[Theme music] - [Deborah] Next, on North Carolina Weekend, join us from Caffe Driade in Chapel Hill.

It's all about the coffee scene in our state.

As we visit Zuma Coffee in Marshall, Lorraine's Coffee House in Garner, and Esteamed Coffee shop in Cary.

Coming up next.

- [Announcer] Funding for North Carolina Weekend is provided in part by Visit NC, dedicated to highlighting our state's natural scenic beauty, unique history, and diverse cultural attractions.

From the Blue Ridge and the Great Smoky Mountains, across the Piedmont to 300 miles of Barrier Island beaches.

You're invited to experience all the adventure and charm our state has to offer.

[Banjo music] ♪ - Hi everyone, welcome to North Carolina Weekend.

I'm Deborah Holt Noel.

This week we're taking a deep dive into the coffee scene around our state.

And what we've discovered in creating this episode is, coffee is really about community.

And that's so important today, right?

Well, right now I am standing at Caffe Driade in Chapel Hill, a popular European-style cafe tucked away in the woods, where they've been serving up espresso and other delights for over 25 years.

And we'll meet the owner of Caffe Driade later in our show.

But first, let's head West to the mountains and the little town of Marshall, where at Zuma Coffee, their philosophy is "Make friends, have fun, and serve the community."

[light banjo music] ♪ - How would I describe Madison County and Marshall?

It's probably 50 square miles surrounded by reality.

- [Joel] Magic town, Marshall.

Yeah, music and arts has been what sort of has fueled the economy and the growth of downtown Marshall.

- [Christopher] It's the San Francisco of the East.

It's not mainstream thinking.

It's out of the box thinking.

- Friendly locals, great hospitality, I mean, unless you're weird looking.

- [Narrator] Located on Main Street, across from the old courthouse in the middle of town, there's a coffee house.

And this is where Marshall meets.

- Oh, Zuma.

It's from a Neil Young album called Zuma.

He did it for Zuma Beach in California.

So, when I moved from California to North Carolina I wanted to bring a little bit of the feel of California back with me.

- [Cathy] This place, I come here, I guess the number one thing is the people.

It's the fellowship.

Music's great.

Food's wonderful.

And always meeting somebody new and the most interesting people come through here.

- [Christopher] Whenever I have a chance, I'm driving through, I always stop by and grab a cup of joe.

Read the local bulletin board and see what's going on.

- [Joel] It's where Marshall meets because it brings the whole community together.

- [Dan] I think when people, the locals, think of Zuma they think, "This is a place that I'm welcome".

- [Narrator] And the comfort food that's served here can only be described as creative and healthy.

- [Stephen] It fills the kinda breakfast-lunch slot, which not a lot of places around here do.

- [Joel] Our model was to serve something that you can't get just anywhere.

There's better quality food, better quality coffee, and a cookie that people would drive a long distance for.

- [Narrator] Ask anyone who's ever bitten into a Zuma gold cookie, they'll tell you it's like enjoying a little bit of heaven.

- [Melissa] Zuma is famous for Zuma gold, which is a wonderful very chocolatey rich cookie, chock-full of chocolate chips, pecans and walnuts.

As well as flavored with some other secret ingredients, which make for a really rich, chocolatey experience.

What we do here is always small batch and it's always made with all natural ingredients.

We bake here every day.

I'm in at least twice a week doing cookies and muffins and everything's baked off fresh each morning.

So that you're really purchasing something that is as close to a homemade product as you could get.

- [Narrator] Some folks refer to Marshall as "Magic Town'.

Every Thursday night at the little coffee house, a few local bluegrass musicians gather for an impromptu jam session that is truly magical.

[bluegrass music] - [Joel] We have the same core seven people that come.

Other people show up each week.

Sometimes they may be famous in their own right, from Nashville.

- [Bobby] When he moved over here, I approached him about doing the jamming here because there's more room and he had lots of tables and all that, you know.

So that's how I got started here, and that was about 10 years ago.

- [Joel] Bobby Hicks is just, he's, he exudes a confidence while playing the fiddle that I've never seen before.

- [Bobby] I just like teaching the younger people how the bluegrass is supposed to be done.

