Shrouded away in North Miami lies an intimate coffee and bar oasis that experiments with specialty drinks, homemade pastries, and regular community events over the weekend — and now, including Mondays.
The restaurant nook, Four, takes the place of beloved former community spot Paradis Books & Bread. Four’s team includes Blk Brw (“Black Brew”), a collective of Black baristas and coffee businesspeople who aim to make coffee accessible and enjoyable for all, regardless of background or experience.
This isn’t an ordinary cup of joe and an ordinary team of baristas. Whether it’s inclusive drink-making workshops or creative community events, Blk Brw’s mission to remove the guardrails around artisanal coffee is driven by the shared and lived experiences of its team.
Blk Brw co-founders Taylor Morgan and Andres Cantey found common ground in crafting and tasting unique coffees while working as co-workers at a cafe in 2018.
The duo teamed up to review coffee roasted by Black people and cooked up the concept of Blk Brw in 2019.
“We would review coffee owned and roasted by Black people across the world because we wanted to see more people like us in this industry,” said Morgan. “And it felt like in Miami, there weren’t many Black people in coffee that were passionate about it.”
After hosting their first event—a latte art competition—in 2021, Morgan realized the need to cultivate that enthusiasm and coffee community in Miami. Blk Brw elevated their online presence in coffee critiques to the next level.
They became known for vending at events and their unique flavor profiles thanks to Cantey’s homemade syrups. Early on, Blk Brw didn’t have access to an espresso machine or fancy equipment—so they got scrappy and creative with their novel drinks.
A community began to form, and after a short break, the coffee crafters returned in 2022 with a bang–and an erotic latte art competition.
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“No hearts, no tulips. None of that traditional s—. I think coffee gets a little boring and repetitive… Let’s get out of our comfort zone,” Morgan said. “We continued making our specialty drinks. And it evolved from there.”
Ashley Lindo joined their team officially in 2023 after they connected at Paradis Books & Bread, adding latte classes to their services. Lindo started an at-home coffee roasting business in 2019 and offered classes and her espresso machine to Blk Brw.
Blk Brw led Sunday pop-ups throughout that summer of 2023 at Paradis Books & Bread. During that time, their fourth team member, Nick Murray, another experienced barista, joined their team.
Murray detailed his experience of being the only Black barista in a South Florida workplace and how it felt connecting with other Black people in the industry at Blk Brw.
“For a lot of Black baristas in South Florida, you’re working at a shop and it’s just you,” he said. “You don’t see anybody that looks like you doing it.”
“In a way, you don’t exist yet in the craft that you dedicate all of this time to. And then, when you do see people who look like you also doing it, it becomes more material.”
Murray felt particularly moved after watching a documentary, Cxffeeblack to Africa, about Ethiopia, the birthplace of coffee.
“As a Black person, you’ll feel like an outsider, a fluke, or like you’re not supposed to be there. But when I saw that [documentary], I was like, Oh, this stuff literally comes from Ethiopia. I was like, ‘Okay, so I’m, like, supposed to be doing this?’”
Cantey added to this sentiment—that providing donation-based classes has allowed people who hail from coffee countries (but no nothing of specialty coffees) to connect the crop as part of their identity.
“A lot of times people that are descendants of where coffee comes from are usually the ones that don’t have the knowledge.”
In order to make their dreams a reality, Blk Brw teamed with baker Julian Gheiler and chef Nu’Man Hall to forge a restaurant pop-up called Four back in December 2024.
One of the first tasks Blk Brw wanted to tackle was avoiding the mishaps of their previous work environments—stressed baristas whipping through coffees during a rush and getting undervalued for their craft. Their approach values quality over speed.
Cantey joked about an irate customer waiting on his order during a classic cafe rush—“I told him I could make his coffee fast, but it’ll taste bad. Or he can wait, and it’ll taste good. And he was willing to wait for that.”
Originally meant to only be four months (hence the name “Four”), the coffee and pastry shop is still going strong and has now grown its hours to include Mondays.
For Pride, they have a special selection including a “Lavender Marriage” — a reference to queer people in straight marriages for security.
You can visit the Blk Brw team and Four collective at 12831 West Dixie Highway during the weekends (and now Mondays). For their hours and rotating menu, it’s best to regularly check their Instagram @four.miami. If you’re interested in learning more about Blk Brw’s mission, you can visit their website at www.blkbrw.co.
This story was originally published in the Liberty City Independent, a WLRN News partner.
