Why RED

How it all began.

REDBAR Espresso & Market was founded December 31st of 2012 by Dr. Michael Bucknell and Kevin Anderson. The story is worth sharing. Dr. Bucknell, a well known Chiropractor, author, and internet health educator, loved coffee. This love didn’t start early, in fact even through his educational career it was of no particular interest. Some time in his late 20’s, probably due to the stress and long hours of running a busy clinic, he developed a taste which lead him to learn more and develop. This lead to sourcing his coffee from one company to another as taste became more distinct. Then his family were set to vacation to California and a good friend told him about a fantastic shop, Klatch Roasters in Rancho Cucamonga, where he had visited and trained when opening a shop of his own.

Driving two hours in LA traffic the experience was worth it as it was the first truly remarkable cup and passionate customer service he had experienced. As the story continued he began ordering all of his personal coffee from there, shipping it from LA to LA (Los Angeles to Lower Alabama). A high quality grinder, a decent home espresso machine, a restaurant grade whipped cream charger, adding components simply to make his own cup better.

Then friends and family would come over and he would make them what is now REDBAR’s Signature Con Panna, and they would ask “what is this it’s delicious”? Comments would be made later asking when they could come back over so he could make them another. The idea took life then through a chance conversation between Dr. Bucknell and Kevin Anderson. REDBAR Espresso & Market was born and has since maintained strict adherence to it’s founding principles in the RED acronym, ResponsiblExperienceDeliberate.

RESPONSIBLE: The "R" in REDBAR

 The R in REDBAR stands for Responsible. Dr. Bucknell as an outspoken health advocate and educator knows through years of patient encounters that the most difficult part of maintaining health is living in a culture that is not conducive to the same high standards. It’s like trying to be a healthy fish in a sick tank. So our first commitment is maintaining the highest quality ingredients and practices possible. This is extensive in ways most our customers don’t notice.

  • Organic ingredients as much as possible, but as natural as can be sourced otherwise.

  • Grass finished, antibiotic free, and hormone free beef

  • No pork period, even though some ask for it it’s simply not healthy

  • Grass fed cheese options

  • Minimally pasteurized, non homogenized grass fed organic milk

  • Organic and Non-GMO milk alternatives

  • Local farm yard eggs

  • House made syrups made with natural ingredients like organic raw cane, local honey, and organic maple syrup

  • No unhealthy vegetable oils used in grilling, only high quality coconut oil

  • Not just “filtered” water, but Aquaspace filtered water removing even flouride (yes, even our ice)

  • PLA and paper compostable utensils, cups, straws, and containers for environmental sustainability. We stay away from plastic everywhere possible to reduce our environmental impact.

We feel a responsibility for our customers. You should eat the way Dr. Bucknell feeds his family, and how he suggests his patients eat, and we stand by that responsibility to make it available.

EXPERIENCE and a Fresh Approach

A great experience is only partially made by great food and drinks. Of equal importance is the environment and the customer service. When designing REDBAR there was particular emphasis on creating an engaging and social environment. We wanted to create an environment as lively as coffee is used to arouse. Bright whites and reds wake up your senses. The wrap around bar with the espresso machine invites you to participate in the barista/bartender experience. In an increasingly disconnected world the bar concept is still effective in opening conversation.

Then when the sun sets REDBAR takes on a whole new life. Colorful lighting, great sound system, and a drink menu featuring more organic spirits than you likely knew were available. We take the coffee experience to a different level with some of the best espresso based mixed drinks you’ve ever had. Add in organic wines, high quality and even organic beers, and you’ve got a fun night waiting for you and your friends. Rather you're playing ping pong on the patio or just relaxing by one of the fire pits you're sure to have a great time. Of course we always promote responsibility, so take it slow and enjoy.

When it comes to customer service we are always training, always moving our employees to maintain integrity and an awareness of our customers needs. We hope your next visit makes you feel like you are loved as much as we love coffee.

DELIBERATE: Sourcing & Purpose

Everything we do is Deliberate. For instance we are asked “why do we only give a chocolate when ordered in a house mug and not a to-go cup?” Because we reward customers for taking a moment to slow down and be a part of the in house experience.

Most small businesses neglect the small details. REDBAR considers every detail part of the overall experience. Next time you are in, take a look at the pictures on the walls. You’ll see a common theme of our trademark RED streak running through cities with a rich coffee culture around the world. But you’ll also find a REDBAR ceramic demitasse cup somewhere in each of the pictures. The boat garden in front was salvaged from the property when purchased, abandoned in the woods. Instead of ending up in a landfill, we repurposed it in partnership with A Bloom Nursery to beautify the property. Our tabletops were also salvaged, taken out of the old house on the property. Dr. Mike hand built each one refinishing, adding frames and glass tops. They perfectly complement the ample light coming in the tall arched windows.

But when it comes to Deliberate, it doesn’t get more important than in the sourcing of our product. We purchase our coffee beans from one of the top roasters in the world, Klatch Roasters in California and ship them freshly roasted to our stores. Klatch Roasters holds some of the highest accolades in the coffee world from the Golden Bean Award, World’s Best Espresso, and regular rankings on Coffee Review in the 90s. Each bag is cycled through appropriately so you never drink a cup out of freshness. We only purchase their organic varieties to ensure no pesticides or undesirables are consumed. There are only a handful of places in the country where you can enjoy this level of expertly roasted quality coffee sourced from sustainable farms around the world at purchase prices that support the farmers, their families, and their communities.

Coffee is of course only half a latte. Where most chains and stores purchase milk for the lowest price, that means you are drinking homogenized, super pasteurized milk pumped full of antibiotics and growth hormones from unhealthy cows often milked to the point of developing mastitis (utter ulcers). You are what you consume, so best practice is to be considerate in what you consume regularly. We source our milk from local farmers, focusing on farms who follow organic standards, don’t use antibiotics or growth hormones, and are grazed on grass fields not troughs of corn and grains. As our coffee and milk are the two most important products used in a coffee shop, these are two details we take very seriously. Deliberate honesty is important.