Visitors to High Brow Brew Coffee Shop may have noticed something different at the Westhaven coffee shop.
There’s a new owner – Franklin resident, Dustin Sauder, who’s name might sound familiar to fans of Christian music. A former guitarist for Kari Jobe, he’s chosen to bring his love of coffee home to Franklin.
Purchasing the coffee shop just over a month ago, Sauder says it’s been a whirlwind of coming off the road and planted himself in the community as the owner of High Brow Brew.
High Brow Brew was one of the original businesses that opened in Westhaven back in 2013 by Steve and Dorene Pearson who also own Steadfast Coffee in the Germantown area of Nashville. We sat down with Dustin to learn more about his vision for High Brow, and what changes customers will be seeing in the future.
Tell us what brought you to Franklin?Â
I am originally from Lancaster Pennsylvania. In 2006, my dream fell in my lap when I started touring with By the Tree which brought me here to Franklin. From there I also played with Rush of Fools, Britt Nicole, and then most recently with Kari Jobe.
What was the deciding factor to purchase High Brow Brew?
I was working at Honest Coffee Roasters (in The Factory) when I was not out on the road. I’ve always been a big home brewer. My wife and I have been talking for a while about what’s next for our family, as traveling on the road  can take a toll on your family.  Over a year ago, I started planning to open my own coffee shop. When I started investigating the cost from the ground up -from a building to staff, the overall total was kinda mind-blowing.  At that point, I put the brakes on and decided maybe this wasn’t for me. But literally, two weeks later, I heard High Brow Brew was for sale and within a short time, we became the new owners.
As the new owner, will you be making changes?
In the coming months, customers will see a few new things. We are taking out the big table in the middle of the coffee shop. We will be doubling the seating inside the coffee shop with low top tables  to make it more family friendly so you can pull up a high chair to the tables.  We are bucking the whole pretentious coffee system where the chairs and table are not movable. I feel like you can still have good coffee but also be family-friendly. As someone with a family, that’s really important to me. My wife, Whitney, makes these amazing homemade pop-tarts that will be added to the menu by the end of the year.  Really, all of the changes are to reflect where we are, we are located in a neighborhood with families so we want to make sure we are family friendly.
What will stay the same?
We still want to provide great coffee. None of our drinks use bottled syrup, our mocha is made from ganache that comes from Ritual Chocolate. We make our Chai from scratch and the popular coffee soda will still stay on the menu.
What’s your coffee philosophy?
I want there to be integrity from plant to cup. Â I feel like there’s a lot of great coffee around but my focus will be on the service aspect as well.
When you order coffee, what’s your go-to drink?
I typically order a cortado or cappuccino.
Thanks to Dustin Sauder for taking time out to talk with us. High Brow Brew is located at 188 Front Street, Franklin. Hours of operation are Monday-Sunday  7am-4pm.  Follow them on Facebook for the latest offerings and updates.
