Langenheim and his wife Hunter at StoneFruit Social. Their shop in Foundry Lofts is their seventh retail location, the first outside of the Youngstown, Ohio area, and the second to serve both coffee and alcohol. | Photo by J. Adrian Wylie
One visit to the former Wolverine Sushi on E. Huron convinced coffee entrepreneur Josh Langenheim to expand out of the Youngstown, Ohio area for the first time. The corner retail space at Foundry Lofts, the student high-rise at Huron and Division, has full-length, zig-zag windows that in effect decorate the space with a live-action streetscape of downtown Ann Arbor.
“The space was rough when we saw it, but the potential, the campus, the people, the vibe, the energy, the street … it was just such an invigorating feeling,” he recalls. “This vibrancy is something that I need to be a part of.”
He’s since spent 2,100 hours personally attending to the build-out of his coffee and cocktail bar StoneFruit Social. He describes it as “a little bit classier. Bring a date here. Get an espresso martini. Have a nice high-end coffee. Enjoy yourself.”
Langenheim started out as a hobbyist with a half-kilogram roaster. Now, his current seventy-kilo Diedrich model produces eight million pounds annually for wholesale at his seven retail locations. The newest is just the second to combine coffee and alcohol.
StoneFruit’s name describes coffee itself, which botanically is not a bean, but rather a drupe, the type of fruit whose hard seeds derive from the ovary wall of the flower. Cherries, apricots, and olives are other examples.
Raised in a law enforcement family, Langenheim started his career working in a prison after deciding college wasn’t for him. “I had a completely different look on it after I spent four years in the corrections field,” he smiles.
After earning a degree in psychology from Youngstown State, he climbed the corporate ladder in marketing. But when his employer shifted operations to North Carolina, he stayed home, pouring $5,000 into his first coffee shop. Now, along with a silent partner, he’s one of Ohio’s largest commercial roasters.
He’ll commute weekly to Ann Arbor as StoneFruit Social takes root. But with he and his wife, Hunter, expecting their first child in August, he’s leaving daily operations in the hands of locals, including manager Jessie Hohnke, formerly with Black Rock Bar & Grill, and lead bartender Ana Palumbo, most recently with Thompson & Co. in Ypsilanti.
Organic and fair-trade coffee he sources around the world is prepared as pour-overs ground upon ordering—no air pots or auto-drips. He cites “the rule of the threes: We believe that raw coffee lasts three years, roasted coffee lasts three months, and ground coffee lasts three minutes.”
Both coffee and cocktails are served throughout the day, as are the “next-level baked goods” and customizable breakfast sandwiches, a trendy and handy adaptation to the small kitchen. Seasonal and signature cocktails are priced at $16 to $18.
With plush, custom-made seating, including sixteen along the bar, five TV screens, and a strong sound system, StoneFruit Social will host themed music nights and trivia contests.
“We’re not the place that’s pushing shots. We’re not the place that’s lighting sparklers on fire,” he says. “I am very excited to get into a more progressive city, a busier city. I think that if you offer something that is high quality at a fair price, and you deliver every single time, I think it’s sort of hard to lose.”
StoneFruit Social, 413 E. Huron St. (734) 882–9610. Wed. 8 a.m.–10 p.m., Thurs.–Sat. 8 a.m.–midnight, Sun. 8 a.m.– 7 p.m. Closed Mon. & Tues. stonefruitcoffee.com
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