Hansa Coffee Roasters Opens Oct. 4 in Downtown Libertyville

Kevin Kane loves good coffee. 

He loves coffee so much that when his beloved Krups coffeemaker "gave up the ghost" after 20 years, he tried coffeemaker after coffeemaker, searching for the best one he could find. The best he found was the large, expensive Technivorm Moccamaster. 

On Oct. 4, Kane and his business partners, Tom Maegdlin and Alexandra Campbell, will bring high-quality coffee to the masses at their new shop, Hansa Coffee Roasters. 

The shop, located at 755 N. Milwaukee Ave. just north of the railroad tracks, will officially open its doors at Oct. 4. It's located in a renovated vehicle service garage space.

"People will travel for good coffee," said Kane.

Kane and Maegdlin worked together at a local bank. When Caribou Coffee closed in downtown Libertyville in April, "we felt we were living in a coffee desert," said Kane. 

Maegdlin has been working in the coffee industry since he was 15 years old. He started out washing dishes and worked his way up to being a barista. He also taught himself how to roast his own coffee beans. 

"One day, after an arduous few weeks, Tom said, 'We should open up a coffee shop,'" said Kane. "I said how much. He threw out a figure and here we are."

He figured if Maegdlin could make coffee a quarter as good as he said he could, "we'll be great. 

"He's better," said Kane. 

Hansa Coffee Roasters will be a small-batch roaster, said Maegdlin. He likened it to "grandma's pasta sauce" and the amount of care grandma puts into the small batches of sauce. 

Hansa will roast up to 5 lbs of coffee at one time, Maegdlin said. 

"It comes out in the espresso drinks and the coffee you take home with you," Maegdlin said of the small-batch roasting method. "I can smell stale coffee elsewhere. Here, it smells sweet, like fresh coffee."

Maegdlin said Hansa Coffee Roasters bought top-of-the-line coffee equipment so they can "brew it with the best equipment available."

But customers shouldn't anticipate that the high-quality coffee will also come with an attitude, Maegdlin said.

"I don't think you have to have a snotty attitude to be good at something," he said. 

Kane said customers can expect the same comfortable, homey atmosphere that Caribou offered. 

"(Caribou) had such a warm feeling," said Campbell. "We wanted to replicate that."

Loyal Caribou customers will also see a familiar face at Hansa. Caribou barista Jackie Anderson has joined the Hansa team. Anderson said after she left Caribou, she didn't anticipate getting back into the coffee world. She believes in what Hansa is all about.

"I'd not experienced a coffee shop like this before," said Anderson. "It's inspiring."
She calls coffee an art.

"I'm excited about being able to bring art to Libertyville," said Anderson.