Pull up a chair at The Table
Isaiah Watt combines his passions for coffee and the gospel as the head barista at The Table, a new café beside Life Church in downtown Washington.
Isaiah Watt stands at the coffee bar at The Table in downtown Washington.
Good things are brewing in Washington, where the area’s newest café has opened: The Table.
Nestled beside Life Church at 100 N. Main St., The Table offers finely crafted coffee and handmade pastries. Watt, who is the head barista, is eager to share more than just a cup of coffee with the community. He is looking to revitalize a city.
Watt was drawn to coffee six years ago when he took his first sip of French-pressed coffee.
“It was the most flavorful thing I ever had, compared to your regular drip,” Watt said.
After experiencing this richer, stronger flavor of coffee, an interest in crafting his own drinks was ignited. He wanted to introduce his friends and family to a unique coffee experience, and was delighted when people noticed a difference in the quality of coffee.
“There is such a connection. I love seeing how coffee affected people and how it sparked something within them. That’s what really intrigued me,” Watt said.
It was this connection to people and their reactions to his coffee creations that spurred him to further study coffee. After graduating from high school, Watt had the opportunity to join a Youth With A Mission program, which is designed to help students cultivate a stronger relationship with God and with others, while also training them for their desired vocations. A major goal of YWAM is to equip students to bring the love of God into all aspects of life.
For Watt, this meant pairing his passion for crafting coffee with his desire to do ministry with the church. Through the YWAM program, Watt travelled to Norway to discover how these two passions could be intertwined and strengthened.
Immersed in a “bean-to-cup” education, Watt studied everything from the growing and harvesting of coffee beans to the complete history of the trade and its economic impact. He learned to identify complex flavors and their origins. He was taught the intricate details of barista etiquette and the precise measurements and methods for creating a plethora of drinks.
In the final weeks of the program, Watt had the opportunity to travel to several European countries for ministry outreach. During his travels, he tasted the differences each country had to offer.
“Every country has a different coffee culture,” Watt said.
Although Watt was thrilled with his experiences, he was eager to return to Washington to share his newfound knowledge of coffee in the city so close to home.
“There is something about what is sprouting up in this area that’s super attractive. … There is something here that I want to be a part of,” he said.
Partnering with Life Church, Watt’s dream of opening a café came to fruition, helping to fuel the church’s goal of reinvigorating Washington, not just through spiritual healing, but also through a boom in industry and business.
With this new “specialty, third wave” coffee shop opening in Washington, coffee connoisseurs will no longer need to trek to Pittsburgh to get the quality they crave.
From the gritty Turkish coffee to the perfect cup he found in London, Watt drew upon the different styles and flavors he experienced during his travels when he crafted the menu for The Table, carefully selecting coffee beans from around the world, with a focus on beans from Columbia and Africa. He has adopted brewing styles from around the globe as well, from the espresso drinks of Italy to the cold brew technique from Japan.
Although the coffee beans have travelled a long distance, Watt values the importance of supporting local business and has partnered with a local dairy farm and a regional, artisanal bean roaster.
And even though the quality of his coffee is crucial to Watt, he is even more concerned with making The Table a place where anyone can come and find something they love. He hopes to show people that coffee is more than a vehicle for caffeine. He wants to educate his customers on how tastes and flavors differ based on bean type, drink style and brewing technique.
“When you know what to expect out of a drink, then you enjoy it more,” Watt said.
More importantly, Isaiah hopes the café becomes a place where people can feel not only welcome, but cherished. He wants to show the presence of God through both the creativity and quality of his products and the warmth of the staff.
“The Table is a place where you can come in and pull up a chair so everyone, from people from the church to college students, are going to be coming in, and they are stepping into what we stand for, and that’s community. hTat’s heaven on earth,” Watt said. “That’s what kingdom fellowship looks like: It looks like family. … You don’t always have to preach the gospel on the street corner to minister to people.”
Additionally, Watt plans to partner with different mission-based organizations by donating profits from The Table to help those in desperate situations.