Sightseer Coffee Opens in Austin With an Eye Towards Women’s Equity - Eater Austin
"Tucked inside Sugar Mama’s Bakeshop is a hot new coffee stop — Sightseer Coffee. Run by co-founders Kimberly Zash and Sara Gibson, it is a feminist and queer-owned business that serves coffees farmed, sourced, and roasted by women. The menu includes everything you’d expect: specialty espresso drinks, pour-overs, cold brew, and more. Some special drinks reference extraordinary women, like the Teaches of Peaches (cold brew shaken over ice with peach nectar and mint syrup, garnished with Tajin and a chili lime peach ring) and the Fade Into You (a shout out to Mazzy Star’s Hope Sandoval that is a latte made with smoked maple syrup, black walnut bitters, and a dash of black lava salt). It also has a vegan butterscotch latte and a bunuelo latte that is made with piloncillo sugar, cinnamon, and orange zest. Sightseer serves 10 roasts, and Zash and Gibson met while working at Greater Goods Coffee. They started it as a roasting company in 2022. In a press release, the pair explains their mission by noting, “Women make up approximately 70 percent of the labor force on coffee farms, but they’re typically shut out of management and ownership. By sourcing exclusively from women producers and paying higher-than-fair Trade prices, Sightseer helps women growers stake their claim in coffee’s future.” “We’re not pretentious about coffee, but we are in love with coffee, and we’re always happy to nerd out about it,” Gibson said in a statement. “Whether you want a recommendation for dark roast beans or to discuss sustainability in the coffee supply chain, we are stoked to have those conversations.” Customers can grab baked goods from Sugar Mama’s when they pop in. “South 1st is one of my favorite neighborhoods in Austin,” Zash said. “It’s weird and kitschy and quirky — perfect for us, basically.” It is open now at 1905 S. 1st Street. Visit Tuesday to Friday from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. or Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. It will host a grand opening on Saturday, June 29th, from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. that includes half off drinks all day, 20 percent off bags of coffee, free goodies from Sugar Mama’s, free “cold fashioned” cocktails with cocktails from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., and a raffle that benefits Out Youth. $3 from every bag of El Prisma coffee sold during Pride month from Sightseer will also go to benefit Out Youth." - Nadia Chaudhury
