Brent Smith imagined Wyatt’s Coffee as a place for coffee connoisseurs and rookies to feel welcomed.
“Picture Central Perk from ‘Friends,’” Smith said.
The cafe was once located in Midtown but due to parking limitations, they decided to relocate downtown, Smith, the retail operations director for Hyppo LLC, which owns Wyatt’s, wrote in an email. After 16 weeks of construction, it held its soft opening Friday at 202 SE Second Ave.
Wyatt’s will continue training its staff in preparation for its grand opening scheduled Feb. 23, Smith said. While most of the grand opening details are still to be announced, free coffee will be given to those who follow or like the cafe on social media.
The cafe will also introduce a new line of espresso drinks and plans to serve alcoholic drinks in the future, Smith said.
Smith said Wyatt’s will serve its regular drip-brew coffee, tea and their Japanese-method cold-brew coffee, which is coffee brewed with hot water then immediately chilled in an ice-bath via copper tubing.
Sarah Yoderwent went to Wyatt’s for the second time Sunday and sipped on a cold-brew coffee. The 21-year-old UF nursing senior said she works at Pascal’s Coffeehouse, but the two cafes have different flavors of drinks — Pascal’s tends to be sweeter and lighter.
“The coffee here is a lot bolder,” she said. “It’s for a deeper palette.”
Emily Hart, a 20-year-old UF psychology student, scoops fresh coffee grounds from a bag on Sunday afternoon at Wyatt’s Coffee’s new downtown location at 202 SE Second Ave.
