Sump Coffee
Scott Carey built this shop out with his brother's tools, and every one of them still had his brother's name on it.1
Why go
Carey took a master's in chemistry and a Berkeley law degree and spent a decade in Manhattan firms before a latte at Ninth Street Espresso rearranged what he wanted to do.1 He bought the corner building at Jefferson and Winnebago on 10 October, and his brother Jeff, a craftsman, died of Ewing sarcoma nine days later.1 He opened Sump on 1 December 2011.2 The bar is set up for the long way round: a Slayer and a Faema, a four-foot Kyoto cold drip, and one size for a cappuccino and one for a pour-over.1 Sump took America's Best Espresso at Coffee Fest Chicago in 2015.2
Order this / avoid
- Order: the pour-over of whatever single origin is on. Carey wets the filter, weighs the beans, sets a timer and pours in stages, and he will tell you the tasting notes before he starts.1
- Order: an espresso if you want the drink the award was for.2
- Avoid: asking for a large. There is one size for a cappuccino and one for a pour-over, by design.1
What locals & experts say
- Scott Carey on building the room, to Sauce Magazine: "All the tools I have to build this, they're not my tools. I didn't bring them from my New York apartment. They all have his name on them. Each day when I built it, his name is written on all the tools. He's here."1
- George Mahe, St. Louis Magazine (8 September 2020): Carey is
arguably the city's preeminent small batch coffee roaster.
2
Good to know
- What they roast: light-roasted single origin, and they ship subscriptions.3
- Where else: Sump also runs in Nashville, where the second store opened in 2017.2
Verdict
should-visit — Scott Carey left a Manhattan law career, bought a corner building on Jefferson Avenue, and built the shop out with his dying brother's tools. George Mahe calls him the city's preeminent small-batch roaster, and Sump took America's Best Espresso at Coffee Fest Chicago in 2015. The rung is a should-visit and not higher because the newest witness on this door is 2020 and the venue's own locations page no longer answers.