Sometimes a new business is very obvious, but still I drive by it several times a week and don’t see it. Such was the case with Love Birds Coffee and Tea Company.
It is located in the small shopping center at the southeast corner of Broadway and Wiltse, right next to the UPS Store . If you drove south from freeway on Schnell School Road and didn’t turn right or left onto Broadway, you would drive right into it.
Russ Salazar and I dropped in one Tuesday around noon and introduced ourselves to the high energy and very busy Garrett Sanders, who, with his wife Jasmin, own this business.
“This has been a dream of mine since high school,” he said. “I have previously worked in coffee shops and finally we opened our own about a year ago in the Smith Flat House. It was a little out of the way, so a few months ago moved here. We love both our business and this new location. We are the only Italian Espresso Bar in the Placerville area.”
Their goal is to bring their customers top quality products that are good for the body, soul and environment.
All of their coffees are sourced with the most intentional buying to bring to you wonderful coffee to be enjoyed. Their gourmet coffees come from single farms and co-ops along with Direct Trade Coffees which cost quite a bit more but its important to them to support the farmers from Seed to Cup. They also look for Rainforest Alliance and Organic Coffees when they are Direct Trade.
In their roasting plant the roasters take special pride in roasting each coffee in the style of the old world Italian tradition to ensure a wonderful coffee for their customers that follows coffee and espresso skills dating back to 19th century Italy.
We sat at one of the tables in this beautifully decorated and very clean coffee shop. Garrett offered us coffee and then said we should try one of their waffles.
For coffee, Russ selected Italian roast. I’m not really a coffee drinker, so I selected a special flavored coffee, Snickerdoodle. Both were really good.
To enjoy with the coffee, Garrett recommended the house speciality waffle, which comes with a triple berry compote and housemade huckleberry whipped cream on top.
Their waffles are a do-it-yourself item. They provide the ingredients and add the toppings, your only job is to bake the waffle.
The waffle was excellent. Russ pointed out to me that it had body, unlike most of the restaurant waffles. He really liked it.
In addition to gourmet coffee, coffee drinks and speciality tea, Love Birds Coffee and Tea Co. serves a multitude of delicious items, such as fresh baked pastries, like Cannoli (with mascarpone filling) and Pizzelle; fresh baked turnovers (Seasonal Flavors); assorted bagels and scones (Seasonal Flavors) and even banana bread using Jasmin’s recipe.
They also serve gluten-free Chocolate Dipped Macaroons and vegan turnovers, along with a good selection of seasonal baked goods from
Apple Hill bakeries.
You can also purchase coffee and tea for home use and, if you are looking for a unique gift, they ship anywhere.
Love Birds Coffee and Tea Co. is open weekdays from 5:45 until 4 and on Saturday and Sunday from 8:30 until 4. For more information call (530) 300-9891 or visit their webpage at www.lovebirdscoffeeandtea.com.
They do plan on special events in the near future, like music, poetry readings and much more. Be sure to ask about that. Oh, free Wi-Fi.
Okay, I am sure you want to know where the Love Birds name came from. I did.
Garrett told us that people commented on he and his wife Jasmin holding hands when they walked together. They would say, “There go the love birds” and it became their name.
You probably also noted that Garrett’s last name is Sanders. He is the nephew of John Sanders who has both Old Town Grill and the Smith Flat House Cellar and Grill Event Center.