For many Florida State students studying and drinking coffee go hand in hand. Among one of the most popular off-campus destinations to do both is Paper Fox Coffee.
Starting out as another Lucky Goat Coffee chain, the owner of what is now Paper Fox decided that they needed to break away from the company to focus on their own craft.
“For this side of town, we just weren’t able to do what we were trying to do. We decided that it would probably be in everyone’s best interest if we were to become our own stand-alone craft coffee shop,” explains Benjamin Kamerman, the General Manager of Paper Fox.
Struggling with re-branding, the new company found inspiration in a customer’s hobby. Kamerman recalls a customer who came into the shop while it was still Lucky Goat that was chain making little origami foxes. Upon leaving, the customer gave Kamerman one of the foxes, which sparked the iconic Paper Fox logo and brand in his mind.
After rebranding and opening as Paper Fox, Kamerman reconnected with that customer and discovered a more meaningful connection to the paper foxes.
“He actually was going through a divorce, and his psychiatrist had told him that this will help you with the transition into the new life and show you, you know that everything is going to be okay. And to us, finding that out after the fact, after we had re-branded, was really cool for us because we transitioned, he transitioned. It was the same little origami same little paper fox for him that it was for us,” says Kamerman.
Officially opening its doors in September of 2018, Paper Fox Coffee has become a widely popular place for students to study and come together.
Located about a mile and a half away from Doak Campbell Stadium, Paper Fox is heavily dominated by students, and the owners welcome them by catering to students’ needs.
“We like to make sure that our drinks are crafted towards their [students] particular tastes and stuff, while still doing what we want to do as a company,” Kamerman points out.
A part of what makes Paper Fox a unique coffee shop in Tallahassee are its specialty craft drinks with a new featured drink every month.
Lead barista Michael Wood highlights, “The drink of the month right now is chocolate, orange, and like a cinnamon latte, it’s like kinda weird. It’s because we come up with these drinks. It’s all about just experimenting and having fun.”
Coming up with the drinks is a collaborative effort, and other baristas point out that it is a lot of trial and error most of the time. But the baristas at Paper Fox are continually trying to improve their coffee brewing techniques.
“We never stay locked into something just because it’s the right way to do it. If there’s a better way to do it, we’ll always do that. We’ll always try to move coffee forward,” Kamerman says.
Being open for a little over two years now, Paper Fox has had its baristas go on to compete in competitions and take home some wins. Students are encouraged to stop in every month to try a new drink or for a comfortable place to study for upcoming exams.