- [Christopher] It's atypical.

And if you have an open mind, you should come by and take a look.

You should.

It's something that you're not gonna see or experience every day of the week.

[bluegrass music] - [Bobby] Yeah!

Thank you, Ryan.

- [Narrator] Zuma Coffee and Provisions is at 7 North Main Street in Marshall.

Give them a call at [828] 649-1617, or check them out online at zumascoffee.com.

- Mm, coffee definitely brings people together.

And that's certainly true at Richard's Coffee Shop where they've been giving veterans a free cup of coffee every Thursday, since 1995.

Let's go find out a little bit more about this inspirational coffee shop in Mooresville.

[banjo music] - [Rick] Look for the star-spangled banner waving over Main Street, and you have arrived at the Saturday morning go-to place for every veteran within driving distance.

Starting at 9:00 AM, the volunteer band is tuning up for a friendly jam session.

And the volunteer baristas have the coffee flowing.

- [Tom] That pot'll hold a hundred gallons, and I'll probably empty it before the day is over.

- [Rick] The coffee here is much better than military issue, but this gathering place has become known among vets for much more than the hot drinks.

- [Arthur] The coffee shop and the people that I met and everything, it changed my life.

And to this day, I give every day I'm here, every day I can get here.

- [Norm] And the coffee shop, to me, represents a place of healing.

- [Rod] Well, you get to talk to people that know what your feelings are and what's going on.

- [John] I heard one guy had gone over to the VA in Salisbury, and somebody over there told him to come over here.

He was having a hard time dealing with, you know, life in general.

And he said, the best thing they told him was to come over and get a cup of coffee.

- [Rick] This is where he got his medicine.

- [John] Yep, he come over and got his medicine here.

He got some coffee.

- [Chuck] I'm 88 years old, okay?

So I've been around a while.

I've never seen a place in this world that I've been, that is this friendly, that there is in Mooresville.

I swear, it is absolutely outstanding.

- [Rick] The coffee shop came into existence thanks to Richard Warren, a veteran himself, who passed away before he ever got to see the final fruits of his labor.

He created the non-profit organization, Welcome Home Vets, Incorporated.

It goes hand-in-hand with the coffee shop.

This military museum at the entrance to the coffee lounge is loaded with donated materials from many of Richard's friends, acquaintances, and from others around the community.

Lynn King recently volunteered his time to help design and build the exhibition room.

- [Lynn] But that's not important.

The most important thing were the volunteers.

I had about 8 to 12 men every day, for 7 weeks.

And we did this place over.

- [Rick] The exhibits cover everything from the Revolutionary War to the World Wars, every era leading up to the present day.

There is no charge for admission, but any extra dollars from coffee sales or donations, goes into helping veterans, and even others, in any way possible.

- [Herman] This is for the community.

We cater specifically to the veterans within the community.

But everyone is welcome because there are people walking around in mainstream society that have demons.

And we will welcome them here and help them in any way we can.

[country music] - [Rick] There are some fascinating people here.

Within this room, I met no fewer than five World War II veterans.

Rod McFarquhar survived the Normandy invasion, only to run into a German decapitating wire a few days later, in Belgium.

He survived it, but spent the rest of the war recuperating.

And on the day of this interview, Len McCutchen was celebrating the 72nd anniversary of his first day in the infantry.

But the best stories might be the friendly ribbing they give to one another.

- [Norm] We had a joke came through the other day about, given the following order, "Secure the building", what would happen?

The Navy would lock it and turn out the lights.

The Army would establish a perimeter and kill anyone who came inside.

The Marines would blow it to smithereens and clear it out and leave it a hole.

The Air Force, on the other hand, would rent it for six months and take with an option to buy.

So this is the way we- - We go at it.

- [Rick] You get coffee, culture, and as much, or as little, conversation as you want on Saturday mornings at Richard's Coffee Shop in Mooresville.

I'm Rick Sullivan for North Carolina weekend.

- [Narrator] Richard's Coffee Shop is at 165 North Main Street in Mooresville, and vets still get a free cup of coffee on Thursdays.

For more information go to welcomevets.com.

