Black Kahawa, a homegrown coffee business, taking over high-profile spot at Broad and High
Douglas Buckley packs a lot into a bag of coffee beans.
When the Columbus native lived in Tanzania, he co-founded a coffee-roasting company in the coastal city of Dar es Salaam that helped women earn salaries and enter the official government retirement system. When he returned with his family to central Ohio in 2019, he started his own business with the hope he could share the story of coffee's East-African origins.
Buckley said he views coffee as a drink and coffeehouses as a place that bring people together, even in divisive times such as these. And, starting May 29, he's moving his previously roasting-only business into the retail arena by taking over one of the highest-profile locations in Columbus.
Black Kahawa Coffee — kahawa is the word for coffee in Swahili — is to open at the corner of Broad and High streets in a spot where bigger coffeemakers have failed. The 2 E. Broad St. address became home in 2009 to a Dunkin' franchise that was evicted two years later for failing to pay rent. Tim Hortons soon took over but closed in 2022.
Buckley said Black Kahawa is to begin serving customers May 29 at 10:30 a.m. from a cart on the building's High Street patio, and on May 30, it is to begin normal hours of 6 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The cart is temporary; renovations are taking place inside the building through a city-funded Downtown Columbus, Inc. initiative designed to put more small, local, minority- and women-owned businesses in the heart of Columbus.
The Ground Floor Growth Program is to pay half of Buckley's rent on the retail space for his first year Downtown and smaller amounts for the next two years.
"It’s certainly intimidating," he said. "I was home roasting from my house, then a mobile food truck and now Broad and High. I vacillate from nervous as hell to this is a such a strategic spot that it’s a great opportunity. You take a risk, but I feel like it’s a good time for something like this."
What makes it a good time, Buckley said, is the turmoil that the corner — and, more broadly, the nation — has witnessed in the five years since he and his family came home to Columbus.
In May and June of 2020, after the murder of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis, local protesters converged on Downtown as part of a national wave of demonstrations against police violence. A month later, armed and maskless demonstrators gathered across the street at the Statehouse to protest government policies during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The nation's current divisions, he said, create opportunities to bring people together, and he feels as if he's been a bridge-builder much of his life. Buckley said he views his biracial identity as a gift — at least "in my strong moments," he said with a laugh — that makes him more empathetic.
"I want our engagement with the people, our customer service, our friendliness to make every human feel welcome on that corner," Buckley said. "I think that’s important for the city, too."
Thorn Smith, an eight-year barista recently hired to work at the new location, said he was as impressed with Buckley, as with his coffee.
"He has a passion that I really respect a lot," he said.
Black Kahawa has built a good reputation with Columbus coffee-drinkers, too. Its beans are sold online and at The Hills Market in Worthington and Downtown, Weiland's Market in Clintonville, Bexley Natural Market, Pure Roots Boutique in Westerville and Bake Me Happy locations in Merion Village and Dublin.
At the new retail location, Buckley said, the roaster's menu is to include hot coffee and nitro cold brew, a full range of espresso drinks and hot and iced lattes. A signature option is its Zanzibar spice, a syrup infused with cinnamon, cardamom and other spices.
Black Kahawa sells three coffee blends: a light-roast blend called "Poetry," a medium-roast blend called "Origins" and a dark-roast blend called "Impact." There is also "Columbus Peaberry," a rarer bean that aficionados say is sweeter and smoother than other coffees.
Buckley said he plans to do his roasting inside the Broad and High retail location, in a new, 12-kilogram roaster that should be visible from Broad Street. He plans to add locally made pastries and savory bites when the indoor counter opens, and he said he hopes to partner with a local brewery and distillery to make beer and cocktails available at night.
Instagram: @dispatchdining
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Black Kahawa Coffee set to open at Broad and High streets in Columbus
