Written by Jordan Michelman.
I recently had the pleasure of taking a closer look at Goat Hill Coffee & Soda in Kansas City. This cafe came highly recommended by Chad Little, a La Marzocco USA team member serving the Kansas City and St. Louis communities, and it’s easy to see why. Gorgeous and deeply seasonal signature drinks are the watchword here: honey thyme espresso spritzes and wassail in winter, flash-brewed sodas with Colombian coffee and strawberry lime soda in summer, and so much more on their gorgeous Instagram. All these sodas and flavors are made in-house, making this a truly impressive small-production drinks program, with a La Marzocco Linea PB at the heart of it all.
To learn more, I spoke with Miriam Mix, manager at Goat Hill Coffee & Soda in KCMO’s charming Westside.
Hi Miriam, thanks for chatting with me. I was excited to learn about Goat Hill on the recommendation of Chad Little from La Marzocco (and looking at all your gorgeous drinks and food on Instagram). As an introduction for someone who is not familiar with what you do, tell our readers a little bit about the cafe and what you’re up to in the space.
Goat Hill has been a part of the Westside Neighborhood since 2016 and is owned by Post Coffee Company. Prior to Goat Hill the space was known as Little Freshies, a soda and snow cone shop. With such a small space we have the luxury of prioritizing quality over quantity- offering unique seasonal menus and house made syrups and food. Besides delicious coffee and pastries we are about as “neighborhood café aesthetic” as one can get.
The idea of “handmade” seems like it’s at the core of everything you do — tell me a little bit more about what that means in terms of your drinks program and your approach to running a cafe.
As I mentioned a little already, because we have the capacity to do so, we work hard to provide products that are not only delicious but also sustainable and of high quality. We know that we are able to serve our community through experience and convenience and do our best to bring both characteristics together. Being in our neighborhood, it is also incredibly important to us that we are supporting our local community. Our chai, for example, is made by our neighbor Stephen Bushman the owner of Chai Pod, which is crafted within the Westside neighborhood. To be small and to be local equals a need of support that is not often shared in this market. However, Westside is an incredible example of a group of small businesses working hard to support one another.
What’s something that you do at Goat Hill that is especially challenging and time-consuming to hand-make?
Our seasonal syrups often take a little more brain power than your standard syrup. This winter season we are bringing in a spiced plum shrub which takes a little over 24 hours to make as well as a hojicha (roasted matcha) based drink that is paired with a Lapsang Souchong (Chinese pine smoked black tea) syrup. Since we are such a small crew, we do our best to make things as efficient as possible without cutting any corners.
What’s something you do at Goat Hill that is especially gratifying or that you’re really proud of?
The way our team connects with the community is a really wonderful and gratifying aspect of our café. The “neighborhood café” feel is very real. We know and have a connection with almost everyone who walks through the door. There is often a difference between “service” and “hospitality”, and we like to operate in the “hospitality industry”.
I love how in tune with seasons and microseasons your programs are — this is something that’s really important and pleasurable to me as a consumer and I have a lot of respect for places that care about this stuff. What’s your favorite season to perform in the cafe?
We have such a creative and talented team that we are truly able to create an awesome seasonal menu every time. We love focusing on the senses. In spring and summer, we focus on the ingredients and exploration. In the fall and winter, we love invoking nostalgia.
Please give me a quick rundown of the coffee making equipment you use at the cafe — what espresso system do you use, what grinder, do you offer pour over etc?
Goat Hill offers your standard and traditional espresso menu. We currently offer Kalita Wave for our pour-over method but are looking into alternatives. We just recently got the La Marzocco Linea PB, which we absolutely love and were so excited to switch over to, and we use a Mahlkonig e65 for our grinders. We also prepare matcha with the traditional tools of a bamboo whisk and bowl, utilizing our Fellow Kettle to be sure the water stays around 170 degrees to keep from scorching the tea. Everything else I would say is pretty standard. We weigh our syrups out as opposed to pumps, which we feel adds a layer to the quality and consistency we strive to maintain.
Can you share a little more about your corner of Kansas City where the cafe is located? What’s some other fun things to do in your neighborhood I should check out?
Westside is just across I-35 highway from downtown Kansas City. It’s a neighborhood that lots of people from KC aren’t even aware of. I may be a little biased, but I really believe it to be the cutest neighborhood in KC. We have several amazing restaurants like The Westside Local, Los Alamos Cocina, Clay & Fire, and Zero Zero. We have shopping- Westside Storey and Roots. Taochemy offers several services that aid in physical and mental wellness. Not to mention the other spots like XO and Till Death Tattoo. All of this is within walking distance of one another and is a great way to spend an afternoon. The neighborhood is actually putting together a Westside Night on January 31st, during which the public is welcome to come and visit all these locations and have the opportunity to be entered into a raffle for various prizes if they collect stamps from each spot! All of that is to say that Westside is amazing, and we hope people will take the opportunity to come and visit!
Thank you so much!
Visit Goat Hill Coffee and Soda’s website and follow them on Instagram.
