Upcountry- Zimbabwe Coffee Plantation opens a hip Coffee House in historic Travelers Rest

Here’s a visionary concept for you. Why not export a portion of the family business from one continent to another slap in the middle of your customer base for our highly sought after product, eco-friendly green coffee grown on the family plantation? And why we are at it, we need to open up this coffee house in an environment similar to our African highlands home that is also fairly close to a college campus. I know, why don’t you open up your Leopard Forest Coffee House in the Historic District of Travelers Rest, South Carolina just up the road towards the Blue Ridge Mountains from the Furman Campus? And that is exactly what this entrepreneurial family did with this trendy coffee house that not only has the prerequisite hot cup of Joe, WiFi hot spot, live music, art gallery, and poetry readings typically found in this type venue, but they grow their own freaking coffee in Zimbabwe for crying out loud. According to their web site (a few excerpts below), the family business, namely an African coffee plantation was started in 1960.

Our farm has produced superior coffee since 1965, and many times been the winner of the highest quality and best cupping awards (Coffee Grower of the Year) in Zimbabwe, achieved by combining the best Kenyan varieties with sustainable farming methods. The farm supports over 90 families; many have been with us for 30 years or more. Ensuring a high standard of living for our employees is critical to producing our high quality coffee. In 2004 we decided to expand the farm coffee business by starting a roasting company in the United States. After researching several areas in the U.S. that had few specialty coffee roasters, we settled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains north of Greenville, South Carolina. The state and county parks remind us of the hills we adore in Africa.

So the next time you find yourself heading north through Travelers Rest to the Carolina Mountains on your weekend day trip, make it a point to stop along the way at the Leopard Forest Coffee House for an award winning cup of coffee in Historic Travelers Rest.

Posted at 06:35 AM in Carolina Heritage Corridor, Food and Drink, Historic Mountain Districts in the Carolinas, Music, Travel | Permalink | Comments (0) Technorati Tags: Carolina Heritage Corridor, Food and Drink, Historic Mountain Districts in the Carolinas, Music, Travel