Coffee is the only way Sarah Barnett knows how to make a living. Barnett began her career in coffee while working in a ministry setting in Gadsden, Ala.
“The connection made between people over those beverages enthralled me,” Barnett said.

Barnett has managed coffee shops that range from Starbucks to Cambridge Coffee until a point came in her corporate career that she described as exhausting and unfulfilling.

“I knew that it was time to develop the next season of my life professionally,” she said.

Barnett attended the Specialty Coffee Association of America tradeshow in 2009 and made a lot of connections in the industry.

“I kept brainstorming about roasting and importing coffees, about what it would be like to work with the raw product all day and educate people about the roasting process,” Barnett said.

Another aspect that drew Barnett to brewing coffee were the farmers. She had been involved in mission work in high school and had visited Guatemala and Mexico.

“The villages there and coffee farming communities changed my view of humanity and I knew I somehow wanted to be a part of enriching their lives as well as personal development for myself,” she said.

Barnett said that because of her love for people growing coffee and for those drinking coffee, she decided that she should open a roastery.

She originally wanted to open a shop in Gadsden, where her family is from, but she said she couldn’t resist when Gnu’s Room Owner Tina Tatum suggested she open it in her store. Barnett opened Momma Mocha’s Coffee Beanery last month.

“I’m in the back of the largest used bookstore in Auburn, in one of the coolest old buildings, with an espresso bar on site,” Barnett said. “All the shops around me are amazing. I love the owners and what they have to offer to the community.”

Barnett’s coffee roaster was handmade and custom-built specifically to fit her roasting needs. After the high temperature paint job and taking two months to build, the roaster arrived to the Gnu’s Room.

When talking about the Mama Mocha’s section of the Gnu’s Room, Barnett said that everything is like a piece of her. Barnett’s mother painted the ceiling with zebra stripes and the floor is covered with old beer bottle caps.

“My family and I built everything,” Barnett said. “It’s just going to be me, coffee, my vinyl, and people I love … all day.”

With hopes to ensure complete fairness to both her customers and coffee farmers, prices will range from $10 to $15 per pound. Barnett will also have less expensive roasts for college students or other individuals who may be on a tight budget.

Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, Mama Mocha’s will also hold a cupping at 5:30 p.m.

A cupping is a professional coffee tasting where each person gets three to five different ramekins of coffee from different origins of the world. Barnett grinds the beans to a super coarse texture, the person smells the grounds, and then each person will journal his or her opinion of the aroma. The next step is to slurp. In this stage, the person will identify in his or her journal the body, thickness, acidity, flavors, and astringency of each coffee.

The journals will help guide the individual in choosing the percentages of beans he or she wants roasted in order to create a customized blend.

“[Cupping is] finding out the beauty of each origin and trying to blend them together to make a perfect blend,” Barnett said.

Through this business, Barnett wants the Auburn community to become more aware of other coffee growing communities.

“Places that need help,” Barnett said. “Places that are beautiful and should be treated with the same respect we give other workers in America and continuing to make sure we support social sustainability as well as environmental.”

Barnett said that her goal is to become the main supplier to the community of Auburn for coffee.

“The next season of the shop is for me to keep developing new roast profiles and find contracts to make with local restaurants, offices, and grocery stores,” she said.

Mama Mocha’s Coffee Beanery is located at 414 South Gay St. For more information on Mama Mocha’s Coffee Beanery, call 256.452.3534.