For all of the attention that Savannah’s food scene has gotten for the last half-decade plus, what tends to fly under the radar a little bit is the fact that our city has had a fairly vibrant coffee scene for a lot longer than that. Several coffee roasters have enjoyed massive success in and around Savannah. Some have even expanded beyond the confines of Chatham County.

One roaster that has carved itself out a nice niche is Cup to Cup Coffee Roasters. It’s not the biggest or most popular coffee name on the streets of Savannah, but those who know quality, know exactly what James Spano has been consistently producing out of his Wilmington Island roasting room for since 2009. A dozen or so area restaurants carry his product. A few coffee shops in town use his beans. His story is one of a steady hand, perseverance and consistency.

A couple of weeks ago, I enjoyed a chat with James to find out how he makes it all go. Over a cup of coffee, of course.

JESSE: You’ve been at this, you told me before. Was it 13 years? 15 years now. Started 15 years in 2009. People don’t realize Savannah has and has had for a long time a fairly vibrant coffee scene. Is that a fair statement?

JS: Yeah. When I first came in in 2009, there were some classics, staples that were here and are still here, like Gallery Espresso, Sentient Bean. But those were the main ones. And then outside of that, especially in the downtown area, not a whole lot going on. It’s one of the reasons I saw an opportunity here and why I moved here. Family here, my brother was working and I was looking for a location to open and I thought, try something new. Move somewhere, a fresh start. I was in Auburn, Alabama. That’s where I from.

JB: What in your mind makes Cup to Cup different?

JS: Well, part of my story and part of my journey is a calling. I feel called to bring people together. I feel called to be a light in people’s life and to be show kindness to people. In my first coffee job back at Auburn University Tumors Coffee, I saw something that I hadn’t seen in a minute. And that was how just small, simple interactions can totally change a person’s day. How simple acts of kindness, especially accumulated repetitive, can really produce something positive and different. And my goal when I was opening here was to have a cafe. And so to bring that mindset into coffee. And so to not have a cafe for eight years with the goal of bringing people together was really hard, a really difficult path to take. But I found some of that through farmer’s markets, through tastings at the Roastery and other events there. And we’re slowly bringing the entire notion of Cup to Cup is that coffee brings people together. Food brings people together, people sitting together over something, enjoying something that something shared just opens up that door a little bit more to them sharing life with each other.

JB: You have been here now, you told me eight years you used to be off the beaten path. I think the path has been plenty beaten around here. Have you seen, obviously we had the COVID years in between, but have you seen an uptick in traffic along here?

JS: Yes. This year alone. We had a couple of stalled years. 2020 was what it was, right? 21. We had a pretty decent bounce back in 22 and 23 were borderline stagnant for us, which was really, really kind of frustrating and kind of making decisions. Our time for renewal for a lease was coming up here and it’s like, do we want to stick it out? We did. We hit that renewal button and stuck with it. And this year really starting since the beginning of the year, it’s been running. We’re 20% up sales over last year. That’s awesome. Whereas the previous weird year, we were up 1%. And so definitely the jump has happened. Right.

JB: And it’s not just tourists who just came out of the cemetery and are walking by. You were telling me last time we talked, you have a lot of regulars who come seeking you out?

JS: Yeah, we have lots of regulars coming through. And some of that came from when we were off the beaten path. We were just right on the edge of downtown where regulars, people that live here felt safe enough to come and park nearby and not get overwhelmed by tourists. And certainly we’ve lost some regulars who over the years have just, for whatever reasons, just not, it’s just not their thing. And I totally get it. I joke when people tell me, when tourists come in and they say, where should we eat? And I’ll give them two or three recommendations and they say, well, what do you think of that space? And I say, well, I’ve never been there. And as I’ve heard great things, I’m sure it’s wonderful.

JB: I am going to ask you to throw some flowers to some of your favorite spots. Of course. Yeah. So how many times a day do you coffee?

JS: I start in the morning at home. I drink about half a cup of coffee just to get myself moving, make a little coffee for me and my wife. And then it really depends on the schedule a lot. Especially if I’m working on a new coffee or a new roast. I’m testing through drinking, trying things out. I drink a lot of half cups of coffee. I drink a little bit here and a little bit there. I just build up a half a cup here, then I’ll sip on. I like hot coffee and drinking it hot, the whole cup. And I have access to a lot of coffee so I can do that.

JB: Most normal people do you have a cutoff time of when after a certain time you don’t drink anymore?

JS: No, not really. Although I will hit phases where I drink so much coffee, I hit that saturation point and too much caffeine will give me some anxiety. And so it’s not often, caffeine doesn’t usually keep me awake at night so much as just like it’s too much. I’ve got too many, my thoughts start flying all over the place. Like okay, that’s enough. And maybe once every couple of years I’ll be in a period where I’m just guzzling and I’m like, okay, I need to not drink any coffee at all for two days here. Reset. Detox.

My fall and winter drinks, I’ll enjoy a couple of hot chocolate drinking chocolates like we have here. Or a couple of mochas, maybe one spice brown, two spice brown. I mean I can probably count on one or two hands. The non-black coffee drinks that I drink in a year. Interesting. It’s pretty small.

JB: What is most popular here?

JS: It’s pretty consistently in terms of numbers, they trade back and forth, but it’s latte ice latte coffee, iced coffee. Mocha fits in that latte. So probably a latte.

JB: Tell me about those drinking chocolates.

JS: Drinking chocolates, that’s one we’ve done every winter. Chocolate cocoa, a red cocoa that we make in-house. A powder, a mix that we mix up and mix with half and half. And if you’re feeling adventurous you can throw some Chai in there too. And it’s super nice to top it off with whipped cream. It’s the only time we carry whipped cream in the cafe.

JB: And when do those roll out?

JS: Usually 1st of December or right after Thanksgiving. We kind of hit past Fall into winter things.

JB: What do you like most about what’s happening in Savannah right now?

JS: I like the options. I like that there are more varieties of food that we’re moving beyond the four or five stapled things that you can have six or seven restaurants of those four or five things and here’s a couple of restaurants here or there where that’s the only one in the area. And I think that’s neat. I like seeing small businesses trying their hardest and getting up and moving. I like some of the stuff that’s happening down on Waters Avenue.

JB: Free plug if no one can make it down here. Which restaurants carry your coffee?

JS: Well, for the downtown area, definitely go over to Paris Market. They’ve got a fantastic vibe. They’ve got a beautiful Lamar SoCo three group espresso machine that just really, that we put in a couple of years ago. That looks amazing. And Alexanders Bistro south of the park there. We’ve been selling to them for a few years now. We just opened up with SIXBY as they opened not that long ago. And like I had mentioned on the Waters corridor, Waters Cafe for advice from us. Of course we’ve got a lot of other spots in town. Other places I’ve done plenty of plugs for. So those are ones that I haven’t. Pour Boy Coffee on Waters on the Southside as well.

JB: This coffee shop is small, no seating to speak of but your following speaks for itself. How often can a guest find you here?

JS: Cup to Cup is open Six days a week. Monday through Saturday, 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM

Cup to Cup Coffee
140 Abercorn Street
Savannah, GA 31401
Cuptocupcoffee.com

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