Kinship Cafe is creating transparency and community within the KC coffee space and we’re here for it

TJ Roberts // Photo by Mar’Che Boggess

Located on the corner of North 6th Street and Ann Avenue in Kansas City, Kansas is Kinship Cafe, the city’s only Black-owned coffee shop.

Formerly home to KC Cupcake Co, owner TJ Roberts has completely revamped the space and knocked down a few walls. Combining his love of midcentury modern decor, minimalism, and plants, Roberts says he wanted the space to feel like a Black man’s coffee shop in the 1970s.

Roberts opened the shop in October 2021 after spending nearly a decade organizing community events as an insurance agent.

“The community aspect was so much more satisfying for me as a coffee shop owner,” says Roberts. “With Kinship being a coffee shop, the community events go way better because that’s what a coffee shop does. A coffee shop is a community resource center, a coffee shop is a place that’s safe for people to meet at. You don’t really say that as an insurance agent.”

After spending a year studying coffee intensely through YouTube videos and extensive research, Roberts got his start in the KC coffee scene in 2019 while working weekends as a barista at the Roasterie. While there, he learned the ins and outs of the shop and began making his own specialty drinks, inviting his regulars to come by and sample them. Many are now signature items on Kinship’s menu like the “MLK Way” and “Green Fling.”

Creating a culture of transparency

During that time, he also noticed the lack of transparency about the coffee-making process, noting that while many shops source their coffee from countries like Guatemala and Ethiopia, it isn’t served by people who look like them. With that in mind, he started working towards creating a Black and Brown supply chain.

“For me, I saw an opportunity to really get a chance to learn and then be a catalyst for what I didn’t see,” says Roberts. “We’re picking specific farms that are Black and Brown owned to support, and we’re trying to find better ways to have a good relationship with them but also, just to highlight the culture in such a way. Who better to do that than the people that look like them?” 

Kinship’s beans are sourced from Brazil, Guatemala, and Kenya, they’re then directly shipped to the cafe where Roberts roasts and sells them.

For Roberts, that transparency goes far beyond where their coffee is sourced from, he’s also big on educating people of color about how they fit into the history of coffee.

“Coffee, in the same way as any industry, was built on the hands and knees of minorities, and minorities don’t get the recognition that they’re owed,” says Roberts.

Along with educating customers on the history of coffee, he also strives to change their perception of it, introducing them to drinks that don’t have any cream or sugar, but are instead made with natural sweeteners like honey and agave.

Kinship specialty drink menu // Courtesy photo

“I can’t tell you how many times a Black person tells me ‘I’m not a big coffee drinker.’ And it’s because they don’t know the history of coffee,” says Roberts. “I enlighten them, and they order something like a Milky Way, which is the MLK Way, or they order a Cinnamon Delight, and by the time they leave the shop, that cup is halfway empty.”

Setting the tone for the block

With the cafe being located at the furthest northern part of the block, it’s often people’s introduction to the Strawberry Hill neighborhood.

Roberts uses this to his advantage, taking the opportunity to highlight other businesses in the area by hosting pop up events on the weekends. and featuring a market of Black owned products in the shop.

“There’s so much talent in KCK that doesn’t have a foothold,” says Roberts. “We really want to give the creatives that upper hand when it comes to just being seen, being noticed, and being appreciated.”

Kinship doesn’t take any of the profit from business owners featured in the shop or at weekend pop up events. For them, it’s all about being able to collaborate with the community and creating space for their talent to be shown.

“When we try to set that tone as a business, it does kind of create that energy for everybody to leave our shop and go out and do the same,” says Roberts.

Being a safe space

Going beyond serving good coffee, Kinship is big on being a safe space for the community.

With their tagline being community brew, Roberts notes that he can oftentimes feel what the community is feeling. He also wants them to know that they don’t have to experience those feelings alone.

“We’re just really there to be along the journey with them. We’re going to root them on as a business and as friends and we’re going to be there to refuel them, re-energize them, give them that space for healing whenever they come through,” says Roberts.

Black artwork at Kinship Cafe // Photo by Mar’Che Boggess

Kinship Cafe is located at 719 North 6th Street, Kansas City, Kansas 66101. Their hours are 7 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Saturday. They’re closed on Sundays.