- [Deborah] I'm here with Scott Conary, who's the owner of Caffe Driade, right here in Chapel Hill.

Scott, you know, this is one of the oldest coffee houses here in Chapel Hill.

How has the community embraced this space?

- [Scott] I think part of the beauty of this is that we're sort of seamlessly melded into the woods.

So the gardens and the patio are one, where people can come and feel like they're escaping in the woods, and yet still enjoy the high-quality coffee and other things that we provide.

And it really, for many people, exemplifies what they think of when they think of Chapel Hill.

This is what they think of, is being able to enjoy some of the best things in a beautiful setting.

- [Deborah] Well, off in the woods is definitely true.

And as a matter of fact, I've heard that the word driade means little nymph.

- [Scott] Yeah.

So it's the Italian spelling for coffee dryad.

So it literally means "the coffee spirit in the woods" and that's what we wanted to exemplify.

- [Deborah] Well, that's exactly what you're getting when you come out here, because we're just surrounded with these beautiful woods and trees.

And I understand that you are a judge in an international coffee roasting contest.

So tell us, kinda what's on the horizon for the coffee scene, you think?

- [Scott] Yeah.

Part of what I do is, besides sourcing coffee for the roastery, is basically judging different competitions around the world.

And I get to see all the cutting edge of what's happening.

And really what we see being the most important thing now, is human connection, is connecting communities.

And how can cafes do that with their customers?

How can roasters do that with the producers?

And connect all of them together.

And that's really what we're trying to do.

- And Scott, I understand Caffe Driade is planning to have live music in the future?

- Yeah.

So we're excited to bring it back and share it with the folks.

- Terrific.

Let me tell you about Lorraine Jordan.

Lorraine was a musician on the bluegrass circuit for a number of years.

And when she decided to come off the road, it just seemed natural to start up a place where she and her band could continue to jam.

It's called Lorraine's Coffee House.

It's in Garner, and it's a lot of fun.

- [Announcer] On the corner of one of Garner's busier intersections, in a building that used to be a pharmacy, there's a coffee house that makes fancy drinks.

- [Customer] It has two pumps of pomegranate in it.

- [Announcer] But delivers a down to earth vibe.

This is Lorraine's Coffee House on a weekday, and this is the proprietor, Lorraine Jordan.

- [Lorraine] I just love the town.

I love the fact that we're part of Raleigh, but we're not in Raleigh.

And just, the people are so kind.

And it's just, it's small town with a big city atmosphere.

- [Customer] I just love to come here, I feel like they're friends.

- [Announcer] Lorraine hobnobs and mixes with friends on this afternoon when I met her for this interview.

That's Lorraine at her best, enjoying time with her friends.

The same can be said at nighttime, especially on weekends at the coffee house.

When Lorraine shows her best, along with friends, in the Lorraine Jordan and Carolina Road band.

[bluegrass music] - Well, I'm originally from a little town down East, Vanceboro, North Carolina.

And it's pretty close to the beach.

So I'm a kind of a beach person, but I got into bluegrass at a young age and I moved to Garner in 1984.

Came up here to teach school actually, and play in a bluegrass band.

♪ Call it like it is ♪ ♪ Say what you want to say ♪ ♪ I don't live in the past ♪ ♪ I'm livin' day to day ♪ - [Announcer] Lorraine's music took her from Vanceboro to Garner more than 30 years ago.

But these days she's on the road about a hundred nights a year, playing in some 40 States and 13 countries.

When she's not on the road, she runs a driving school business, as well as the coffee house.

- [Lorraine] Music was my main focus, but I thought, well you know, everybody's got to have a little refreshments.

But I really didn't wanna get in the restaurant business.

So I decided to open the coffee house.

- [Announcer] Families and friends, Ava's crochet group-- - [Ava] I just came in one day and I said, "I'll teach a free class".

- [Announcer] And many other folks from around Garner have discovered Lorraine's Coffee House.

So has filmmaker Mickey Strout of Cary.

His new documentary, "Living Like I'm Dying" is about Lorraine Jordan's life.

From Vanceboro to Nashville, and from birth to bluegrass, she has a story he wanted to tell.

- It's compelling.

It's entertaining.

