Nestled between two new restaurants, The Wired Goat Cafe resides in a recently renovated warehouse on Gervais Street in the Vista. High ceilings, exposed brick, recently finished wood and intricate lighting make the coffee shop arguably one of the most visually appealing locations in Columbia.
Originally located in Chapin, The Wired Goat recently expanded to their new Vista location. The name of the coffee shop stems from a myth regarding how coffee was discovered: goat farmers in the equatorial region of the planet noticed their goats becoming agitated and full of energy after eating a certain form of vegetation later discovered to be coffee.
However, The Wired Goat is not just another one of the many coffee shops in the Columbia area.
“Everything is all natural, from scratch," Jason Rath, one of the employees of the new location, said. "No added preservatives to anything — food [or] drink. Everything we do is as local as possible. We try to source everything as close to Columbia as we can.”
Popular drinks at Wired Goat include the horchata macchiato, the Bert special and the Canadian bacon latte. The horchata macchiato is modeled after a traditional Mexican drink and is a favorite on the West Coast. Lightly sweetened with house-made almond milk and caramel, the drink is accentuated with two shots of espresso and hints of cinnamon. Not overpowering, the drink is a refreshing break from overly sugary beverages. The Bert special, named after a “patron” of The Wired Goat, is essentially a highly-caffeinated version of a caramel mocha.
In addition to making their food and drinks from scratch, Wired Goat also has an extremely unique espresso machine. From a company called Mavam, Wired Goat’s espresso machine is one of only five espresso machines of its kind in the world. Mavam, a Seattle-based company, hand-constructed the machine in the new Vista location. The espresso machine utilizes a technique called pre-infusion, which ensures that the espresso grounds are evenly saturated with water to ensure a better quality espresso drink.
"You really have to pay attention to each and every drink singularly," Taylor Howlett, another employee of the coffee shop, said. "You can do double drinks at the same time, but it really forces you to focus on that one drink to make sure its perfect ... As much as you want to start multi-tasking, it really pays off.”
Underneath the main floor of the coffee shop, Howlett and Rath have big hopes for a space in the natural basement. Hoping to fully utilize the new location, Howlett and Rath want to create a wine bar.
“[The basement] has original vaulted doors," Howlett said. "You can have acoustic music and random vintage lounge chairs found on Craigslist."
Open and spacious, Wired Goat Cafe is a new space in the Vista that encourages caffeinated creativity and productivity. The cups are filled with hand crafted espresso drinks that may or may not be Canadian bacon flavored.