New Orleans coffee house determined to keep grinding

PJ's Coffee, founded 27 years ago inNew Orleans, kept its roasting facility operating through the hardships of the last three months with the help of an exceptionally dedicated roast master and his team.

The 40-plus store coffee chain originally lost no less than 30 percent of its stores inNew Orleans, includingOrleans, Jefferson andSt.Tammany parishes. Within the past several months, more than 15 locations have reopened, while several are on the road to opening by year's end. Among a few others, two stores atTulaneUniversityare expected to open in late January or early February.

As part of its unique roasting process, PJ's keeps its beans in very small batches. But after the damage inflicted on the roasting house and its coffee supplies, no one knew if the roasting facility would ever re-open.

"We went to the roasting site as soon as government officials said it was safe to return," said Felton Jones, PJ's roast master. "When we got there, we found a small batch of green coffee beans that was not damaged by the storm. The discovery was our call to action, and we devised a plan."

Born and raised inNew Orleans, Jones saw it as his mission to help his city in any way possible. After working with PJ's Coffee for 10 years, there was no doubt that the small batch of green coffee beans was a sign.

Cooking hot meals in an efficiency kitchen and using a file cabinet for a pantry, Jones and his production supervisor, Brian Beck, work night and day in the facility in order to guarantee that it is business as usual for the PJ's stores inNew Orleans...and around the country.

For the last two and a half months, Jones and Beck have dedicated their weekdays to maintaining PJ's life support and their weekends to visiting family - which, at this time, live five to nine hours away fromNew Orleans. Their efforts reinforced what New Orleans Gambit Weekly reported recently, proving that PJ's is determined to support the city that has been there from the beginning, naming it "New Orleans' No. 1 coffeehouse" time and time again.