Charlotte Night Swim Coffee is celebrating its grand opening Saturday in Charlotte’s Oakhurst neighborhood on Charlotte’s southeast side.
Night Swim Coffee is a merger between Charlotte’s Undercurrent Coffee and Not Just Coffee, which have been serving up java in the Queen City since 2018 (Undercurrent) and 2011 (Not Just Coffee). James and Miracle Yoder of Not Just Coffee and Todd and Erin Huber of Undercurrent Coffee partnered to create the business.
The couples plan to open a total of four Night Swim Coffee cafes, including one inside Night Swim’s soon-to-be roastery in Charlotte’s lower South End neighborhood. It is tentatively expected to open by early December, James Yoder says. Night Swim Coffee’s next location will be on the ground floor of the Bank of America Tower at the Legacy Union site in downtown Charlotte, he says.
“I can’t wait to see what the turnout from the Oakhurst neighborhood is,” Yoder says. “I have so many friends who live in the area, and so far we’ve continued to meet incredible people. Really glad to be a part and getting to know the area better.”
Undercurrent Coffee has sites in Plaza Midwood and Optimist Hall, while there are six Not Just Coffee locations: 7th Street, Packard Place, Atherton Mill, Providence Road, Dilworth and Jay Street. Night Swim will be the official roaster for all Undercurrent and Not Just Coffee locations.
Until its own roastery is operating, Not Just Coffee will continue serving coffee roasted by Durham-based Counter Culture Coffee, and Undercurrent Coffee will keep Onyx Coffee Lab’s beans. The Hubers started their coffee business after Todd left an investment banking job at Wells Fargo. Yoder and his wife arrived in Charlotte in 2009 after working for a nonprofit in Italy. Since then, he’s fulfilled a childhood dream of opening coffee shops. Collectively, the businesses will employ about 100 people by the end of the year, James Yoder says.
The Night Swim cafes will have a full-service coffee menu with rotating specialty drinks, Yoder says. It will also offer several food menu items with a Mediterranean influence, including avocado toast and focaccia sandwiches.
A maple cardamom latte is a featured fall specialty, Yoder says. “Our food will be similar to what our customers have come to expect: fresh local ingredients, using local farms and providers.”