New coffee shop in Hays offers all the perks (VIDEO)

Mike Husky demonstrates the artisan coffee pour using Chem-ex process — Mike Huskey demonstrates the artisan Chem-ex coffee pour

By KARI BLURTON
Hays Post

As Mike Huskey opens the doors to a new family business Tuesday, Union Station Coffee and Roastery, 1007 Vine, he makes it clear he will not be serving up the average cup of coffee.

“You can get coffee anywhere but not like this,” Huskey said as he enthusiastically described Union Station’s coffee as “artisan and handcrafted coffee,” common in big cities like Huskey’s hometown of St. Louis.

“My hope is (Union Station) is a very immersive experience … that people can just come together and have a relaxed and calm morning. I want people to get away from their and cellphones and TVs … the drive-throughs,” he said, adding they do serve grab-and-go coffee, but the business is based around “slowing down and letting us craft-pour your coffee for you.”

Huskey the "bloom" or bubbles in the Chem-ex is "a sign of fresh coffee." — Huskey said the “bloom” of bubbles is “a sign of fresh coffee.”

“Coffee, when it is experienced right, it is something you can’t help but to be excited about,” Huskey said. “My goal honestly is just for people to come in and just enjoy a better cup of coffee.”

The “better cup of coffee” begins with using only seasonal and handpicked beans imported by countries such as Ethiopia and Columbia and roasted in Union Station’s own roastery.

The roasting process is complex and Huskey and roastmaster Mitchell Rupp have spent months logging different blends at different temperatures until the perfect roasting process for a specific bean is deemed perfect with a “nailed it” written on the roasting recipe.

“It’s almost like a microbrewery for coffee,” Rupp said. “There is a lot of finesse and technique when it come to roasting our coffee beans.”

Husky will not serve a latte unless the natural made heart is formed "the mark of professional" meaning the latte has the perfect mix of "stretched" milk and coffee. — Huskey will not serve a latte unless the natural made heart is formed “the mark of a professional” meaning the latte has the perfect mix of “stretched” milk and coffee.

The artisan coffee beans are then ground and would “never be put in a coffee pot,” explained Huskey.

Instead the grounds are used in a very precise and perfectly timed natural “pour-over Chem-ex process” to bring out the “notes and profiles” in the coffee, such as the Ethiopian Sidoma, a coffee with “earthy, barky undertones and a sweet and buttery finish.”

Huskey has experience proving doubters wrong.

He also owns Sake2me Sushi Rolls, 700 Main.

“Everyone told me (sushi) would never go over here, ” he smiled, adding his goal is not to make a lot of money but to offer Hays a different way to enjoy coffee.

Sake2me is thriving and won the 2014 Certificate of Excellence from the national ranking website, TripAdvisor.com.

Union Station Coffee and Roastery will also serve breakfast items such as cinnamon rolls and panini sandwiches for lunch.

The hours are Monday through Saturday from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. and will occasionally stay open later in the evenings when live music is featured.