That Upper East Side café closed only six months after opening, but Pierson and Rivera created Kinship shortly after. Now two years old, Kinship has eased into a rhythm and established its place at the community table in Astoria. “We are launching our website in May,” explains Rivera, “along with a coffee subscription service for home brewers—we will be mailing coffee nationwide.” The hope is that the website can be a platform where coffee lovers, coffee professionals and coffee growers can connect and talk about the coffee subscriptions. “We also started offering a weekly coffee class for home brewers,” Rivera adds. “Classes will be every Thursday from 8 to 9 p.m.” As a preview of some new cold beverages Rivera plans to reveal later this month, we were offered a sample of the refreshingly delicious honey almond latte dusted with cinnamon powder. Kinship will also be introducing a cold brew sweetened with Vermont maple syrup, as well as a lavender agave matcha shaker. In honor of the artistry of the community and much of the staff, Kinship will regularly curate art showings on the front wall. Rivera himself is an artist. “I think I am the least talented one who works here,” he says. If his coffee is any indication, it seems humility might factor in quite a bit. “It’s really all just math and science,” Rivera says of making coffee. But a sip of one of his mugs of mocha reveals an altogether different truth. Kinship truly is an art form. 30-05 Steinway St., Astoria 646-468-7149 www.kinshipcoffee.com A painting by Stanley Rivera MARCH 2016 I BOROMAG.COM I 7
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