feeling excited about,” Mason says, adding that they try to make the glass options distinct from one another. Wines come from Virginia-based distributors like Plant Wines, Williams Corner Wine and Natural VB. For summer sips, the crew is focusing on “anything that’s beautiful and crushable.”
The crew at Afterglow has also sourced wine-based vermouths, aperitivos and amari and is using those for cocktails. Right now, there’s a spritz featuring Revel No Stone Unturned white vermouth made with quince in Ontario. For the drink, the vermouth is mixed with tonic and garnished with a lemon peel—Mason compares it to a summery lemonade that’s perfect for 90-degree days.
In terms of snacks, several toast options start with bread the Afterglow team picks up from Sub Rosa when they drop off the special Sub Rosa Coffee Blend they make for the Church Hill bakery. The bread is topped with locally grown tomatoes or Truckle Cheesemongers house-made pimento cheese. There are also options like nuts and olives—any sort of light bite for snacking.
For now Afterglow Coffee Cooperative is open only on Friday and Saturday evenings, but they hope to add more days as they continue to scale. In addition, they’ve hosted a few art shows and record fairs and are looking to add more community events now that they can serve an expanded menu. They encourage interested parties to contact them.
“The space is really lovely in the evening,” Mason says. “We’ve been working in the building for so long, but we’ve never served anything at night. When the light comes in through the windows and catches a plant, then hits your glass of sparkling wine, it’s a whole vibe.”
Afterglow Coffee Cooperative is located at 1719 Summit Ave. in Scott’s Addition. Check out their website for more info.