It's exciting.

It's toe-tapping good.

And there's so many lessons in there to be learned.

It's about bullying.

It's about desegregation.

It's about entrepreneurship.

It's about making it in a man's world as a woman.

♪ Living like I'm dying ♪ - [Announcer] It's about this remarkable woman who happens to run a coffee house by day and plays bluegrass music by night.

♪ Why can't bluegrass just be true grass again?

♪ - Thank you so much, folks.

[audience cheers and claps] - [Announcer] Lorraine Jordan and Carolina Road!

- [Narrator] Lorraine's Coffee House and Music is at 101 Timber Point Lane in Garner, and they're open daily.

To find out more about live music, give them a call at [919] 714-7990 or go to lorrainescoffeehouse.com.

Nothing's better with coffee than a good doughnut, right?

Well, in Asheville, there's a little place with a cool name and a commitment to locally-sourced ingredients that calls itself the vortex of the coffee and doughnut scene in Asheville.

Let's check 'em out.

- [Zacharia] If I were to describe Vortex Doughnuts, I would say that it's a basic food pairing that has been elevated to a level of culinary excellence.

- [Narrator] The pairing is between their donuts and their coffee.

- Vortex Doughnuts is pretty much the best coffee shop I've been to in Asheville, as far as quality of coffee, And the doughnuts are absolutely amazing.

- It's a turtle donut, and it's got chocolate, pecans and caramel.

And it looks delicious, so I'm gonna take a bite.

- We kind of took something very simple, you know, fried dough and a drip cup of coffee.

And we made it into a really detailed and sort of complicated business.

- [Noora] Yeah, it's so good.

It's like got that like, soft but not too soft texture.

- Coffee is world-class.

1000 faces coffee is some of the best coffee ever.

- [Narrator] The reason Vortex doughnuts, food, and beverages are creating quite a stir is based on a three-part philosophy, make them tasty, keep them local, and serve them up twisted.

So beginning with tasty, you'll be glad to know all their doughnuts are made from quality, wholesome ingredients free of preservatives, binders and fillers.

- [Ryan] It's definitely a plus.

It makes me feel better about eating [laughs] free-range doughnuts, you know.

[laughs] - [Zacharia] We don't go quite as far to say that they're healthy doughnuts.

But they are guilt-free doughnuts.

We use the quality ingredients.

There's no hydrogenated oils, no processed ingredients, no high-fructose corn syrup.

Everything that goes into the doughnut is actual food.

- [Narrator] Secondly, they choose to keep it local.

From many of the in-season fruits to the chocolate milk and flour.

- [Zacharia] We do handmade from-scratch doughnuts with Lindley Mills farm flour, it's a North Carolina grower and producer.

We have three different types of doughnuts that we make on a daily basis.

We have a yeasted doughnut.

We have a cake doughnut.

We have a vegan donut.

- But they're not bashful about putting salted caramel on them, and chocolate, and just every coating you could hope for.

- We create, you know, different special glazes.

From a basic sugar glaze to a coffee glaze to fruit glazes, where we're using pureed fruit to make different flavor combinations.

We use nuts, housemade caramel.

We use French [indistinct] chocolate.

- [Narrator] It's also a great place to hang out.

- [Micah] I love Vortex.

I come to Vortex often.

This is my office, really.

[laughs] - [Nat] Great donuts, great coffee, no Wi-Fi.

Which I think is a nice touch.

- [Micah] It's a happy spot, really good light.

I can camp out here for a while in a meeting, and I don't feel like I'm being pushed out or, I feel like I can just really indulge in conversation here.

- [Narrator] Which brings us to twist it.

It's the fact Vortex Doughnuts offers unique taste combinations, and the reason the shop was named Vortex in the first place.

- [Zacharia] There's a lot of different ideas about what a vortex is and there's rumors that Asheville is in an energetic vortex or that there's a number of energetic vortexes here.

But to me, what that means is that it's a gathering of energy.

It's a group of individuals.

It's a place, it's an idea that brings together people that wouldn't necessarily normally be brought together.

And that's really, you know, the vortex.

