2 new Boca coffee shops will rely on ‘best beans’

R1 Coffee will brew specialty coffees with beans direct from growers around globe.

BOCA RATON — Slava and Anna Golik have spent the past t wo decades visiting coffee shops and bean farms in countless countries looking for the perfect blend for their java fix.

And when they found the most satisfying blends at the coziest shops, the experience was too good not to share.

The Boca Raton couple, originally from Russia and having moved to the city four years ago, are opening two Boca locations of R1 Coffee, a specialty coffeehouse with beans curated from around the globe.

“We care about coffee,” Slava Golik said. “We try to find the best beans, best equipment, and we try to create the best atmosphere.”

The first of their t wo coffee shops, at 3200 N. Federal Highway just south of Spanish River Boulevard, has a grand opening Saturday, but is open through this week and offering free coffee tastings to patrons.

The second location, at 10 E. Palmetto Park Road just across the street from the new Hyatt Place downtown hotel, opens in late May.

What sets R1 Coffee apart from other local coffee shops?

Their beans are purchased directly from growers, cutting out the middle man and giving the coffee shop owners more control over the quality of their goods.

The blends R1 Coffee will offer are “a mosaic of quality, flavor and hints of the beauty we experienced throughout the world,” the Goliks wrote on their website. The beans are grown in the United States, Ethiopia, Kenya and Honduras, among other exotic locales.

“We’re getting the best coffee beans,” Slava Golik said.

R1 Coffee also has a Slayer Steam Three-Group espresso machine from the Seattle-based coffee equipment company, which Golik says makes R1 Coffee the only shop in South Florida with the equipment.

The best espresso the couple has tasted came from that machine, Slava Golik said.

R1 a l s o wi l l u s e a C h e mex conical dripper, which offers a light-bodied brew, the company says.

Patrons who visit the coffee shop, decorated like Italian coffeehouses the Goliks visited on their journey, can ask about the various blends and pick their balance of flavors.

Just like any coffeehouse, it’ll be the t ype of place you c an crack open a laptop or chat with a friend. And a cup o’ Joe won’t run you more than $5.

R1 also boasts that it will be the first cafe in Florida to offer Verve coffee, partnering with the company based out of Santa Cruz, Calif.

“There’s a community in Boca Raton who know what specialty coffee means,” Slava Golik said. “It means you make it perfect.”

It’s a nice addition to southern Palm Beach County, which recently lost Subculture Coffee in downtown Delray Beach.

That coffee shop, known for its free-spirited and artsy feel, is currently looking for a new location.

The Grind Cafe is another hot spot in south county. Known for its artistic lattes, the shop at the Delray Marketplace on Lyons Road also features retro cups.

In Boca, coffee lovers still have a number of other options, including The Seed Boca, Tulipe Cafe and Saquella Cafe.