Modern Times according to Adam
Adam Hasler has lived in the D.C. area since moving here from Austin, Texas to attend American University in 2001. Although studying history and international relations, even beginning a graduate degree, Adam always thought of operating his own coffeehouse.

When Politics & Prose Bookstore began exploring the possibility of new management in its café, where Adam had worked throughout college, he and his friends taught themselves to write a business plan, and on March 1, 2006 Coup d'Etat Coffee Co. opened the doors of the café at Politics & Prose as the management. Since then, they've renamed it Modern Times Coffeehouse and Adam and his partner, Javier, continue to work in every role in the business' day-to-day operation. You can find him there almost every day, even if you donít see him, and feels cooler when people say hi to him.  email adam


Modern Times according to Javier
Javier Rivas' introduction to the world of coffee came as a result of post-college graduation unemployment. Searching the classifieds of the C-Ville weekly, he found an ad for a coffee roasting job at Shenandoah Joe Coffee Roasters. Throughout his nearly two years of employment at Shenandoah Joe's, Javier was involved in every aspect of the business; from unloading the 150lb bags of green beans, to taking orders for that day, roasting the beans, bagging them, and finally delivering them to various small shops and restaurants in town in his beat up Nissan Sentra.

After two years in Charlottesville and one in New York Javier returned to DC, again unemployed and to live with his aunt in Arlington. Turning to the classifieds again, he found a barista job working for Sirius Coffee Co at Politics & Prose Bookstore. His friendship with Adam began here, as well as his journey as a barista. Eventually wanting to move on to bigger and better things, he joined Adam in exploring the possibility of opening their own coffeehouse. It happened that the space in Politics & Prose was soon to become available. After much preparation and many sleepless nights, they opened as Modern Times Coffeehouse, the day after Sirius closed.

Now, Javierís main concern is elevating the quality of the coffee and espresso in the shop, and training a new group of baristi who share his passion for the craft. Going back to roasting still remains one of his goals.  email javier