Behind the Brew: Brothers & Sisters Co.
Nestled away on Station Street in Brookline, MA is a cozy cafe that is this week’s Behind the Brew: Brothers & Sisters Co. The coffee shop is a local favorite, boasting an impressive menu that serves not only drinks, but breakfast/lunch foods, baked goods, and ice cream made by the owner herself! Brothers & Sisters is becoming an even larger presence in the community, not only in Brookline, but across Boston. With special menu items, merch, and upcoming events (International Hummus Day is on May 1st, 2021!! With FREE hummus bowls!!!), the coffee shop will soon become a Boston-wide favorite.
This brings me to Jamie Siracusa, owner of Brothers & Sisters Co. and Jamie’s Ice Cream Co.! I had the opportunity to interview her, as well as taste some drinks and food at the cafe while I was there (which was all delicious and I can’t wait to go back). Jamie’s down-to-earth, caring personality shines through the love and passion she puts into the coffee shop, and it was a pleasure to have the chance to speak with her.
Jamie Siracusa, Owner of B&S Co. and Jamie’s Ice Cream Co.
Tell me about your journey in the coffee/beer industry. What attracted you to this profession?
Jamie: “I went to school at Emmanuel college in the Fenway area in Boston, and I studied business management and religious studies. At the time, I had a company in college: a handbag and apparel company. I think more than anything, it was a creative outlet for me. I just wanted to start a business and I don't think I knew what I wanted to do. But through that, I found myself working at a lot of coffee shops and I just loved the environment. I was very drawn to it.
I'm from Connecticut, so when I would go home for the summers, I would do the same thing and work at coffee shops. I felt that in Connecticut, the coffee shops were more community oriented and really rooted in community. I felt that a lot of things were really commercial here [in Boston] and that planted a seed for me. There was a coffee shop in Connecticut I would go to a lot and I thought, “I want to create something like this”.
I was really interested in photography and graphic design. I did a lot of baking and cooking. I'm very energized by people giving back to the community and getting involved in that way. So, I think there were just multiple things that drew me towards opening a coffee shop, coffee actually not being the main one.
I have to be honest about that though, because now that I'm in this scene, I meet people that are so well versed on coffee. I know so many people who have a passion for roasting and there's just so much for me to learn. [My initial draw was that] I more just wanted a community place for people really to feel safe and be involved.
When I graduated, I thought maybe I'll work in a bakery or something that was somewhat similar to see if I actually liked it. I managed a cupcake bakery that had five locations for a year, but it ended up going out of business. I had to leave and I thought I would get more experience learning to be a barista. However, then this opportunity [to open up a coffee shop] presented itself. I had found out that the space was for sale and thought “I'm just going to go for it.”
I had the vision for Brothers & Sisters Co. my junior year of college. When I knew I was wanting to open up the cafe, I created the vision of what I wanted. “Brothers and Sisters” stuck with me. I wanted to tie in the whole community and come up with a name for the unity of everyone.
In hindsight, I'm happy I just jumped in because I think I learned more than by just floating around to different places.”
Tell me a little bit about the coffee shop you work at. What makes it different?
Jamie: “It's funny… I had a hard time answering because I think coffee shops are competitive now because everyone wants to be involved with them. Everyone is doing something for the community, and everyone is putting out a quality product. So I'd like to say that we're different because we really care deeply about people, yet still, I think a lot of people do.
I think we are very versatile and have a lot of options for people. We just launched an ice cream brand (Jamie’s Ice Cream Co.) where I make the ice cream (I've been passionate about ice cream for a while!). So, you can come here for coffee, you can come here for breakfast and/or lunch, and you can also come here for ice cream. I think that really has made us different. Also, I think the location of where we are has made us different. I firmly believe that there's more of a community here [in Brookline] than a lot of people have with shops in the middle of the city of Boston.
Brookline is to thank for that too, because we have a lot of regulars and we have really, really supportive people here. Huge thank you to the community of Brookline!”
What has been challenging for you during COVID as a business owner and what sort of strategies have you used to adapt to the circumstance?
