Sustainably Sourced Coffee Available At Sleek New Towson Cafe

TOWSON - Averly Farms Coffee Roasters has opened its new location in downtown Towson. Their sleek new cafe at 42 W Chesapeake Ave offers a modern feel with a touch of the wood and brick elements that make Towson beautiful.

Corey Voelkel is the founder and operator of Averly Farms; he says bringing sustainably sourced, delicious coffee to Towson has always been a dream.

"I'm originally from Towson; I grew up here and went to school at Loyola Blakefield," he said. "Towson is really just underserved, in my opinion, in terms of coffee and quality coffee, independent roasters, and specialty coffee. It was definitely somewhere that I wanted to expand to."

Averly Farms independently sources all of its coffee and works to build personal relationships with the Guatemalan and Colombian farmers who supply their coffee. Voelkel says this makes for better coffee and a more equitable shopping experience.

"We're sourcing all specialty grade, high quality, batch coffee; that's what we're focused on. I think it shows in the quality of our coffee," he said. "To be able to tell the stories of the farmers makes the consumer more aware that their coffee is a crop grown in another country."

Voelkel and his team first select the coffee and later ship it to a warehouse in Owings Mills for roasting and packaging. To choose their specialty beans, Voelkel traveled to Guatemala and Colombia to personally meet farmers and taste their coffee.

"I try to go to a new place every year, continue building the relationships we already have with these farmers, and also find new ones."

Some of the popular brews right now include Columbia Finca la Vega and Guatemala La Esperanza.

The Towson location is based on a "west coast style grocery cafe," with a custom wooden bar and laptop table. Voelkel says the idea was to "bring that west coast experience from living out there and that vibe back here, but also sort of melting it with Baltimore's charm."

At the end of the day, Voelkel says Averly Coffee's mission is to bring people together.

"​​I think that my job as a roaster is to try to connect and educate the end consumer all the way down to farm level and make them aware of what's actually going on."

You can visit Averly's new location at 42 W Chesapeake Ave in Towson or shop online on their website.