“I’m very much from the South I’ve lived in Arkansas and Texas and Georgia. When the Riethmaiers had an opportunity to move from DC down to New Orleans, Jonathan Riethmaier’s transition to working in coffee full-time finally happened right back where he started. “It meant never ever having days off, because I would take barista shifts at The Coffee Bar on the weekend to get hands-on with the things you can’t geek out about and learn at home,” explained the café owner, taking a break at the table outside Mammoth, but still keeping an eye on the shop through the window. “I was constantly fighting to get more involved at the barista level, but I was working full-time in PR, so it was hard,” Riethmaier told me. His navigation toward a life in coffee from the periphery to dead center included stops in PR, running DC coffee blog District Bean, working behind the counter as a barista (most recently at Washington, DC’s The Coffee Bar), and finally, to owning his own coffee shop. Mahlkönig K30 Twin and EK 43 grinders round out the coffee arsenal Hario Largo globes and Bonavita Variable Temperature Kettles are on the backbar for tea service.Īnd behind the counter the morning I arrive is Jonathan Riethmaier, longtime coffee fanatic turned coffee professional. A two-group La Marzocco Linea Classic is crowned with Acme blue ceramic cups, and two Curtis Seraphim brewers are positioned close by, awaiting orders for coffee brewed in Kalita Waves. The coffee counter is front and center at the entrance. Above the bar, menu design was done by Jonathan Lopez. The space is a cool mid-century, retro-futuristic dream. The floor and tables are a palette of neutrals, with pops of yellow and black in the seating and wall treatment. Millwork on the wood elements in the shop was done by Nelu Sorocaniuc, and Joseph Lazarri created the custom speaker covers. Jonathan Riethmaier is also one of the founders of the New Orleans Barista Social Club, the organizing force behind latte art throwdowns and other coffee events around town. Mammoth is part of a recent coffee explosion in NOLA it joins the city’s established coffee scene alongside fellow newcomers Revelator ( opened last June) and Stumptown ( opened after Mammoth this April). Jonathan and Darlene Riethmaier moved here in 2014 and opened their cafe in late March of this year. Mammoth Espresso serves coffee, espresso, tea, and pastries in the Warehouse/Arts district of New Orleans. Waking up in New Orleans early the next morning-the weather notably temperate and not-yet-too-humid-I really needed coffee.
With that urging, I found myself hurtling across three states in the dead of night via rental car at the end of this April’s Specialty Coffee Association of America Expo in Atlanta, Georgia. Summer arrives in NOLA early, she warned me-and there’s nothing easy about it. “Get to New Orleans before summer,” one Louisianan cautioned me when I shared my goal of visiting the city at some point this year.
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