About Our Name
Why Black Sheep? Where did the name come from? We were thinking about coffee, what we wanted to serve, what it would mean to introduce a place into this town, and we thought- “Well, we’ll certainly stand out a bit.” This got us to thinking what it means to be different, to not sacrifice quality or service for the sake of becoming a national or even regional chain. It’s tough to do. To make even one baked recipe, one coffee drink, requires concentration, care, quality ingredients, clean and efficient machinery, and training. We believe that the difference is clear. That difference makes us a bit of a Black Sheep.
The original name was suggested to us by a customer and friend who told us a story:
“In Ireland, my grandmother told me about Black Sheep, also sometimes called sheep of the damned. A shepherd will use Black Sheep to mark the flock, for every one hundred white sheep you may have one Black. It becomes the sign of success, of wealth and culture. When you have a Black Sheep, you can finally enjoy the bread and butter.”
We thought that Saint Paul had finally built enough “regular” coffee shops that we could now have one Black Sheep Coffee Cafe. We hope that the flock, this customer base that is willing to learn about what makes quality, what makes the difference, will grow large enough for us to have more Black Sheep.