While a lot of coffee shops and restaurants are out to make a dollar, as businesses do, Frazier Park’s Black Coffee LA has its eyes on a much larger mission — sharing the gospel of Jesus, while also helping support widows and hungry children in Africa, just by buying coffee.
Black Coffee was originally started in Los Angeles, and was later taken over by Jason Mitchell, before moving to Frazier Park.
There are many organizations out there that make it their mission to do good work through churches and other offices, but this coffee shop took a different approach.
Black Coffee partners with Straightways LA, a nonprofit organization in Africa, by talking about God and feeding hungry children who live on the streets, engaging widows through employment in feeding and foster programs and establishing foster homes while educating and giving them a strong foundation in God.
“My upbringing plays a big role in where I am right now,” said Clever Masvimbo, the coffee shop’s owner.
Masvimbo was raised in Zimbabwe by his grandparents, who taught him about God and guided him through the power of prayer.
As a teenager, Masvimbo ministered to people and met a friend who was a missionary.
Masvimbo decided to go to missionary school, and it was there he met his friend and later business partner, Mitchell.
They continued to stay in touch and eventually, in 2018, Mitchell asked him to get into the coffee business with him, so Masvimbo became a shareholder.
When Mitchell took over the business, the coffee shop also became a place where people were allowed second chances, as their motto is to “provide employment to those who need a hand up, not a hand out.”
In addition to providing a paycheck to employees, they also provide mentorship opportunities.
Down the road, Mitchell wanted to shut down the company after moving to Oklahoma, but Masvimbo wanted to keep it going, so he took over the business from there.
“As a man of faith, believing in God — I’m a man of, one day at a time, trusting God with our lives and our future,” said Masvimbo.
Masvimbo’s faith is the driving force behind whatever he does, and he wants that to be reflected in his business.
Not only is their approach in giving back unique, but so is their process for making coffee, which is done through air roasting, the cleanest way to drink coffee.
While many coffee flavors and processes encourage people to add a lot of sugar and cream to cover up its flavor, the idea with black coffee is you won’t need to because of the smooth flavor.
As stated on their website, “This unique method allows for a deep, dark and richly brewed coffee without the burnt and bitter aftertaste.”
Air roasting, instead, highlights the flavors of the Arabica coffee to influence people to drink their coffee black without added sugar and cream. Black Coffee uses three blends from Ethiopia, Colombia and Guatemala, and come in extra bold, bold and decaf.
Through buying a bag of coffee, customers have an opportunity to change lives, serving those who have come from difficult situations.
While Masvimbo hopes to open the coffee shop in Bakersfield someday, there are no immediate plans. But those interested can make a drive to Frazier Park, or visit their website.
For more information about their mission and to support their cause by buying a bag of coffee, visit blackcoffeela.com.
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