A five-foot skeleton sporting a flannel shirt greets customers
at Morgan Hill’s newest downtown coffee shop. It’s a gimmick, but
it’s also a sign of the effort employees and the owner at Hot Java
make to spiff up the coffee drinking routine.
Morgan Hill – A five-foot skeleton sporting a flannel shirt greets customers at Morgan Hill’s newest downtown coffee shop. It’s a gimmick, but it’s also a sign of the effort employees and the owner at Hot Java make to spiff up the coffee drinking routine.
Instead of plain descriptors like decaf and caffeinated to explain what they’re getting, there are names like Volcano, Tsunami, Red Door and Rock Climber. It’s a result of the new ownership that’s taken over the old Buzz Stop located at 17400 Monterey Road in downtown Morgan Hill.
William Quenneville bought the place Aug. 4, and it’s been open for little more than six weeks. He was a computer engineer, but these days, Quenneville cares more about coffee than he does about computer chips. Aside from the free internet access for customers, there is little thought given to computers now. He was a customer at the Buzz Stop and the Good Life Cafe that were in the building his business is in currently, but he’s altered many things. Nothing like a former customer to know what he wishes would have been.
“This is my hobby,” Quenneville said. “I just enjoy coffee, and I am a coffeeholic. You won’t fly me into a 12-step program for that because if you do, I’ll be in denial and will drink the first cup I can find.”
The other aspect that makes the coffee shop unique is its relationship to other business in Morgan Hill.
“When I looked downtown, those are the three things that people wanted. It doesn’t conflict with anyone else’s business. It’s synergistic rather than competitive with the rest of the folks down here.”
That entails selling pastries, chocolates and coffee instead of sandwiches like the Buzz Cafe did. That gives drinkers a different experience than they would get at the other coffee shops in town like Y’a Bon Espresso, Haute Cafe, Caffee Kaffee Vin or Starbucks. The main reason Buzz and Linda Sryll closed the Buzz Stop was because of an inability to attract customers from its competitors.
“Instead of having a plethora of things, we’re doing all the high-end coffees. We’re bringing in different coffee each week for people to sample,” Quenneville said.
The employees and customers seemed to enjoy the new format.
Mary Connolly, 39, was behind the counter explaining how a certain coffee was made, and what it tasted like. When it’s requested, samples are given so a customer knows what a drink tastes like before ordering the whole thing.
“A lot of people don’t know about coffee. We have to explain how they’re made. They learn a lot when they’re in here,” Connolly said.
She worked at the House of Bagels before, and compared the two shops.
“This is more gourmet. There’s more flavor here.”
Joe Benedictisconted, 51, sat at a table and read the newspaper as some jazz provided his soundtrack. He patronizes the new coffee shop everyday, and was a regular customer at past versions of the shop. He prefers the current format.
“It’s way better. I drink one cup a day. That’s all I need. He’s finally got the atmosphere in here with the music.”