Jamie: “I think one of the most challenging parts for me was that I was a new owner right before this pandemic, and I was just getting settled into an existing business model. I felt that we were rocking and rolling, and I finally got it and I was in this groove… but then we've had to completely switch over the process in which our business runs from little to big things like: how many hours can I realistically pay somebody for? How is somebody going to order? How are we going to move people through? What is our inventory look like? What is keeping things fresh and alive? How are we making people feel safe? There are just so many details to think about all the time. That was really hard.
Another struggle was making staff feel safe and comfortable to want to work and feeling like I couldn't provide the jobs that I could provide before the pandemic… These are people that have been here for years. It was really disheartening and frustrating to have to leave people without a job. That was really hard for me because we have a community here, but we especially have a really tight knit community within our staff. That's something I try to put a lot of emphasis on: I want everyone to be happy here. We spent a lot of time together, we do a lot together… so that was hard.
Finally, no decision feels free. Everything you do, even just making sure we're being clean and the whole place is sanitized, is a lot.
I know I feel like we're finally coming out of the worst of it [the pandemic]. We added outdoor seating and are doing takeout, and people have been really receptive to it. For example, we had people sitting out here in the snow reading a book and I thought, “no one would have done this before!” That was really cool to see.”
What are some challenges of running a business, in general?
Jamie: “It's a lot of constant upkeep. It's a lot of responsibility. I like having the responsibility, but it can feel like a weight at times. Sometimes, it feels like I have a kid and I don't!
There’s also the fact that this [the business] is always here, even if I'm not. For me, there’s no real checking out. And then if I ever do check out, I have this guilt that I kind of have to sit with because I always feel like I could be doing something. That's just a personal thing I struggle with.
I think we've been lucky to have amazing people. Managing people is a struggle, especially if you are really tight with your staff and you care a lot about your people. I'm constantly tending to everyone's concerns and making them comfortable and being accommodating, but it’s a lot of energy to output all the time.
I get so attached to people and it feels so good when somebody knows what they're doing, and then you can check out and do something else you have to do. But if people leave, you have to reset all over again. You have to be very transitional, flexible, open, high energy. It's funny because everyone here thinks I'm like the highest energy person and I'm like, “that's how you see me?!”
One thing that I've recently noticed that took me almost two years to notice is people always used to say if you have your own company it can be lonely. I just recently shared this with somebody, but I'm thinking about everyone here from the time I wake up to the time I go to bed, but then they go home and they live their lives and all hang out. Then I realize [how lonely it can get].
So I think it's really important as a business owner to build relationships and be in a community with people that are in a similar position as you because they think differently about things. As much as I can be everyone's friend— and I am, I'm very close with everyone— the business still has to run. I've struggled finding that line, because I'm the same age as everybody, if not younger.”
Have you noticed any silver linings in the industry since the pandemic hit?
Jamie: “Yes. People have been so, so supportive, which is really created an impact. It makes me feel more secure here because if we were able to get through that [the pandemic], we can get through anything. People really like what we're doing. It's a boost to hear, "Oh, you're doing a good job!"
Another big silver lining was time. I had more time to do things in a way I haven't before because we weren't open. When we reopened, we were open for such short hours and it felt nice to be able to spend some time at the coffee shop and not just at home.
Also, we launched ice cream! That was really fun. I spent a lot of time experimenting and really learning the ice cream business, which I otherwise wouldn't have had time to do. Now, ice cream is a whole other stream of revenue for us. I'm hoping eventually to get into the wholesale side of things and I don't know if I would have done that if it weren’t for the pandemic. People who knew I was interested in ice cream kept saying to me, “why don't you just serve ice cream out of the cafe window in the summer?” That got me thinking, "Wow, that's a great idea."
Finally, I know I just talked about how I want business friends, but one other silver lining is our team is more tight knit than ever before because we have so much time together. When it was peak COVID, everyone was here [at the coffee shop] spending time together, whether it was playing games or doing something else to fill the time. Having a support system is awesome.
