Function Coffee Labs

Function Coffee Labs is a coffee shop and bakery in Bella Vista whose motto is “Where coffee meets science”. Its goal is to be one of the best coffee shops in the world and to make specialty coffee knowledge accessible to everyone. Each drink is brewed to a recipe designed to show the flavours of a particular bean.

The house coffee is a rotating single origin, usually Central or South American, roasted by the shop’s sister company Vibrant Coffee Roasters, just outside Philadelphia; it is approachable and sweet, changes a few times a year with the harvests, and works on its own or in a latte. The “Lab Line” is three more complex single origins brewed on the Hario V60, one of which is also pulled as espresso, with tasting notes that range from fruity and floral to buttery, earthy and nutty. The single origin espresso, typically African, is “a slightly less syrup-y shot than traditional espresso”, made to taste like a concentrated pour-over rather than a smoky, bitter one.

Ross Nickerson and Megan McCusker, a husband-and-wife team, started Function with an Instagram account in April 2015 and formed the company that September. Ross, a mechanical engineer from Boston who studied at the University of Pennsylvania and taught physics for six years in Winchester, England, brings the technical side; Megan, a Philadelphia native and Columbia graduate, sets the brand and runs the operation. Their coffee education came from travelling while they lived in England, from a basement bookshop café in Bergen to Boot Café in Paris.

The bakery is now a full sourdough operation, baked fresh every day: croissants, cruffins, cinnamon buns, bronuts and Danish pastries, and toasts on a house loaf of organic sourdough with rye and whole wheat. The menu adds a baked egg and cheddar sandwich, overnight oats, cold brew cans and, in season, affogato and ice cream from Franklin Fountain. Function also caters weddings and events.

Photograph: Function Coffee Labs