Tucked inside an unexpected space, BRB Coffee brings together culture, community and everyday life in a unique way. Join Associate Audio Editor Rhea Chowdhary as she gives a glimpse into how one small spot is creating something bigger than just coffee.

Narrated and edited by Rhea Chowdhary. Cover photo by Michael Martinez Lino. Music by Blue Dot Sessions.

[Intro music]

Rhea Chowdhary: If you listen closely to the slurry of sounds that are playing, you may pick up on coins dropping into a machine, washers and dryers spinning clothes, a coffee machine brewing an espresso, and a cup being filled with ice to complete someone’s latte. But where do all these sounds fit together?

My name is Rhea Chowdhary and I am the Associate Audio editor for The Daily Texan. In this episode, I spoke with BRB Coffee co-owner Youssef Shabo, as well as customers Diego Lopez Bernal and Ariane Avendano on what BRB is and the importance of its space to the Austin community.

Tucked inside of Spin Cycle Coin Laundry sits BRB Coffee, a coffee shop serving middle eastern inspired drinks and snacks. Such an interesting concept seems planned, but the idea was just one that formed from discovering a shared passion. Here is Youssef explaining how the concept of BRB came to be.

Youssef Shabo:  So we started BRB about 10 and a half months ago, so we’re still babies if you ask me. When we approached the owner, it wasn’t about BRB. We, my family and I, we run another business that is laundry related, and when I was a student at UT, I used to do my laundry at that location at 3501 Guadalupe Street.

So when we started the laundry business, I remember that laundromat, and I went and talked to the owner and I was like, “Hey, I used to be a customer. I’d like to partner up with you on this business idea that we have.” And he liked the idea. We started meeting every week, and then when I brought up my design background, my architecture background, he was like, “Oh, I need your help with the laundromat. It can take some sprucing and like, you know, remodeling.”

I used to come here, put my laundry in the washer in the dryer, and like not feel comfortable leaving my stuff behind and going to grab a cup of coffee or something. And we talked about multiple options. It could have been like a thrift store or a grocery store or, or like a convenience store, or we talked about a listening room maybe. But then also the coffee shop was, you know, something that we both had in common, like a passion.

We’re from Syria, I grew up drinking Turkish coffee. Moving to the U.S. drip did not make it for me. So I started looking into other ways of making coffee, whether it’s espresso, whether it’s moka pot, whether it’s, you know, French press. And so I have always been interested in that. And then he is from Vietnam, and his family run a business between Vietnam and Europe where they, uh, export I think coffee beans to like Italy or Switzerland.

And so yeah, we bonded over the coffee and I told him like, you know, it’s an opportunity for people, especially a lot of UT students, where they can go do their laundry and grab a bite or a drink, do their homework.

Chowdhary: When visiting BRB, the coffee creations speak for themselves. You’re hit with names on the menu such as “midnight rose and desert rose,” or “pistachio and cardamom latte.” With Youssef and his brother, Ronnie Shabo, at the forefront of owning and operating BRB, the family business also includes their sister, Laila Shabo, and mom, Tima Mousou. Their family being originally from Syria, Youssef touches on why incorporating familiar flavors from their home is more than just for drinking pleasure.

Shabo: I believe that food in general, and like obviously drinks included, it’s not just to sustain us. There’s a lot of history, there’s a lot of culture, there’s, you know, stories that you tell through food. And, I’ve always believed in that. And, when we look at the coffee and when we started looking with the menu first, we wanted to bring some of those flavors that we grew up drinking back home and whatnot.

For example, there’s the tahini latte, we call it the desert rose. It has tahini and rose syrup, and that’s kind of was inspired by the halva, I think it’s popular here under halva, which has tahini, dried or powdered milk, and then powdered sugar, which, if you take it and make it in a liquid form, it would be, instead of the powdered milk, would be the regular milk that we use and the sweetener. And it was an inspiration, and that’s one of my favorite snacks. You know, it’s a little sweeter. And then when we make it as a coffee, as a drink, as a latte, I think it like brings back those memories that I grew up with, and I tell people the stories and they’re interested in the story more than the drink itself.

Chowdhary: In addition to drinks, BRB also sells different foods from various small bakeries, highlighting pastries from different countries.

Shabo: So originally the idea was to bring Syrian pastries and whatnot. And, we were working with the neighbors and then they had a chef who knew the recipes and he would, you know, provide them for us. And then eventually he left the restaurant he was working at, and then we started looking like, we looked back to the community and we started asking like, if you guys know anyone who could make those pastries for us, we’re happy to hire them.

