Misha's Coffee - About Misha's

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About Misha's

In 1991, I opened Misha’s, a very small coffeehouse with a coffee roaster, in the Old Town section of Alexandria Virginia. In 1996, five years later, we were doing $1,000,000 of business from 1000 square feet of floor space, and we were voted the Best Coffeehouse in the entire Washington D.C. metropolitan area, by the readers of the Washingtonian Magazine – one little store beating all of the multi-unit chains with their presumably much larger customer bases – and all of this without any advertising. The phenomenal growth and the undeniable success that we have experienced are based on the outstanding quality of our coffee, and the understandable enthusiasm of our customers. Though the secret of our success is very simply said, the superlative quality of the coffee at Misha’s has extensive underpinnings.

The Coffee House

At any point during the day, we may be engaged in life's wide spectrum, from leisure to labor. Conversations, study, or imaginative journeys are all commonplace in Misha's. The center of this house is its coffee, a fixed point around which the activities of the entire house rotate. Misha's Coffee House is no exception.

Large, open squared arches connect our three rooms. These allow for sight lines that run the full length of our space. There are also large paned, westerly facing windows in each of the rooms. Thus, a sense of expansive and cohesive space, both interior and exterior, is maintained.
In one room you will find a large community table. The roaster stands nearby too, fired and churning batches of beans for hours most days. Beans scooped into the roaster straight from the heavy, fibrous cargo bags in which they were shipped to us.
Our central room includes our serving counter. On this are large glass jars containing whole bean displays of our blends and varietals. From these you may buy beans by the pound or have coffee made for you. We also always have a number of blends ready to serve, both warm and iced.
The third room includes a number of small tables of a kind with others that can be found throughout our space. When we first opened, as some of you may remember, this room was the entire coffee house. Over the years, we expanded into our current three-room configuration.
Vintage refrigerators, framed paintings and photographs, a solid, pure jazz sound system are additional elements that define our space. On days of accommodating weather, we have outdoor benches and chairs that create a spontaneous fourth room. And, most importantly, we have you. Any and all of our patrons that choose to be here are vital members of the house.
Like any house, mere descriptions or accounts of its spaces are inadequate conveyers. We invite you come and see it for yourself. some time populating this house with your life. We promise, in turn, to provide coffees worthy of you.

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