“…But first, coffee.”
Ana Rosa Polit’s love for coffee began in her grandmother’s kitchen in Ecuador at an age she says was too young to have been drinking coffee. Nevertheless, her early memories of dipping pieces of bread into her grandmother’s coffee cup sparked a lifelong passion Polit now gets to share with the Homer community at Espresso Waves, a new coffee drive-through, at Ocean Shores RV Park.
“My first love for coffee happened when I was about 6 years old when I would stay over at my grandmother’s house,” Polit said. “She would always have her coffee in the morning and just the smell of it would drive me crazy. I loved it! … It’s always (reminds me of) that good connection between coffee and my grandmother and the time I spent with her.”
Throughout her life, Polit has found new appreciations for coffee from the times spent in her grandmother’s kitchen to discovering her love of espresso in Italy and once again in Homer.
“When I moved to Homer, I realized people here in Alaska love their coffee, so I started to get hooked on coffee again. The drive-throughs, I thought they were so cool and beautiful,” Polit continued. “One day I said, ‘why not have my own?’”
Espresso Waves opened May 1 and has already seen the support of the Homer community in ways Polit never expected.
“I’ve always known Homer to be a supportive community, but now I’ve experienced it myself. It’s always nice when people stop by and say ‘Oh, we noticed you’re new,’ and they wish you the best,” Polit said. “We’ve had good, positive feedback from people. … I’ve seen their kindness, and their support and generosity; it’s been really nice.”
Espresso Waves is open every day from 6 a.m. – 6 p.m. While Polit usually leans toward a breve herself, Espresso Waves offers a wide variety of drink selections from hot and cold coffees to smoothies. Espresso Waves also occasionally has pastries and even Ecuadorian chocolates.
Polit immigrated from Quito, Ecuador 10 years ago after deciding it was time for a change in her life. After meeting her now-husband, Allen Jantzi, and moving to Homer, Polit continued to find new ways to connect her current life in the United States to her home in Ecuador.
“I came up with (Espresso Waves) because I always try to find something in common between Homer and Ecuador where I’m originally from. I always thought we have the same ocean. It’s the same Pacific Ocean that’s bathing these shores as the shores of Ecuador,” Polit said. “It’s the same ocean, the same waves. I always had that same thing in my head, so it just made sense to put Espresso Waves together. It’s just a sentimental thing that reminds me of my home as well.”
Polit says opening her own business is a challenge she has enjoyed overcoming, and she is thankful to have had the support of her husband and the community during the process. After receiving her citizenship in 2019, Polit feels that with the opening of Espresso Waves, she is living her American dream.
For more information about Espresso Waves, visit www.espressowaves.com.
Reach Sarah Knapp at sarah.knapp@homernews.com
Ana Rosa Polit opened Espresso Waves, a coffee drive-through, on May 1. (Photo by Sarah Knapp/Homer News)
