How a Google map and ginormous roasting machine changed everything

I found it on Google Maps.

A tiny house with massive, moss-covered oak trees. A big sign out front. Reviews that said things like “life-changing” and “best coffee I’ve ever tasted.”

And when I zoomed in on the street view? It looked… well, let’s just say it looked like the kind of place you don’t visit alone.

But I’m not one to let a little adventure intimidation stop me. Not when award-winning coffee beans are involved.

I was new to Nassau County, Florida. New to everything, really – the neighborhoods, the culture, the audacity of designing a life where my attention could go wherever I wanted it to go. And I wanted it to go toward coffee.

So I did what any reasonable person would do: I asked one of my new friends if she wanted to join me on a coffee adventure.

“I drive by that place every day,” she said. “I’ve always wondered what it was.”

Perfect. We were going in.

When you walk into magic

The moment we opened the door to Nuanz Coffee Roasters, three things hit me at once:

The smell. Not just coffee – the smell of coffee being MADE. Roasted. Transformed from bean to something that makes your soul wake up and pay attention.

The sound. Smooth jazz. Not background music. The kind of jazz that makes you slow down and notice where you are.

The sight. There he was – the owner – standing beside this ginormous, red coffee roasting machine, watching us walk in with the kind of smile that says, “I know what’s about to happen to you.”

And he was right.

The question I couldn’t answer

“What flavor of coffee do you like?” he asked. “Light? Medium? Dark?”

I froze.

Up until that moment, I had only purchased ground coffee from the grocery store. I chose whatever was on sale or had a pretty package. I didn’t KNOW what I liked. I just knew I liked coffee.

“I… don’t know,” I admitted.

He didn’t miss a beat. “Then let’s start you with Guatemala Huehuetenango. I is comparable to a medium roast off the shelf, but much more flavor.”

He said it like poetry. Like a word that deserved to be savored before you even tasted what it represented.

Guatemala Huehuetenango. A smooth, medium-body coffee. Roasted mahogany. Notes of honey, lemon, and chocolate.

It sounded like heaven.

“This,” he said, handing me the bag of beans he scooped from a bin, “was roasted today.”

Today. As in, less than 24 hours ago, these beans were being transformed in that very machine behind him.

I was holding freshness I didn’t even know existed.

The morning everything changed

The next morning, I couldn’t wait.

I opened the bag of beans, and oh my – it’s not just a smell. It’s an aroma. The kind that fills a room and announces, “Something good is about to happen.”

I had purchased a low-cost grinder from Walmart (this was before I learned about burr grinders and the importance of consistent grind size). I poured the beans in, pressed the button, and—

WHIRRRRR.

I did NOT expect that much noise from such a small machine. But it did the trick. Fresh grounds. Ready to become the best cup of coffee I’d had in my kitchen.

That first morning, I used my Keurig. I wasn’t ready for pour-over or French press yet. I was still at the beginning of this journey, and the beginning meant using what I had.

But here’s the thing about good coffee:

It doesn’t matter what method you use. When the beans are THIS good, when they were roasted YESTERDAY, when you’ve ground them yourself and can still smell the aroma lingering in your kitchen?

Magic happens.

And here’s how I knew it was magic: I used less cream and sugar.

When you’re drinking grocery store coffee, you need cream and sugar to make it taste good. But with freshly roasted, freshly ground beans? The coffee is SO flavorful – those honey and chocolate notes actually coming through – that you don’t need to cover it up. You want to TASTE it.

That’s when I realized: I hadn’t been drinking coffee. I’d been drinking what I had to do to coffee to make it drinkable.

The Ally McBeal moment

Do you remember that scene in Ally McBeal where Ally teaches Georgia how to drink the first cup of coffee of the day? The anticipation. The reverence. The knowing that what’s about to touch your lips is going to be GOOD.

That was me.

I lifted the cup. I breathed it in. I took that first sip. And I said – out loud, to my quiet morning kitchen – “Now that’s a cup of coffee.” It wasn’t just the taste (though the honey and chocolate notes were exactly as promised).

It was the JOURNEY.

The Google Maps discovery. The friend who came with me. The owner who knew exactly where to start me. The roasting machine. The jazz. The aroma that filled my kitchen. The loud grinder. The Keurig that I’d use dozens more times before I ever touched a French press.

It was all of it.

And it was possible because I said yes to the adventure.

What I’ve learned about coffee (and life)

Over the next few months, I kept going back to Nuanz Coffee Roasters. I tried different beans. I experimented with pour-over. I learned about French press. I discovered that Guatemala Huehuetenango is still my favorite.

But more than that, I learned this: You don’t have to know what you like to start the adventure.

You just have to be willing to walk through the door of the sketchy-looking house with the moss-covered oak trees and the ginormous roasting machine. You have to say, “I don’t know what I like yet” and trust the guide who does. You have to open the bag, breathe in the aroma, and let yourself be amazed by the fact that something this good exists in your new home, just a few miles from where you live.

Because here’s what I know now: Adventure begins with coffee. Especially when it’s locally roasted, freshly ground, and brewed in a kitchen where you’re finally allowed to pay attention to what YOU want.

That’s not just a cup of coffee.

That’s freedom.

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My word stack for today:

Adventure + Begins + With + Coffee

adventure, [ad-ven-cher], noun, Origin: Latin adventura A journey into the unknown with courage and curiosity that discovers new possibilities.

begins, [bih-ginz], verb, Origin: Old English beginnan To take the first brave step into a story waiting to unfold and a path ready to be traveled.

with, [with], preposition, Origin: Old English “in company of” The beautiful truth that you never have to face life’s journey alone.

coffee, [kaw-fee], noun, Origin: Dutch koffie, from Turkish kahveh A magical potion that turns dreams into possibility one sip at a time.

These mugs are part of our Coffee Stories collection – word stacks inspired by my personal journey shared in these posts. Each memoir piece becomes a stackable memory you can hold in your hands. Start your own collection and create combinations that speak to your journey.

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Shop My Coffee Adventure:

The tools that transformed my coffee journey from grocery store grounds to Guatemala Huehuetenango:

☕ Burr Coffee Grinder – [Amazon Link] – Consistent grind size makes all the difference (upgrade from my loud Walmart grinder!)

🫘 Coffee Storage Canister – [Amazon Link] – Keep those freshly roasted beans at peak aroma and flavor

🫖 French Press – [Amazon Link] – For when you’re ready to slow down and savor the steeping process

📍 Support Local Roasters – Find your own Nuanz! Search “local coffee roasters near me” and say yes to the adventure

Some links are Amazon affiliate links, which means I earn a small commission if you purchase through them at no extra cost to you. I only share products I actually use and love!