Helping farmers in her homeland of Ecuador: New coffee shop to open in Warner Robins

Sally and Gus Lempsink, along with their son, Andrew Wilson, are opening a coffee shop in Warner Robins that will feature Ecuadorian coffee and cuisine.

A native of Ecuador, Sally had been dreaming of opening a coffee shop for years.

In December, she’d walked into a Z Beans Coffee shop in downtown Macon and discovered the same Ecuadorian coffee her husband had picked up from a Deep River Outfitters years earlier.

“I was like, ‘Oh my God, this is the shop,” Lempsink said. “The coffee is phenomenal.”

She knew at that moment she wanted to bring a Z Beans Coffee shop to Warner Robins.

“It felt right,” Lempsink said.

She got on the Z Beans Coffee website and found an email address. She spent hours crafting the email. She wanted the words to be just right.

Ties to Mercer University

When Z Beans Coffee founder and Mercer University alum Shane Buerster read her email, he was immediately intrigued.

In 2016, Buerster went on a Mercer on Mission trip with other students to Zaruma, Ecuador, to determine if growing coffee would be a viable economic alternative for mining communities in the El Oro region to support themselves.

That pivotal trip and a friendship forged with trip guide Arturo Penarretta Romero led to Buerster first giving away Ecuadorian coffee to friends and then roasting the coffee for sale using a popcorn popper while in college.

From those humble beginnings, Z Beans Coffee now has eight shops with three in the works, including the one in Warner Robins. The coffee bags feature a photo of the Ecuadorian farmer who grows the coffee beans.

The “Z” in the business name is for Zaruma.

The Z Beans Coffee roaster is in the basement of the Lofts at Silver on Third Street in downtown Macon and the green coffee storage facility is in the former Moate Produce Co. building at 473 Hawthorne St.

In addition to coffees from all across Ecuador, Z Beans Coffee offers tea and chocolate from its factory, The Chocolate Factory, founded in Zaruma in January 2020.

Helping farmers in her homeland appealed to Lempsink.

“Ecuador has great coffee,” she said. “We’re hoping to show that while also offering a gathering place for people to relax and become friends.”

Ties to Ecuador

The Z Beans Coffee shop in Warner Robins is unique in that it will be the first franchise for Z Beans Coffee and it will offer Ecuadorian breakfast and lunch dishes in addition to the regular Z Beans Coffee menu.

Lempsink will handle the business side of their family-owned franchise coffee shop. Wilson, who has a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Middle Georgia State University, will help with both the business side as well as the cooking.

Wilson is developing Ecuadorian breakfast and lunch options, including “doggy fries.”

Doggy fries, which are known as salchipapas in Ecuador, are a platter of french fries and cut up hot dog wieners with homemade sauce layered on top, Wilson said.

Wilson also plans to serve plantain poppers, or bolon de verde as they’re known in Ecuador. Plantain poppers are mashed plantains mixed with spices and chopped up bacon that are formed into balls, filled with cheese and then baked until crispy, he said.

Wilson said he learned to cook while in college.

“I was a broke college student and I needed to eat,” he said.

First-timers

As first-time coffee shop owners, Gus Lempsink said they’ll rely heavily on Buerster’s expertise.

Lempsink, a chemical engineer for Thiele Kaolin Company in Sandersville, said he’ll help wherever is needed at the coffee shop, including washing dishes.

Sally Lempsink, who’s known by friends and family by a shortened version of her middle name Salome, plans to continue teaching Spanish at Veterans High School in Kathleen. She’ll work at the coffee shop after school and when school is not in session.

“Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve been called Sally,” said Lempsink, who’s been teaching for 17 years.

Operating a coffee shop wasn’t on Wilson’s radar when he graduated from college. In fact, he’s not a coffee drinker. Ironically, like Wilson, Buerster didn’t drink coffee when he first started selling coffee.

Wilson said his mom’s passion for the coffee shop convinced him “to throw my hat in the ring.” He also likes the idea of “not sitting behind a desk” while putting his college degree to practical use.

Location, location, location

After looking at multiple locations, the family chose 102 South Armed Forces Blvd., the former Martin’s BBQ spot, for their coffee shop.

The spot is across from Robins Air Force Base, near the Warner Robins Police Department and on the same street as My Grandma’s Empanadas and Gregg’s 2.0 Mexican Restaurant.

Gus and Sally Lempsink, who make their home in Warner Robins, celebrated their fourth wedding anniversary Thursday. The family hopes to open Z Beans Coffee in mid-October with hours to be determined.

“It’s exciting,” she said. “It’s scary. I think we have a lot to learn and a lot to offer the community.”