Co-owner Raffaello Van Couten is proud to bring Eleva Coffee to his home neighborhood
Eleva’s inside offers space to work, meet friends, + relax
Eleva Coffee has just expanded to their new home at 649 Grand Street, which in many ways is where their story began. While Eleva has been in business for a little under 2 years, it opened its first storefront on
N 8th street in October.
Emilio Baltodano founded Eleva when seeking to merge ethically sourced coffee with consumer friendly prices, so he used his prior 15 years in the coffee trading business to connect with rural communities in Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Ethiopia. Using his past coffee industry experience, Emilio built a sustainable model that pays Eleva’s farmers above market-rate and invests significantly in building up the infrastructure and schools in the communities they farm.
After founding Eleva, Emilio met now co-owner Raffaello Van Couten by providing Eleva’s coffee to Van Couten’s Williamsburg restaurant, Midnights. Van Couten has lived on Grand Street for over 10 years, and even partners with local biz Willy B Crossfit (667 Grand St) on culinary side projects. When Van Couten and Willy B came into the fold of the Eleva project, Grand Street seemed like the natural next destination for the shop.
Raffaello and Emilio consider Grand Street an integral part of their business today, and they are entrenching their coffee in the community with special discounts for Grand Street residents and baked goods from neighborhood bakery Nick + Sons.
Welcome Eleva to the neighborhood by trying “The Grand” sandwich special asking for your $1 off discount for living in the community.
Emilo ensures Eleva’s coffee is farm-to-cup with close relationships to their farming communites