Another option for coffee fanatics
By Jamie Forsythe
Tacoma WeeklyPublished on: July 12, 2007
What is the key to making a good cup of joe? Freshly ground coffee beans, according to Juanita Kean, the new owner of the coffee shop at the corner of 'J' and Division. Kean grinds fresh beans for every cup of coffee. She said doing this should be the norm in a coffee shop since "coffee, once ground, expires after five minutes." She also noted the beans have to be fresh. "I'm very particular about what I do," she remarked.
Kean recently located to Tacoma from Ballard; she formerly worked as a manager in a physical therapist's office in Bellevue. Both she and her husband, David, were tired of long commutes and wanted to relocate closer to his job, which explains the move to Tacoma. But why open a coffee shop?
Kean - who admits she is addicted to coffee - said she couldn't find a good cup in the area. She got hooked on the Zoka bean while in the Seattle area and wanted to bring it to Tacoma. "There was a market for good coffee in Tacoma," she noted.
Over the last several months, Kean has really fallen in love with Tacoma. "Tacoma is so much more laid back than Seattle," she remarked.
Her husband had previously owned a coffee shop, which Juanita Kean said "didn't go so well, but he got a lot of experience there."
Since opening Tusarra in the spring, business has been steadily increasing about 10 percent each month, according to Kean, which she attributes to her competitive prices and friendly customer service.
Kean said she doesn't mind bending over backwards to make customers happy. She described herself as "super friendly and genuine."
The majority of her customers, she said, come from right around the coffee shop. "A lot of people in the neighborhood come here, which I like and appreciate," said Kean, who is a North End resident.
What is her favorite aspect of owning a coffee shop? "I really like connecting with people," she said, adding she enjoys developing relationships with her repeat customers. "You get to meet so many people in this business; it's so fantastic."
Tusarra Coffee currently offers a variety of coffee and tea as well as the usual coffeehouse food, including pastries. In the future, Kean said, she wants to expand the food offerings as well as add outdoor and indoor seating. Currently, there are only three wooden stools at a narrow green marble bar, which is just barely big enough to fit a laptop on. The 600-square foot space is covered in green sherbet-colored paint with gray tile flooring. Kean said it is so small that some people don't even realize there is inside seating. Customers, she noted, just usually use the drive-through window.
Although Tusarra Coffee opened in spring, it is still undergoing some renovations. A recent visit to the coffee shop found blue painter's tape still around the windows. Kean described it as a "work in progress." She explained she chose the location/building, because she felt it was "underdeveloped and needed some TLC."
Kean has done all the renovations/redesign herself. She described the atmosphere in the coffee shop as "slightly modern with a hippie bent."
Tusarra Coffee is open 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. For more information, call (253) 272-9407.
