Origin Coffee to Open Second Location in Historic Heights Neighborhood

Local coffee roaster set to open a new café in Fulton's former building this March, promising coffee classes, community, and collaboration.

Since 2022, Origin Coffee owner Tyler Gibbons has been carving a distinct path in the city's coffee scene, shunning the "source and sell first" advice and instead diving headfirst into roasting his own beans. This dedication to quality has paid off, and now, Origin Coffee is preparing to open its second location in The Heights neighborhood directly north of downtown.

The location for the new Origin Coffee holds a special place in the hearts of locals; it formerly housed Fulton Street Books & Coffee, which owner and founder Onikah Asamoa-Caesar has since moved to a new home on Black Wall Street. David Hoffer and Terry Waska, the new owners of the building, saw the potential to recreate that community hub and were immediately drawn to Origin Coffee's unique approach.

“Fulton Street Books & Coffee was an amenity in the neighborhood,” Hoffer said, referencing the positive impact of the coffee and book shop. “So when we bought the building, we wanted to have the same amenity on the cafe side so we could serve the community similarly to how [Asamoa-Caesar] did.”

They found their perfect match in Origin Coffee after considering various options, including a PR firm, a hair salon, and even other cafe

“As soon as we saw Tyler's branding and his whole approach, we were like, okay, this is the guy we need,” Waska said.

Gibbons’ commitment to roasting set him apart in the Tulsa coffee scene. He readily admits the learning curve was steep, but his passion fueled a rapid growth in both his coffee knowledge and the popularity of his beans. "We can't keep them on the shelf," he said with pride. While Gibbons is the roaster, he credited his team's collaborative tasting and note-determining process for setting the high standard.

“Everyone told me to source and sell other people's coffee at first while focusing on my branding, and that then I could work my way into roasting and making my own coffee,” Gibbons said. “I completely ignored everybody and bought a roaster first.”

The coffee roaster for Origin Coffee’s entire roasting production will be on display in the new location, allowing customers to witness the coffee journey, from bean to cup. Gibbons will also leverage having the roaster on site to put on workshops for coffee enthusiasts of all levels.

“We’ll do cupping and profiling, which is education of the palette,” Gibbons explained, outlining his vision for the workshops. “We’ll also teach classes for baristas and home brewers. If you have an espresso machine at home, we can teach you the basics. All sorts of cool stuff that we’ll have the space to do with the support from David and Terry, without knocking too many holes in the wall.”

Beyond serving up the delicious cortados that Origin Coffee is known for, this new location promises to be a vibrant community hub for The Heights. Residents will have first dibs on workshops which will be shared in the neighborhood's communication channels, and Waska shared that the coffee shop could host the neighborhood holiday party, the monthly board meetings, and more. 

“The vision of this place was to make it more of an old school beat coffee shop where our string musicians can come in and play a show on the weekend,” Hoffer said. “Or where we can put up an art gallery, and be a public neighborhood space.”

The coffee shop itself will be designed to foster connection and support local artists. Gibbons plans to keep furniture and shelves low, allowing ample canvas space on the walls for local artists to display their work.

Perhaps the biggest collaboration comes from across the street. Prism Cafe's chef and owner Aimee Hunter and her baking team will bake all the pastries, including coffee cakes, cookies, and potentially bagels, for the new Origin Coffee location. Chef Aimee is already brewing and serving Origin’s coffee out of Prism Café.

“Aimee Hunter’s baking team is making all of our baked goods for Midtown right now as a trial run,” Tyler explained. “She brought on one of our team members to help her bake as part of this collaboration, so that they could share what our customers are used to and then Aimee could put her spin on it. As we transition to the Heights location, she'll help us keep up with our pastries over here.”

The baked goods menu will mirror the drinks menu, in that it will have some seasonality, but will still feature plenty of tried and true classics.

Origin Coffee is set to open their new location at 210 W Latimer Street in March of 2024.