Written by Jordan Michelman.
Austere, sparse interiors. A foreboding nu-Nordique vibe. Purist, ascetic dedication to the unadorned art of bright-light roast coffee. A minimalist approach to interior design.
These norms in the world of third-wave cafes had their day in the bleak Scandinavian sun, but absolutely none of this even remotely describes what they’re doing at PERC Coffee of Savannah and Atlanta, Georgia. These cafes are instead an exploded maximalist kaleidoscope of colors and textures, inviting people from all walks of life to enjoy excellent coffee with a playful, fun, welcoming vibe. I love cafes that feel like this: sunny and, memorable and interesting, with a love of coffee to back it up.
Fortunately for fans of this cafe style, PERC has enjoyed considerable growth over the last few years, expanding from one location in their hometown of Savannah (on the coast) to now six cafes across the Atlanta metropolitan area, each doing that same compelling big-energy thing. It takes really good coffee to make the concept work, and PERC’s CEO/CMO Alan Fischer has his own approach to, well, pretty much everything. This is a coffee company going places.
Hey Alan—thanks for chatting with me. PERC’s growth and expansion has been so much fun to watch. You now have six locations between Savannah and Atlanta Metro, including multiple cafes opened in 2024. Catch us up with this phase of growth: was this always the plan for PERC? Are there more locations coming? What’s next?
Opening coffee shops was not part of the plan! We love sourcing and roasting coffee, connecting with people through coffee, and helping them get to a great cup. For a really long time, we had this idea of how coffee could be served at shops, but we couldn’t convince our wholesale accounts that it was possible to weigh every dose or serve wild single-origin coffees on a bar. Our first shop was almost a proof of concept, just to show it really is possible to serve the best coffees with all the care they deserve and to pair them with really great food and exceptional hospitality. We found that we love being able to influence the whole value chain and be the ones handing off a crazy coffee or signature drink and watching someone’s face light up when they try it.
There are definitely more locations coming. We love being in neighborhoods, which generally means fewer commercial spaces, so we sometimes find ourselves without any spaces we’re really excited about, and sometimes our retail director Amber Foreman is somehow impossibly opening three shops simultaneously…
Between your six cafes, how different or similar is the bar set-up? What machines are you using for each in terms of espresso, grinder, etc? Do you often share staff between locations, or does each shop have a dedicated crew?
All six shops have a fairly similar bar set up, and we have focused on optimizing and perfecting the workflow, bar build, and equipment standards with our last three shop openings. While we let the space inform our design, we’ve sought to standardize our espresso module so our baristas should be able to step onto any PERC bar and throw down without skipping a beat.
We are using a La Marzocco Strada ABR at two locations and the Linea PB ABR at our other four locations. Each setup has a Mazzer Robur S as our “Mild” grinder and two Mazzer Kony S for our “Wild” single origin and decaf espresso grinders. Additionally, we utilize the Mazzer ZM for batch brew and manual brew.
Talk more about the Linea PBs you’re using at the newest cafes — why that choice? What does the team like about it?
We have just three main considerations for our espresso machines. First, they have to work. That sounds obvious, but the reliability and parts availability we’ve seen for the La Marzocco machines are unmatched. In fact, we had a beautiful custom pink machine with scales at our Virginia Highland shop and eventually replaced it with a Linea PB strictly based on reliability.
Second, our machines need to have integrated scales. We always have a mild and a wild single-origin espresso on the bar, and some of the wild coffees can be really sensitive to shot parameters. Scales give us the best chance of delivering an awesome cup every time.
Finally, space is a consideration. We like that the Linea PB is dimensionally smaller than the Strada (and some non-LM machines we’ve used), which lets us operate on more compact bars when we need to.
The Linea PB checks all three boxes for us, and the custom powder coating gives us all the vibes we’re looking for.
I would love to know more about that powder coating choice and how it works with the interior design at your new cafes, which feels so compelling and vivid.
We have almost exclusively gone pink with our Linea PB’s over the years. The only exception is at our newest Chastain Atlanta location which showcases the Linea in mint green. We have found that the custom paint always sparks great conversations and excitement with our guests waiting for a drink.
Creating fun, bright, and inviting spaces for folks has been a blast. We worked with Local Architects on our Tucker shop and got the chance to design Grant Park and Chastain fully in-house. Philip Brown (founder), Amber Foreman, and Brad Praria (Creative Lead and design wizard) wanted to bring something unique to each space while still having a familiar PERC vibe. The use of pinks, mint, blue, and the classic “marshmallow” has really brought the spaces to life, along with hand-painted murals and LED lightning bolt bar fronts.
What’s really exciting to you right now in Atlanta? What are the bars, restaurants, and cultural stuff that you think really exemplify Atlanta in 2024?
Despite how much Atlanta has continued to grow, it’s really encouraging to see other local restaurateurs finding success in our communities. We found our first shop location by eating at Poor Hendrix in East Lake, looking out the window, and asking, “What’s going over there??” It’s the hands-down favorite for our whole leadership team. Poor Hendrix has done well enough for Jamie and Aaron Russel to open another concept nearby. We saw the same thing in Grant Park with Leslie Cohen’s Firepit Pizza and Birdcage. As we opened our shop in Chastain this year, Superica’s Kevin Maxey opened his new restaurant, Pendolino, just up the road.
Atlanta is a huge city, but people really live in their neighborhoods, each with its own vibe and strong identity (if not fierce loyalty). That’s part of what makes Atlanta such a great place to live and also why it’s such a great fit for PERC. We love to meet people where they are, and we get to earn our place as their coffee shop. None of that is changing as Atlanta continues to grow and develop.
Visit PERC’s official website and follow them on Instagram.
