FAIR HAVEN: COFFEE’S FRESH AT BOOSKERDOO

“I feel like I should sign the wall or something,” said Josh Epstein of Rumson, the first customer in the door when Booskerdoo opened Friday morning. Below, owner Jim Caverly shining up the equipment. (Photos by Jim Willis.)

By JIM WILLIS

Like riding a fixie or putting a bird on it, “micro-roasting coffee beans” sounds like a possible merit badge requirement out of the hipster handbook. So it’s a bit surprising that James Caverly, owner of newly opened Fair Haven micro-roastery Booskerdoo, sports none of the trappings of hipsterism: no tattoo, no handlebar mustache.

“No way,” says Caverly, “that’s not what we’re about. Our logo says, ‘Fresh Roasted Coffee For All.'”

Caverly goes for inclusivity, and gets excited helping coffee drinkers discover how much better the experience can be by drinking coffee brewed with fresh-roasted beans.

“We use the term micro-roaster like you would use the term micro-brewer for beer,” says Caverly. “It’s the same concept. If you mass produce in any business, what ends up happening is efficiency is your number one priority, and quality becomes second. In micro-roasting, you’re working on quality with small batches. We don’t do a ton, we don’t have a warehouse. We roast it and ship it.”

Caverly, 31, is originally from Princeton but after graduating from Rutgers and living in New York City, he’s decided he wants to “live and die in Monmouth County.” He and his wife, Amelia, and their four-month-old daughter, Claire, live in Interlaken.

During pre-opening preparations at the River Road shop – formerly the home to the Java Stop – redbankgreen took the opportunity to talk with Caverly about beans, siphon brews and why there’s no Booskerdoo in Red Bank.

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