Beans and Boards Make a Statement at Thesis Coffee Collective in Minneapolis

Thesis Coffee Collective Minneapolis bar

Inside the Thesis Coffee Collective shop in Uptown Minneapolis. All images courtesy of Thesis Coffee Collective.

Orders are up and screens are down at Thesis Coffee Collective, a new coffee shop in Uptown Minneapolis that offers a Wi-Fi-free “slow bar” experience.

Small by design, the 1,000-square-foot, softly lit space emphasizes skate-park-like wood, concrete and metal materials while discouraging phone or laptop scrolling. Comfortable couches and tunes from vinyl records expand the backdrop for a coffee program that’s designed to spark conversation.

“It’s less about laptop real estate and more about creating a focused, intentional space,” Chris Raaymakers, who co-founded Thesis along with Spencer Kimball, told Daily Coffee News. “The collective was built to feel like a ‘sip-easy’ — mixing elevated beverages with skate-shop grit. It’s a space designed to make you slow down, pay attention and let the coffee and the atmosphere hit at the same time.”

Raaymakers briefly ran a coffee company called Incite Brew Lab before joining Kimball to launch the new board-sports-inspired brand.

“From the start, it was born out of skateboarding and snowboarding culture,” Raaymakers said. “The same drive for progression, creativity and style that fuels those sports is what fuels our approach to coffee.”

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Raaymakers and Kimball share roasting duties on a 10-kilo Mill City Roasters machine in a roasting co-op in St. Louis Park. At the cafe, these are presented alongside roasts from other quality-focused U.S. roasters such as Mirror Coffee Roasters, Cat & Cloud, Proud Mary and others.

“The lineup of roasters we feature rotates between those who are pushing boundaries and people we respect for their sourcing, roasting and willingness to experiment,” Raaymakers said of the selection that will shift every two to three months. “We want our guests to experience the best coffees in the country, side by side with ours.”

At the bar, coffees are served as straightforward espresso through a single-group machine or as manual pourovers. Other drinks feature fresh ingredients and crafty combinations using cocktail-inspired techniques.

“No wall of shiny equipment, no overcomplication, just us making drinks right in front of you the way your favorite bartender would,” said Raaymakers. “The setup is simple on purpose, so the focus stays where it belongs — on the coffee, the craft and the experience.”

The experience will expand through skate-related events and a growing roster of wholesale customers.

“We partner with shops, restaurants and crews that line up with our values,” said Raaymakers. “Wholesale for us isn’t about scale. It’s about alignment.”