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Chuck Beard (left) and Terry Miller pose inside The Gilded Bean.
Times-News
Elizabeth Pattman
For owner Chuck Beard, opening The Gilded Bean in Gibsonville was a great opportunity to blend coffee and community.
The coffee shop, located at 111 E. Main St., features Beard's baked goods, coffee roasted in-house by Terry Miller, a selection of sweet treats made by Alamance residents and local artists' works on display.
The Gilded Bean took over the space where Twin City Hive featuring Beetle + Bee opened last summer. Miller, who was the former owner of Beetle + Bee, said the COVID-19 pandemic, his health and the business became too much to juggle. With Beard taking over ownership of the space and Miller being able to focus on roasting the coffee, the pair found balance in their partnership.
"With COVID and my health starting to go down a little bit, I decided to get out of the shop for a little while," Miller said. "Doing the baking, the daily operations of the store, the roasting, my health and then COVID, it just all kind of escalated."
"I love to roast. That's my passion and what I want to focus on. With this new partnership and Chuck being the new owner ... I can continue roasting in the back and help out in the front," he added.
For Beard, the decision to get into the coffee business came from his love of local coffee shops and the pairing between coffee and his baked goods.
"If I have any claim to fame in the culinary world, its for the cheesecakes," Beard said. "I just felt it would be a good complement."
Beard said he also wanted a space to highlight local artists and musicians and create community.
Currently, The Gilded Bean has four artists' work on display including Milton Hall, Martha Sink, Pat Rogers and Connie Griner. The art is for sale and artists will rotate periodically. Beard also wants to bring musicians in for live performances when possible.
"For the latter part of life, this is a good environment for me," he said.
The Gilded Bean will serve Beard's cheesecake, Italian cream cakes, pumpkin walnut bread and oatmeal raisin walnut cookies. Beard has also sourced baked goods from local bakers including Marie Koury's Lebanese baklava, Susan Ryan's fudge, Beverly Pugh's bread, and Greek baklava from Greensboro.
"In that way, I want it to be about community too. It's not just about Terry and I," Beard said.
Miller said The Gilded Bean will feature five coffee blends including a light, medium and dark roast, espresso and a decaf. He's also considering adding a half-calf option if there is enough demand for it. Coffee will be sourced from Rwanda, Brazil, Ethiopia and Honduras.
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One thing we're going to focus on is taking away a lot of the different flavors. We're going to make most of our syrups in-house and we want to focus more on the taste of the coffee and get some interesting recipes out there," Miller said.
"We want to figure out what our niche can be," he added.
Specialty drinks on the menu include Chuck's Forte which includes chocolate syrup, mint syrup, espresso and coconut milk; the Gibson which includes espresso, white chocolate, lavender syrup, half and half and edible rose petals; the Gold Rush which is espresso, tumeric and oat milk with edible gold flakes on top; as well as drinking chocolate and a selection of cold teas.
There are two bar areas in the front of the shop as well as a small lounge in the back. The Gilded Bean will be open Tuesday through Saturday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.
As the business grows, Miller is hoping to introduce roasting classes, Beard wants to incorporate live music and the pair is thinking about opening the space for community events on the days the coffee shop is closed.
"We're just super excited," Miller said. "The community is so welcoming ... I feel like we're on the cusp of some really great things happening and it's exciting to be here."
Elizabeth Pattman is the trending topics reporter for the Times-News in Burlington, covering business, COVID-19 and all things trending. Contact Elizabeth (she/her) at epattman@gannett.com. I'm also available on social media @EPattmanTN on Twitter or @burlingtontimesnews on Instagram.
