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JJ Poloi's Coffee Shop

Gourmet Coffee
JJ Poloi's boasts a dazzling array of your favorite coffees along with a mouth-watering selection of pastries and sweets. Stop by and experience the best coffee shop in town: JJ Poloi's.

Who Is J.J. Poloi?

Joseph Jacopa (J.J.) Poloi was born on December 26, 1966, to Carlo and Mariana Poloi in Camden, New Jersey. His father was a barista at one of the many espresso bars in the heart of Little Italy, New York. Every Saturday morning from the age of 7, the young J.J. would watch in wonder from behind the counter as his father lovingly prepared perfect cappuccinos, lattes and espressos for the discerning local Italian-American community. He quickly developed a love of the fragrant aromas and the rich variety of taste and flavor that the beans afforded. Coffee would soon become his passion and lifelong vocation. As a teenager he spent many a summer on long sojourns to the country of his forefathers perfecting the art of roasting and the time-honored skills of the barista. J.J. will be the first to say that the day his first coffee shop opened for business was the proudest of his life.

In the Fall of 2006, J.J. Poloi opened his first signature coffee houses in BI-LO stores in South Carolina, and more store openings are planned through 2009. For J.J., these coffee houses are the fulfillment of a lifelong dream: to bring his passion and knowledge for great tasting coffee to a new generation of coffee lovers.

Where & How our Coffee is Grown

There are enormous coffee plantations which produce a substantial amount of the world's supply of coffee, but much of the world's coffee is produced on small holdings by farmers who have a tiny orchard of coffee trees attached to their farms. These farmers bring their crops to cooperatives to be processed. Also, a surprising amount of coffee is still picked from the trees growing wild, particularly in Ethiopia.

There are two main types of coffee plants – Arabica and Robusta. Put simply, Arabicas are the good-tasting beans that are used for specialty coffees. Robustas, being lower in flavor and quality, are used mainly in commercial supermarket coffees. Surprisingly, Arabicas account for about 75% of the world's coffee production. At JJ Poloi's we use only the top 5% of Class 1 Specialty Grade Arabica beans in our coffee.