That's the twisted part of our businesses, is the coming together of all these different ingredients, and stories, and friends, and people, into a space that everybody can really access.

- Like the atmosphere is great.

Everyone behind the counter is super friendly.

Great coffee, get a doughnut, and just relax and enjoy.

Bring the kids, bring the family.

It's a great place to come and visit.

- [Narrator] Vortex Doughnuts is at 32 Banks Avenue in Asheville, and they're open daily from 7 to 2.

For more information, give them a call at [828] 552-3010 or go online to vortexdonuts.com Our final story about coffee and community takes us to Cary and a new coffee shop that just opened in 2021.

It's called Esteamed Coffee.

And they have a unique mission to provide job training and a nurturing environment for people with disabilities.

- [Ladd] It has been a dream to work at a coffee shop.

I picture myself nowhere else.

The people that I work with are phenomenal.

It's just a life-changing experience so far.

You know, really and truly, I'm blessed to work here.

- [Stephen] Sometimes people like me can have a bit of trouble working.

It's definitely a good opportunity for like, social interactions, and, 'cause I don't get that too often.

- [Judd] This is his first job.

He's just not had an opportunity to be a rock star until he started working here.

And so everybody wants their children to succeed, and this has been a great place for him to be.

- [Missy] He's had autism all of his life.

So 18 years, we've known Stephen and walked with Stephen.

And, you know, as he gets older into being an adult you kinda wonder, you know, what happens next?

Where does he go?

And so, I think this has really opened things up for Steven.

- [Stephen] I think Esteamed Coffee has really helped me with, you know, interacting with people and making friends.

Just to get used to working, doing a job.

- [Judd] You know, I've always thought he needed just an understanding employer.

And it helps to have some understanding folks that come in as customers.

And this is exactly that.

- [Ladd] Since I'm a people person, it just helped me.

It's a whole different world.

- [Ryan] Saying good morning to all of the customers- - [Clay] And then have a nice day when I leave and-- - [Ryan] -doing my best and seeing all the pretty customers.

- [Clay] -always smiling and everything.

- [Ryan] And working hard and making lots of money.

- [Ladd] I honestly love to interact with the customers and my co-workers.

I could see having friends, they're part of the friends, and the whole Esteamed family as a whole.

- [Angie] They're just interacting with the community.

And they're building new relationships with each other, their co-workers, as well as, you know, getting to know people in the general public.

- [Missy] I love that the general public has the opportunity to kinda enter into their world a little bit and support these folks, these adults that are here.

- [Ladd] When I come in to this job, day in, day out, and see those people come back for more and more and more.

And that, to me, says we have a big impact on the community as a whole.

- [Tamara] Just because somebody has a disability doesn't mean they can't learn a job skill, and do a great job at it, and be a real contributing member of the community.

We realize that for some of our employees this may be a permanent job.

Which is great, we'd love to keep them!

But for others, there may be other things that they want to go on to.

- [Angie] If someone were to walk in as a customer, who owns a business of a different type, and they go, "Oh that person right there would be an asset to my employment place".

And so they'd get retreated away.

And then maybe we might have space for someone else that we can bring in, give them the job skill development and the groundwork to rise to the potential of their meaning of life.

- [Tamara] I think over time, it's gonna change perception that the community has about individuals with different abilities.

- [Ladd] You know, there are no better people running the place.

And I couldn't have done this without them.

- [Narrator] Esteamed Coffee is at 114 South Academy Street in Cary, and they're open Tuesday through Saturday.

For more information, check them out online at esteamedcoffee.com.

Okay.

That's it for today's show.

And we'd like to thank the folks at Caffe Driade in Chapel Hill for hosting us.

Really cool place if you're ever in the area.

And if you've missed anything on today's show, just remember you can always watch us again online at pbsnc.org/ncweekend.

Have a great weekend everyone.

[cheerful music] ♪ - [Announcer] Funding for North Carolina Weekend is provided in part by Visit NC, dedicated to highlighting our state's natural scenic beauty, unique history, and diverse cultural attractions.

From the Blue Ridge and the Great Smoky Mountains, across the Piedmont to 300 miles of Barrier Island beaches.

You're invited to experience all the adventure and charm our state has to offer.