One more silver lining is that the pandemic taught me as a business owner how to be more diligent with everything: how the business is run, finances, etc. I streamlined our whole menu, which is important for a kitchen, especially in using a lot of the same ingredients for training purposes to get things out quicker.”
What are some things that local customers can do to support you and to continue to support your business?
Jamie: “I would love people to try our ice cream! People have been really patient with us changing all of our processes and I would ask that people continue to remain patient. When we first started our COVID reopening people were, for example, waiting longer for an order… So, I would ask for people to keep coming and keep being patience with us.
I think it's always good when people in the community share what we're doing, what we serve, any projects we have going on. What else could I ask of everyone? I mean, the main thing is that I just want people to come.
I'm also open to feedback. If people think we could be doing things better, please tell me! Now that we have the community fridge, it would be helpful for people to contribute because even though we're the host, it's volunteer-run.”
Do you have a favorite coffee drink? What is your coffee ritual?
Jamie: “I always have to start off the day with a hot coffee, something about it is really comforting to me. I like ice drinks, but I will never have them until later in the day.
So, my typical coffee schedule every morning is that I have a Cafe au Lait. I also like a dark roast coffee and not an acidic coffee… light roasts aren't really up my alley. I like a dark roast coffee with steamed oat milk. Then I put a little flavor, which I switch up. Here, we have honey cinnamon, which I love. So, I do tend to do a honey cinnamon Cafe au Lait, lightly sweet... That's very specific.
Anyways, then around like two or three in the afternoon, I always have an iced matcha. I do an iced mint matcha with a little vanilla and oat milk, or sometimes I'll do an iced latte. One thing that we have that I really liked when I first started in the industry are tea lattes. Here we have a mint matcha, a spicy tumeric latte with red chili, and a chai, and they're all so good! I switch that up depending on the caffeine level that I want.”
What's a little-known fact about coffee or the industry that people might not know?
Jamie: “This isn’t one concrete fact, but something I've enjoyed about the coffee scene is it draws a lot of different types of people. Whether we have full-time staff members or people that are really transitional in their life, it draws all sorts of backgrounds here. The environment has challenged me in terms of people's intelligence levels and learning something new. Just within the last month, for example, I have someone in my staff who is studying everything there is to know about the environment. We have political science majors, sociology majors, a nutritionist here, artists, musicians... It's just a crazy mix of people!
I also feel like there's always something to learn in a coffee shop. Even if you just go and listen. There was this article I read where this person went around the United States and listened to the different conversations in coffee shops, and then reported on how conversations varied from location to location. So, if someone was here, what kind of conversations are you hearing around you versus if you're in a coffee shop down South? I thought that was super interesting because I have listened to people's conversations here and learned so much (and I know that's eavesdropping but it's really fascinating).
There are so many different types of things going on in coffee shops at all times: people are on dates, people are in interviews, or even intense debates; it's just a meeting place for so many different things. I think people don't realize how much is really going on all the time.
I also think actually working [being a barista and working the machine] could be like therapy for people. It's like a bartender! A lot of people say you should bartend at least once in your life. I have a friend who has a really, really stressful job in a hospital and she wants to be done. I told her, if you just came here and you just worked for a few days, it would be like therapy to just mindlessly making drinks and talking to people. It's like relatively an upbeat, friendly environment, which I really like.
Any last final things you want to leave people with? Anything else you want to mention? Any new stuff that you are coming out with?
Jamie: “I would love to plug the community fridge! Also, we are doing an event on May 1st celebrating International Hummus Day! I have a friend who makes homemade hummus and we’re partnering with him on it. He’s going to be giving away free hummus bowls all day, like FULL hummus bowls with pita!! They're going to be beautiful. We're going to have a tent with games. It's going to be really fun! People haven't been out and my idea was like, “why don't we make it more of an event rather than just serve a bowl so we can like bring life to the street?” And it's free! So who wouldn't want that?
Finally, just another thank you. I think I always try to say thanks to the support of the community for keeping us going because it keeps multiple people’s jobs in place, maintains people's sanity, it helps continue to maintain a safe place for people to come and get out of their houses.”
Thank you Jamie for being so welcoming and open to being interviewed!!