BASKING RIDGE, NJ — Basking Ridge attorneys Adam and Megan Bisaccia have something brewing at their new roastery and coffee bar that is far greater than a great cup of coffee — a mission to give back to local charities.
The couple opened Barrister Coffee House at 96 S Finley Ave. last month in their hometown of Basking Ridge after the pandemic had them reevaluate their life's path.
Megan is an immigration attorney and Adam spent most of his career teaching at colleges in Morris County and Ocean County.
"When COVID hit it changed everything. We didn't know where our future was going," Adam told Patch. "We decided to take a pause and wanted to give back."
The family also got into brewing and roasting coffee as a hobby.
"What if we married this dream that we always had of opening a coffee shop and doing good with the community?" Adam said.
As attorneys, Adam and Megan were accustomed to being fully prepared and trained before taking any new action.
"It's the lawyer in both of us," said Adam. "That training as attorneys is being overly prepared. We are not going into something half-hearted. It was a nerve-wracking process since we had never done this before."
Following their years of experience in law, they put the same dedication and focus into coffee.
Adam went to a Barista Academy and learned that while you can take the right steps to brew a coffee, you can't control how the coffee is roasted.
He took his education one step further, learned to roast coffee at home, and eventually took an apprenticeship program for roasting.
The final step was finding a permanent home. Born and raised in Basking Ridge it was a no brainer for Adam to chose his hometown.
"We just had a feeling that Basking Ridge was right for this business model," said Adam. "People wanted a place dedicated to coffee. People are also behind the philanthropy model we are trying to do."
The family opened their two businesses - a roastery and a coffee bar - under one roof on S Finley Avenue.
On the roasting side, Adam runs solo and donates 100 percent of all profits to nonprofits in the area such as the Big Brother, Big Sister program.
On Nov. 11, they held a fundraiser and were able to raise a total of $4,000 in roughly four hours, all to be donated to the Marine Raider Foundation.
"My baristas worked tirelessly and graciously volunteered to donate 100 percent of their tips, amounting to nearly $1,500 of the total," said Megan.
On the coffee bar side, any coffee or bags of beans sold help pay the bills and employee salaries They also work with the Ridge Work Based Learning program.
"Overall it's great. We are a husband and wife team with our 7-year-old son. We are a small operation and very hands-on. Our mission and purpose is to follow our vision in giving back. We take a lot of pride in what we do," said Adam.
The coffee house offers brews from 7 different origins such as Nicagra, Tanzania, Ethiopia, and South America.
Similar to a brewery, Barrister Coffee House also offers tastings with conversations and flights.
Adam and Megan said they welcome customers to come and chat with them and just try some coffee.
"I lost my father 11 years ago in an accident and Megan lost a mentor and it is just a reminder the life is short," said Adam. "It is a reminder if you have a purpose behind what you are doing it makes everything better."
For more information on Barrister Coffee House visit instagram.com/barrister_coffee_house or facebook.com.
908-484-1600
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