Gladstone’s newest coffee shop and roastery that opened in mid-February doesn’t have much in common with your usual spot for a cup o’ joe.
It offers USDA certified organic coffee of just three everchanging international origins each day.
There isn’t a flavored syrup in sight.
And if you want to add sugar to your coffee, you’ll have to do it yourself.
But if you give Fair Mountain Coffee Roasters at 258 Main St. a try, you’ll get more than your needed fuel for the morning – you’ll get a masterpiece.
“Coffee is an art form for us,” said owner Steven Almonte, who also owns the shop’s original store in Atlantic Highlands. “We are that simple, purist, authentic experience of coffee with just coffee, water and maybe some milk. There is nothing to hide behind.”
Fair Mountain Coffee Roasters selects high-quality and sometimes very small-production coffee from around the world and roasts it in Atlantic Highlands to showcase it in its “best possible light,” Almonte said. It can be purchased by the bag or brewed.
About eight cups of coffee are brewed every day before the store opens to make sure every cup is as fresh and delicious as it should be.
“We go back to that properly executed, well-crafted balance so when you taste it, you’re like, ‘Oh, I understand’, “ Almonte said. “We are more than compensating for the syrups we are not adding with passion and care.”
Steven Almonte, owner of Fair Mountain Coffee Roasters in Gladstone and Atlantic Highlands.
The new Gladstone shop has an ambiance that’s just as thoughtful.
Ninety percent of the materials used to create the 15-seat earthy interior, detailed with black metal and warm colors, are reclaimed.
The brand’s co-founder, Gregory Lewis, who sold Fair Mountain Coffee Roasters to Almonte three years ago, is a professional artist and painted the abstract mural on the wall.
An area with electrical outlets and good lighting in a quiet corner of the shop was created for customers working remotely. Wi-Fi is free.
Inside Fair Mountain Coffee Roasters in Gladstone.
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The coffee mugs were handcrafted by New Jersey artist Ryush Ceramics in dark gray and evergreen tones to represent Gladstone’s rustic, woodsy vibe. The colors match the green espresso machine.
Eventually a coffee tree growing in a pot will also adorn the shop. The tree is born of the coffee tree at Fair Mountain Coffee Roasters’ Atlantic Highlands location. “We could buy one, but that’s too easy,” Almonte laughed.
But it hasn’t all been easy. Just a few years ago, 80 percent of prospective customers walked out the Atlantic Highlands’ shop’s door.
When Almonte bought the shop in 2022 after becoming a customer, he added an espresso bar to what was previously a store that roasted international, organic fair trade coffee beans for customers to take home.
Inside Fair Mountain Coffee Roasters in Gladstone.
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Being that Almonte, a competitive cyclist, doesn’t consume sugar for health reasons, he didn’t want to sell sugar, either. “I would feel bad charging you money for something that I know is bad for me and I wouldn’t consume myself,” he said.
Eight out of 10 customers walked away once they discovered their favorite whipped cream-topped, sweet drink wasn’t on the menu.
“I stuck to my guns and kept the menu exactly as I envisioned it and little by little, people that were looking for what we offer came in,” Almonte said. “If someone wants a syrupy sweet drink, there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s just not the coffee that we specialize in.”
These days, just one or two customers per week visit Fair Mountain Coffee Roasters only to be surprised that no syrups are available.
Coffee from Fair Mountain Coffee Roasters.
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He has stuck to his guns about offering coffee of just a few origins each day, too. It’s working.
“People are creatures of habit so they order the same things out of safety,” Almonte said. “We give them no choice but to try something new. You could run into something you’ve never ordered that could become your absolute favorite that you wouldn’t have discovered any other way.”
That’s also how Almonte found Gladstone. A lover of basketball, he suffered an ankle injury in 2017 that led him to try cycling instead. With his cycling club, he often rode through Peapack & Gladstone.
“I just love the town,” Almonte said. “The greenery, the trails, how clean everything is. We got all the typical suggestions of where to open our coffee shop – Asbury Park, Jersey City, Hoboken – but those aren’t really my style. I’m an outdoors person and Gladstone has all of the right elements. I know the area would appreciate what we are doing with coffee.”
Steven Almonte, owner of Fair Mountain Coffee Roasters in Gladstone and Atlantic Highlands.
Being a coffee purist wasn’t Almonte’s original plan.
A Dominican native, Almonte stopped drinking coffee after he moved to the U.S. in 2003. But when he returned to the Dominican Republic a decade later for a visit, a sip at his grandmother’s house brought back his childhood memories. So when he got back to the United States, he started brewing to keep the memories alive.
As a chemical engineer and “a very geeky guy that loves science,” Almonte grew dedicated to making the best cup that he could. He became a Fair Mountain Coffee Roasters customer and when Lewis and his wife and fellow co-founder Barbara DiBeneditto were ready to sell, the couple knew just who to hand off their passion project.
“Here, we don’t care if it costs us extra because it tastes better and it’s better for the customer,” Almonte said. “All we want is to serve someone a cup of coffee that meets our standards.”
Go: 258 Main St., Gladstone; 908-634-0334, fairmountaincoffee.com.
Jenna Intersimone.
Contact: [email protected]
Jenna Intersimone has been a staff member at the USA TODAY NETWORK New Jersey since 2014, although she’s a lifetime Jersey girl who considers herself an expert in everything from the Jersey Shore to the Garden State’s buzzing downtowns. To get unlimited access to her stories about food, drink and fun, please subscribe or activate your digital account today. You can also follow her on Instagram at @seejennaeat and on Twitter at @JIntersimone.
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Fair Mountain Coffee Roasters opens new coffee shop in Somerset County
