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Jay Weatherly, who owns High Five located on Broadway Street which offers a wide variety of drinks and a cozy area for studying.
Local coffee shop adapts to Asheville’s vibe
KATIE WALKER
A&F Staff Writer
kwalker6@unca.edu
A line of people extends outside
the doors of High Five. Baristas
hustle behind the counter taking or
ders.
Every order is written on a plastic
card, attached to a metal ring on a
line and pushed down to where all
drinks are made.
Outside the cafe, people sit on
metal chairs having casual discus
sions with their friends and col
leagues. Some conversation is lost
to the noise of passing cars speed
ing by.
People in the cafe focus on what
is in front of them — books, laptops
or another person. Music plays over
the speakers as a medium volume,
blending with the sounds coming
from behind the counter.
The brick built cafe opened 10
years ago on Broadway Street. With
an indoor and outdoor seating area,
customers have plenty of space to
relax and enjoy themselves.
Jay Weatherly, owner of High
Five, said he fell in love with coffee
shops and their culture when he was
in college. Working in these shops
gave him the inspiration to open his
own and create a functional place to
bring the community together.
“Coffee shops have a pretty
unique place in a community,”
Weatherly said.
High Five has three locations,
each with a different atmosphere.
The Broadway Street and Rankin
Avenue locations have similar at
mospheres with earth tones and
wooden furniture.
Their third and newest location
on Riverside Drive in Woodfin
serves as a drive-through with a
few grab-and-go items. Weather
ly said an important part of coffee
shops is the ability to adapt to the
local vibe.
Emily Lipstein, a sophomore psy
chology student, said she prefers
local coffee shops over chains. She
was attracted to the cafe because
of the location and found it offers
a home-like feeling. While looking
for a place to study near campus,
she stumbled upon High Five and
has been a patron ever since.
“The service has always been
great. When paying at the register,
the staff are always personable and
ask how my day was or try to make
conversation,” Lipstein said.
Weatherly said most people who
come to the cafe during the week
are regulars. On the weekends tour
ists come to check out the local
business.
Sophomore psychology student
Sarah Montgomery said High Five
is a cool coffee shop, a great loca
tion, and has an environment where
she can get school work done.
Lauren McKeel, a junior man
agement student, said she enjoys
going to High Five because she can
get away from the library but still
get work done.
“I like that they have different
specialty coffee drinks every day
that are always really unique,”
McKeel said. “Most importantly,
it’s a nice, quiet space but not dull.”
Weatherly said the cafe serves lo
cal baked goods every day and uses
coffee from Counter Culture, locat
ed in Durham.
“Coffee is a really great industry
that has lots of fascinating aspects
as far as the process of growing the
plant to bringing it to the shop,”
Weatherly said.
Hanging above the back counter,
a blackboard menu lists the bever
age selection. High Five offers cus
tomers daily specialty and seasonal
drinks.
Weatherly said his goal for the
shop was to create a place where
anyone could come into the cafe,
tell the barista what they like and
get served a drink they enjoy.
Guests do not need to know a lot
about coffee to get a good drink.
Each staff member goes through
training to ensure they can create
well crafted beverages for each cus
tomer. Weatherly said he wants his
employees to feel passionate about
what they do and the products they
put out.
“High Five has a chill atmo
sphere compared to your average
Starbucks where you feel rushed
to leave,” Lipstein said. “There’s
caring staff and amazing coffee that
keeps you coming back!”