New Harlem Coffee Shop Offers Tasty Brews For Weary Travelers

HARLEM, NY — The latest addition to Harlem's coffee scene drew its name from the role it hopes to play in customers' lives: a nourishing stopover, providing a moment of respite from the day's hard work.

"To be a sojourner is to be a person who’s on a path, and you’re taking a break on your journey," said Madison Ritter, a co-owner of Sojourner Coffee along with her partner, James Miller.

The couple will open the doors Friday to their new shop, on West 116th Street between Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. and Frederick Douglass boulevards, following a successful soft-opening earlier this month.

Its roots can be traced back to Denver, where Miller and Ritter met while attending theater school. Looking for a change of scenery, they moved to New York City in early 2015, and now live in Harlem just a few blocks from their shop.

While Ritter works in the theater department at CUNY's Hunter College, Miller has spent the past seven years steeping himself in the city's coffee world, with prior gigs at Joe Coffee, Little Collins, and Harlem's own Plowshares.

After realizing he "didn't want to work in someone else's shop," Miller began brainstorming with Ritter early last year about opening their own business. Then, last May, he crashed his bike and snapped his collarbone in half, sidelining him for months and forcing him to think hard about his future in the industry.

As he recovered at home, the couple began drawing up a business plan and looking at empty spaces, eventually coming upon the 116th Street storefront that was vacated in 2020 by Shuteye Coffee — a neighborhood favorite where Miller and Ritter had themselves been devoted patrons.

They took over the space in December and have spent the ensuing months sprucing it up — including by stripping paint to reveal its vintage tin ceiling. After facing supply-chain delays, their espresso machine finally arrived this week, allowing for Friday's full opening.

Starting with coffee beverages and pastries, the couple aims to eventually roll out a green-chile breakfast burrito, inspired by their Colorado origins. Miller will handle the coffee while Ritter, who is supervising the business side, plans to leave her Hunter job at the end of this semester and join the shop full-time — after learning the ropes on the espresso machine.

While many of Harlem's new generation of cafes derive their beans from a single source, Sojourner will pride itself on serving a broad range of coffees — while still keeping things affordable, its owners say.

"We’re looking to bring a wider expression of coffee — a deeper dive into coffee without getting too in the weeds," Ritter said. "A celebration of coffee with it [still] being approachable."

Sojourner Coffee will be open starting Friday, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday.