We’re always excited to support new speciality coffee shops, especially if they’re in our hometown. We sat down with Andy from Groundstate – a new speciality coffee shop in Dublin serving wholesome food and doubling as a yoga studio at night.
Where is Groundstate?
The cafe is centered in the historic area of the Liberties, which hosts the cities distilleries. Groundstate grew out of a desire of the owners Andy Joyce and Mark Quilty to change career and follow their passion of coffee and yoga respectively. The pair designed and refurbished an empty shell of a unit. This fact gives the cafe a unique, warm feel.
What is the concept behind Ground State?
We wanted to bring together our passions of coffee, yoga and food together in a minimal space for all to share.
What was the first thing you considered before opening your shop?
We wanted to create a great vibe and atmosphere in the place.
How did you decide what equipment to use?
We did plenty of research on each item of equipment and considered which would be the best for ergonomics and efficiency. I love the design and functionality of the La Marzocco Linea, the ease of use of the Simonelli Mythos, and the principals of the design of the Mazzer ZM for grinding for filter coffee, which means we know the burrs are always aligned perfectly. That together with the Marco BRU F60M, we are getting excellent results for our batch filter coffee.
How did you decide which roasters to feature?
We wanted a roaster who we could trust to always tease the best out of their coffees with excellent consistency. Gardellli stood out in this regard.
How important is efficiency to your business?
Efficiency is important in all cafes as it results in less waste, more time for staff to engage with customers and allows the business to be more lean as a result.
How important is design?
Design is very important for a cafe. the design of the bar, positioning of equipment, which equipment the cafe uses and the flow of service. These factors are seemless when they work right, but make for a cafe that ticks over nicely. Design and aesthetics of a cafe makes it a worthwhile place to spend time and work alike. equipment design is everything!
How do you manage quality?
May sound vague or obvious but its important! We manage quality in coffee through barista training, quality control, always tasting coffee throughout the day, cleanliness and agreeing on things as a team.
What trends have you noticed in the Speciality Tea or Coffee industry
Customer experience, I think many cafes have reached a solid level of coffee quality in any given capital city. Cafes have noticed that something extra is needed to improve customer experience- its more than coffee that draw us to cafes after-all its ambiance and the personal touch too.