Richmond’s Rostov’s Coffe & Tea gets into the java delivery business.
1930s Jabez-Burns coffee bean roaster, purchased by Jay Rostov in 1979.
Photo courtesy of Scott Huggins
Unroasted Yirgacheffee beans from Ethiopia.
Photo courtesy of Scott Huggins
Rostov’s offers 50 different varieties of coffee beans.
Photo courtesy of Scott Huggins
Rostov’s offers whole bean coffee and coffee ground to your specifications.
Photo courtesy of Scott Huggins
Ask and you shall receive. Piping hot coffee delivered to your doorstep? No problem. One of Richmond’s favorite coffee joints now hand-delivers your favorite cup o’ joe.
“We realized that a lot of Richmonders don’t necessarily have time to stop for coffee on their way to class or work or whatever,” says Scott Huggins, of Rostov’s Coffee & Tea. “So it was important to us that we respond to a need and honor the fact that our coffee is many people’s preference.” For $5.00 you can have a cup of your favorite blend before you even leave the house—and you won’t have to brew it yourself, either. In partnership with Quickness RVA, a bicycle courier company, Rostov’s gets you your caffeine fix, and fast. They will also deliver from the shop’s selection of gift boxes and accessories, if you find yourself empty-handed for that early Monday meeting.
Rostov’s was founded in 1979 by Jay Rostov, who opened his doors on Cary Street in an area of downtown Richmond that, at the time, was foundering—a landscape of mostly vacant businesses and site of fairly regular muggings. This area would grow to become Carytown, where today the neighborhood is hip and trendy, and bursting at the seams with retail business.
Rent increases motivated Tammy Rostov, who began working in her father’s shop at age 11 and took over the business after his death in 1999, to make a bold move to West Main Street, where again Rostov’s was the first of many businesses to open its doors in a previously neglected part of town. The Fan has grown with the same speed as Carytown, and Rostov’s remains at the heart of it all. Loyalists visit daily for takeaway cups as much as for the huge variety of fair-trade whole bean and freshly ground coffee, which makes up the bulk of Rostov’s business. Tammy and her staff still roast more than 1,500 pounds of green coffee beans weekly onsite in the same 1930s Jabez-Burns roaster originally acquired by Jay.
The new delivery service is yet another way that Rostov’s is responding to the needs of its customers and the community. Because having a rich cappuccino or a hot Chai latte (spiced, vanilla or a taste of both) in your hands the moment you wake up just makes everyone’s day better, don’t you think? Rostovs.com
