Reece said following a rough upbringing and losing her job, community and home after coming out as gay at age 22, a friend helped her get a job at a Starbucks, which helped introduce her to the coffee community.
“I needed that,” she said. “I needed to be supported, and I needed to know that there are people out there who just kind of love you wherever you are.”
Reece said the sense of love and acceptance really helped her when she needed it, and that is the feeling she wants people to have when they come into her coffee shop.
Building a community
Reece and Farrar said the mission of having Conduit Coffee is to make a safe space for all people who come.
“At the end of the day, every person wants to be seen, heard and loved,” Reece said. “We want to serve good coffee and be a place for people to rest.”
Farrar said the atmosphere of acceptance extends to Conduit’s staff.
“Most of our employees are from marginalized groups as well,” Farrar said. “People have made friends here. We just hung out with a group of people on Sunday that were all strangers, and they all made friends here.”
Farrar said when the coffee shop opened, it offered a way for people to socialize during the coronavirus pandemic, and her goal is to get people to understand each other.
Farrar said Reece makes an effort to learn the name of almost every person who comes into the coffee shop and spends the time to get to know the person.“She really takes the time to see people,” she said. “It is amazing.”
Conduit Coffee also acts as a meeting space for organizations, including local school groups. Reece and Farrar said there is an option to reserve the shop for private gatherings and events as well.
More than coffee
Along with its coffee offerings, Conduit Coffee offers a combination of small bites, including breakfast tacos and refrigerated items such as “adult lunchable” charcuterie boxes and overnight oats.
Reece and Farrar said they have built connections with other local businesses to sell their products, including pastries from Chic Sweets Fine Desserts, ice cream from Luliet Creamery and Bake Shop, and homemade coffee syrups. The couple is also expanding offerings with a lifestyle market that will have similar offerings found at local farmers markets.
“It is going to be all local vendors and little things,” Farrar said.
For the coffee, Reece said she uses her 12 years of experience in various coffee shops and restaurants for each cup, and Conduit Coffee partners with Puréfi Coffee out of Spring for its beans.Along with its regular offerings, Conduit Coffee has seasonal drinks that are sometimes suggested and created by staff members, including the seasonal summer drink called The Sunset Queen with tangy chamoy sauce from area business Pica Queen.
“Our job is to really, truly care for it,” she said. “What we do is time and weigh everything, and we find the best recipe for the coffee.”
Conduit Coffee
27140 Glen Loch Drive, The Woodlands
281-323-4695
www.conduitcoffeehtx.com
Hours: Tue.-Wed. 6:30 a.m.-2 p.m., Thu.-Fri. 6:30 a.m.
-8 p.m., Sat. 8 a.m.-8 p.m., closed Sun.-Mon.
