Vans Community Series: Sam James
Now with 4 locations across Toronto, Sam James Coffee Bar has become one of the cities most renowned spots to get a delicious cup of coffee and a tasty treat. Sam recently invited us to his Ossington shop for a bit of barista magic. And then to their roasting facility where we shot some hoops and he fill us in on the 13 year history of Sam James Coffee Bar, what’s inspired him and the story of his first pair of Van’s hand-me-downs at age 11.
Photos by: Guilz Rucchetto @semipreciousgiulz
Hey Sam, to start things off, can you tell us who you are and give a brief introduction to Sam James Coffee Bar?
Ok, so my real name is Sam James, thus the name of the coffee shops. I’ve been a barista for almost 20 years, and I opened my first cafe in 2009, followed by a bunch of other locations around Toronto over the past 13 years, including a location in partnership with Robinson Bread, who supplies the cities best pastries, granola, sandwiches and bread to my cafes. I also import fresh in season coffee beans and roast all of the coffee we serve in my cafes, as well as supply to a limited number of wholesale partners. At the roasting facility we also sell and fix coffee equipment, and have an open service centre where clients can drop off equipment for repair, and test out some of the commercial and high end home user equipment installed in our workshop before they decide to buy. Everything we sell and where we sell it is available online at samjamescoffeebar.com
How long have you had the shop? How did the idea to open a coffee bar get started?
It’s been 13 years since it opened. I’ve just always been entrepreneurial, looked up to entrepreneurs, preferred to get it on my own terms, and worked towards that goal. I worked at a couple of good skate shops when I was younger, and both felt good to work at, I felt like I should open a skate shop eventually, but it’s a tough business. I worked at a couple good coffee shops after that, loved it, learned a lot of cool stuff, it was like a skate shop but high volume, scalable, very easy to operate on your own terms, exactly what I was looking for, so I just hunted it down as my goal and made it happen.
Your shops have a very specific interior design sense, how does a shop come together and are there any other coffee shops/retail spaces that have inspired you?
Thank you. I think firstly I have to attribute the aesthetics to 2 people other than myself. My friends Jeremy Jansen, and Ken Johnson. Jeremy is the artist behind all of the large scale murals you’ll see at all of my locations. His work references punk rock nostalgia, and accessible beautiful grit with a sense of humour. All of the murals tell a story from the chronology of the business. Ken is the sculpture artist who has made all of the custom steel bars at my shops, as well as the steel sculptures that hang on the walls. I try and avoid being inspired by other business’ aesthetic, which is sort of impossible to some degree, but I initially just wanted to make it uncopyable, like I think someone will try but it would be obvious, so why bother? I like how my shops have an intimate scale, they’re all just a small hang out spot, minimal seating, feels like you’re sitting down for coffee in your kitchen, but the aesthetic is inspired by outside on the street. There’s steel mesh, concrete benches, posters, wheatpastes, wooden benches, durability, rust, bent metal sculptures, scratches, thick glass, stickers, broken in floors…
There has been a quickly growing fan base behind your to-go beans, can you tell us about your roasting and sourcing process? What makes your coffee unique?
First, nothing is by accident. It’s a series of precise moves along a cycle of production that starts with sourcing our raw green coffee beans in season from a reputable broker that knows what we’re looking for and how much we need. We buy this in seasonal deliveries so that we don’t overstock for too long and end up with stale green. Next we roast it, and this is obviously the most important part, so credit due to my head roaster Bruce, he’s so good at what he does and has a lot of experience maintaining the exact profile required for every single batch. That makes our coffee very consistent and reliable, which means just as much as the quality. It’s all roasted medium, with a focus on development and control of the roast, so that it’s smooth, sweet, and has been developed enough that it will be strong and flavourful like a dark roast, with a full body and easy to extract, but we stop short of the dark roast so it maintains the subtlety of a medium/lighter roast without the sourness or green flavours of a light roast. We package it immediately so it stays fresh and ship out our wholesale customers coffee every week, my own shops every week, and my web orders are shipped daily Monday - Friday, so you’re always able to find fresh coffee beans.
Where do you see Sam James expanding in the next 5 years?
Id like to just focus on the shops I have running currently, build up our home delivery business with the online store into more cities across the country, and get people who aren’t downtown Toronto access to some of the best and freshest coffee in the city. I’d like to do more equipment service for more cafes and restaurants around the city. My team of in-house technicians handle all of my shops, which is a massive advantage for my business to mitigate downtime by always being ahead of the curve with machine issues, so I’d like to share that with more businesses who need reliable equipment service from techs who really know the equipment they’re working on.
What have been some of the most rewarding parts of opening your own business?
Learning that success comes from sacrifice is a big one, you gotta learn to love the sacrifice, embrace missing social events, lean into loneliness and figure out how to just get up and do it every day like it’s your purpose. There’s obviously many ways to look at it, but that’s worked for me and kept me happy about it when it’s been rough because it will be, and I couldn’t be broken by that or I’d miss the opportunities that would also come. It’s a wave, you gotta strike when the irons hot. It’s worth it if you’re compelled to entrepreneurship, and can tolerate working the hours, the reward is higher and it’s more fulfilling to be responsible for the success of something you loved creating.
And what have been some of the challenges?
How much time you got? It’s all challenges, buckle up and enjoy the ride.
What advice would you give someone who wanted to start their own business?
You can do it, begin by building the habits first is my best starting advice. Be ready to be about that life, get a job in the field and do all the work you can to learn everything you can about it and when you think you know it all, go ask some old heads that will take the time to help you and you’ll learn even more. Get in the habit of waking up early, eating breakfast, and sleeping well. Take care of yourself, cuz you’re your companies best staff member and the whole show is screwed without you. And don’t be afraid to do things old school if it feels right. Not everything has to be ultra new and up to date and modern.
What are some of your other creative outlets? What do you like to do on your free time?
I like to shoot hoops, read, watch basketball in person and on TV, cook steaks and risotto, reminisce about skateboarding, spend time with my family and my wife and our dog, and go kayaking in the sun.
If you weren’t running Sam James Coffee Bar, what do you think you’d be doing?
I recently acquired a love of driving, so a chauffeur would be fun I think.
What music/podcasts/tv shows have you been getting into recently?
Lately I’ve been listening to a lotta Jay Worthy, DJ Lucas, Kanye, Freddie Gibbs. Check out my buddy Chris’ podcast How Long Gone.
What were your first (or most memorable) pair of Vans?
First pair I remember was this dude Elliot I used to skate with when I was like 11 or 12, his older brother Phil had Old Skools, he was like the best skater in town, he was of the older 80s era, cuz this was in like 94’ and it was very much an Etnies era of skating so Vans were Avante garde for the moment and it was sick that he had his own swag. He passed those down to his little brother Elliot, and I ended up with them at some point while they were bald soled on their last legs.
What pair of Vans are you currently wearing and why did you pick this pair?
I got these green suede slip ons right now at the office actually. They’re my office slippers, very lavish.