And then we got introduced to an Afghan lady. We got introduced to an Armenian lady, a Turkmenistan lady. There was a Mexican woman who’s willing to do all these things. And that’s when I was like, wait, instead of having them make our food, let’s offer them the opportunity to make their traditional food or something that they’re very good at, and we can tell their stories and celebrate their cultures also.

Chowdhary: For customers Diego and Ariane, the opportunity to try these flavors authentically is a big part of why they come to BRB.

Ariane Avenando: I feel like more willing to try these new flavors just ’cause I feel like it’ll be more authentic and the flavors will be delicious, and they are. It’s definitely like my type of palate. I am drinking the pistachio cardamon latte, and every time I think of BRB I always think of that flavored latte or that syrup that they use.

Diego Lopez: This is also just a unique opportunity to try flavors. I think it’s always unique to see when someone’s trying to share something that they’re close to. A lot of other coffee shops offer really nice flavors, but usually they’re around seasonal produce, which is also very good and delicious, but it’s kind of just like, oh, that’s what’s in season. I’ll make a flavor because it’s at its peak right now, not really because they have a connection to it.

The main thing that resonates with me is like the feeling of wanting to come back again and trying the other flavors. They wanna share what goes into everything. And you can tell that they’re very passionate about the drinks that they’re offering and the flavors they’re trying to create.

Chowdhary: However, BRB is not just defined by their coffee, but for the space they offer. BRB is known for welcoming many different clubs, artists, organizations and businesses to use their sitting areas for different types of events and meetings. Youssef explains why this is a key part of BRB.

Shabo: From the beginning, what we’ve been trying to do is create a third space for people to come and feel comfortable. I mean, I know the laundry experience is not one that people think of as a nice experience and we’re trying to change that. It was honestly like, it’s just the community that kind of welcomed us. We just offered them the space, so like, when we first started, we would just talk to people and see like what they’re good at, what do they do, what do they do for fun?

I noticed one time a guy who’s playing his guitar in the back and I approached him and was talking to him and he was telling me, like, “oh, my band and I, we don’t have a place to play,” and I was like, “please come use this space, it’s yours.” We don’t charge money, we don’t need anything from you. We just wanna offer you this space back. And yeah, we offer the walls to local artists, so they come and hang their work. We offer the space for performers and whatnot. I have a friend who wanted to learn how to play chess, and she was like, “oh, I’m gonna start a chess club.” I was like, “perfect, we have the space for you,” and now every Sunday at noon, there’s a chess club that happens.

And yeah, I mean, it’s mostly, you know, like the community has been good to us and we just wanna give back to the community.

Chowdhary: For Ariane and Diego, the way the place is used is an admirable mix of spaces to create a unique community.

Avenando: It’s being able to support the community. Also the fact that this is both a place to enjoy coffee and, you know, you could do work, but then it’s also a third space. Like that’s their space, but then you also have the laundry aspect about it where we’re not taking away from the people who are already here, like this is still their place, their community to come and do their laundry, but then also hang out. And then new people coming into Austin, they can also be in the same space. And I think that’s not as easy to find here anymore, with the constant gentrification going on in the city.

Lopez: I feel like this is a unique place that has two purposes and they’re blending in a very nice way. Like, you’ll see people coming in solely for their purpose of doing their laundry, but then they get to socialize with people that are here just for the coffee or sometimes people come in for both. You might go to a coffee shop only to talk or just to try a new beverage, but here it seems like people actually come as like a place they come looking to be like comfortable in.

Chowdhary: With BRB coming up on its one year anniversary on April 20, here are some final words from Youssef on what it felt like opening the cafe and what he hopes people take away from BRB as a business.

Shabo: Early on, I was a little worried. I was like, I’m not sure if people were gonna come to a coffee shop inside a laundromat. I mean, like, that’s not something that you see often. So it was hard. I wasn’t sure if that’s going to grow or not, and on top of that, I tried to avoid having an identity in the beginning. I was like, let’s start with a regular coffee, something that people are familiar with, and then we will see if we wanna take on an identity or no. But like soon, right after we opened, we started testing out and telling people our stories and where we’re from and how we do things, and I started noticing that people were interested more in the stories and the new flavors more than in just a regular coffee or a regular latte.

We’re always opening our doors and welcoming people in, and we’re always happy to listen to people and offer the space to the community. Again, the idea is not to make money out of it. I mean, yes, money is part of it, but that’s not our main concern. Our main idea is to create the third space, the place where people can come and hang out and have a good time.

This episode is a production of The Daily Texan’s Audio Department. More episodes can be found on your streaming platform of choice. Follow us on Twitter @texanaudio and check us out at thedailytexan.com. Thank you for listening.