16 Oct 30th-NOv 5th, 2025 phoenixnewtimes.com PHOENIX NEW TIMES | NEWS | FEATURE | FOOD & DRINK | ARTS & CULTURE | MUSIC | CONCERTS | CANNABIS | KEEPING COFFEE AFFORDABLE Tariffs have forced coffee shop owners to walk a tightrope. They must balance costs against what customers can afford, or are willing to pay. No matter how essential a cup of coffee sounds, quick math says that the difference between a $3, $5 and an $8 cup, plus tip, adds up in a hurry, especially if it’s a habit. James Holmstol visits Moxie almost every day. He orders matcha with almond milk; if his partner is with him, she gets a coffee. “I don’t like getting coffee to go,” he says. “I like the ritual of sitting and enjoying it.” Holmstol, a consultant who helps endurance athletes eat and train, typically works from Moxie as he sips his drink. He likes the atmosphere and comfort of being a regular. But he’s sensitive to the price of his order: just over $7. When he stops somewhere else and has to pay more than that, he starts to wonder, “What am I getting?” That feeling is what Ty Watson, another Valley coffee seller, calls a “balking point.” She worked in marketing for a local coffee chain before founding a mobile coffee cart, Stroll Coffee, with her husband, Freddie Watson, in December. Freddie applies bar techniques like clarifi- cation — a laborious process also referred to as milk-washing — to create a crystal clear, velvety smooth coffee drink. Over the summer, the cart served a tropical, Dole Whip-inspired clarified coffee made with Moxie’s cold brew. The Watsons found that customers forgive higher prices when the owners explain their commitment to laborious techniques, hand-made syrups and buying locally. Still, they won’t put a drink over $9 on the menu. “The last thing I want to do to anyone while they’re having a nice little day out is, you know, kind of rob them in daylight,” Freddie says. Beal, who opened his specialty coffee shop in July after spending five years brewing and roasting coffee at farmers’ markets, agrees with that sentiment. “We all struggle with the thought of a $10 cup of coffee,” Beal says. “Coffee has become such a huge part of our ritual and our society and our humanity in some ways.” BREWING NEW IDEAS Decades of cheap labor and predictable climates conditioned us all to undervalue coffee. It’s always been a luxury good in plain sight: nutritionally vapid, imported across oceans, brought to us by fabulous chemistry and unseen human hands. Yet it’s also a staple. So as prices keep ballooning, cafe owners are trying to maintain their margins without pricing you out of your double espresso. Mythical Coffee Roasters in Gilbert hosted wood-fired pizza nights with the pop-up Irma. Co-owner Eric Hervey manned the coffee bar, serving sparkling teas and lattes and pulling shots for affogatos during a recent evening. Hervey runs the coffee shop with his wife, Kat, typically from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. Hosting evening events allows the Herveys to invite customers in for more hours. At an Irma pop-up, dozens of guests packed the cafe’s benches and tables inside or shared community tables set up outside. “Margins are tighter,” Hervey says. “If we can do one extra evening, maybe that could shift towards a little bit better busi- ness model.” Moxie will soon launch a membership program similar to a wine club. Members will be invited to coffee classes, where they can meet producers and taste unique brews. Heltzel also moved Moxie’s roastery from the cafe to the downtown Phoenix warehouse district, allowing the roastery to grow and Heltzel to revamp the cafe space as a kitchen for baker Ryne Spracale, who is currently piloting morning buns and cookies. By next spring, that menu will include sandwiches and loaves of bread. “We’re starting our own bakery opera- tion so that we can own that,” Heltzel says. “We can own our margins, we can own the product and the product quality.” While rising costs and tariffs squeeze the coffee industry, they could be devas- tating for small businesses. Heltzel hopes consumers will pay attention to this economic volatility. A large coffeehouse chain can weather these storms. A locally owned cafe may not. “It does feel like an important time for people to sit down and vote with their wallet,” he says. “Choosing those will have a really important impact on the busi- nesses that will exist in the next two or three years.” Squeezed from p 15 The midtown Phoenix cafe Moxie Coffee Co. attracts a regular crowd of mobile workers, groups and coffee afficiados. (Brigette Doby)
