The Best Damn Cup of Coffee in Town! At Social Coffee Roastery, A Good Cup is Just Black & White

10The Best Damn Cup of Coffee in Town! At Social Coffee Roastery, A Good Cup is Just Black & White

by RONA MANN / Photos by Jeffery Lilly

11

He didn’t have a choice, really.

How could he when his mother sat at the foot of his bed, “every night for two weeks straight crying her eyes out.” Tom Piacenza is recalling a memory. He laughs now, but back then – during the Vietnam era – it was deadly serious.

In December of 1969 the government instituted a draft lottery based on the birth date of eligible young men. Each birth date was randomly assigned a number, the lowest numbers were among the first to be called to war. Piacenza’s number was six, and he was devastated. He had hoped to join the Marines after high school, but he did not want to go to war. Fortunately for Tom, the war ended before he could be conscripted, but his mother’s tears did not end. “She was a good actress and had other plans for me,” Piacenza said. “My grandfather was a barber, my father was a barber. I

never wanted to be a barber at all, but my mother desperately wanted me to be a third generation barber. I had gone all through Catholic school; and in those years they taught you to respect your parents and not go against them, or it was a sin.”

So after attending barber college in Hartford, Piacenza joined his grandfather and father. “I quit at least 25 times,” he laughs. “They were

both difficult to work with, and I didn’t want to be a barber.” But the good Catholic hung in...for 43 years!

A few years before he retired, Tom saw a man on the internet roasting coffee. “I was looking for a hobby and thought that would make a great one. So I ordered a small 1.1 pound coffee roaster to see if I would like it.” He also ordered six bags of coffee beans. One day a truck pulled up in front of Piacenza’s barber shop on Water Street in Stonington Borough and took out a large palette on which the driver placed six sacks of coffee beans, each weighing between 134-155 pounds. “I panicked,” Tom said. “I had absolutely no idea what I was going to do with all those beans and only my little 1.1 pound roaster!”

So Tom bought a bigger roaster, took some courses, did a lot of reading, and now just shy of the two year mark, he has put down his scissors

Owner Tom Piacenza stands with “his baby” a Nuova Simonelli Aurelia 3 Expresso machine.

for good and is happily roasting on Water Street in the Boro in the very same location where once he cut hair and shaved beards. After much contemplation, he named his new business Social Coffee. “It’s simple. It fits. People come to a coffee house to gather, to talk together, to be social.”

A very black and white concept indeed, but that is exactly what you’ll find at Social Coffee. The décor is clean, understated, and simply done in black and white. There are no kitschy posters or sayings on the wall because this is a place that is dead serious about their product. “And it’s all about the coffee. I let the product speak for itself,” Piacenza affirms.

Social Coffee is the best coffee made from the best coffee beans grown the world over. There’s Brazilian, Colombian, Guatemalan, Peruvian, Sumatran, Indonesian, Ethiopian, just to mention a few; and all are roasted or personally prepared, one cup at a time by Tom. Social Coffee also has fresh cookies, chocolate bars, macaroons, bagels, muffins, scones, and biscotti available. However there are no sandwiches. No soup or salads. This place is strictly about the coffee, pure and simple, black and white. Piacenza’s house coffee is a three-bean blend, while his espresso is four-bean. All are organic, fair trade, which means

the beans are grown according to a set of strict standards worldwide.

In addition to the fresh roasted coffee and espresso, Social Coffee earns its reputation with selections like Macchiato, Latte, Doppio, Organic Cocoa, and tea.

But the former barber is not resting on his laurels, not by a long shot. “I’m 63 now, and when you start a new venture it gives you energy, keeps you young.” So Piacenza is

actively looking for more locations for Social Coffee. His blends are currently found at McQuade’s Supermarkets in Connecticut and Rhode Island, some smaller independent groceries, and he’s presently involved in ongoing negotiations with major chains. “I also wholesale to restaurants and caterers and hope to expand throughout all of New England,” Tom adds.

Social Coffee will be going from black and white to color next Christmas as the Hallmark channel recently spent a week in the Boro shooting a movie, all of which was filmed at Social Coffee. The store and the streets were festooned with holiday decorations and fake snow, and both crews and actors mingled with the locals and visitors to Social Coffee for a full week. A lot of coffee was poured, a lot of socializing accompanied the filming, and Piacenza looks forward to seeing his dream on

film once the holidays roll around later this year. Right now the working title for the film is “Holiday for Heroes,” although the Hallmark Channel might make a change in the months to come.

There’s a steady stream of customers in and out of Social Coffee seven days a week from 7AM-6PM in winter and 7AM- 9PM during the busy summer months. Still, with all the hours he puts in at the store, Tom is up at 3AM every day roasting the beans before he puts the key in the lock. “The bottom line is I have a passion for it. I enjoy it, and I do a darn good job of roasting.”

The good Catholic boy who listened to his mother all those years ago, honoring her wish that he become a barber is now listening to his heart, honoring the earth, the pure and simple beans it produces, and the wishes of his customers who delight in having him prepare their own special cup of coffee each day.

Let Tom pour a cup for you at Social Coffee, 117 Water Street, right in the heart of Stonington Borough. (860) 334-2819