The project deadline is tomorrow. You simply cannot focus and are nowhere near finished. As you open the door and step inside, you are greeted with the familiar chatter of casual conversation and keyboard chiclets alike. 

As the familiar scent of Guatemalan brewed seeds fills your nostrils, you place an order- the usual. In what seems like no time, you hear, “Iced Moto Mocha!” and an iced beverage appears on the counter as if out of nowhere and is rapidly, but carefully, scooted towards you. 

These are the everyday occurrences that fill Turbo Coffee, a local favorite that has been “making people faster” in the Shoals since 2014.

“We want people to enjoy their bowls, their food, their everything, in the fast paced world we live in,” said Salvador Blanco, who has worked at Turbo coffee for the past 2 and a half years. “If we get a line of drinks…we are slinging drinks. That’s what we say, ‘slinging drinks,’ because we have everything down to a tee.”

Turbo Coffee has been “slinging drinks” to the Shoals since its founding back in 2015. From its humble beginnings in the back of a barber shop on College Street, to its current 1,100 square feet space near the heart of downtown Florence, Turbo Coffee has been serving a dedicated clientele in the Shoals area since 2015. 

It initially started as a small espresso bar set up by founder Reese Shirey in the back of his brother’s barber shop, “Greasy Hands,” just a few years ago.

“[Greasy Hands] was up front. [Shirey’s brother] started that in 2014, and a little less than a year later we opened up the espresso bar. Very limited, just espresso drinks, no food, no cold brew, just a straight espresso bar…very ‘New York City-isque,’” said founder Reese Shirey. “I spent some time in New York City, living and working up there in Brooklyn, and I just kind of fell in love with it. You know, there’s hundreds of cafes up there and I like the craft of it.”

The New York City-inspired aesthetic Shirey incorporated into Turbo during its days as an espresso bar was a critical component which remains evident even today in their current modern space that many people have come to know and love. The palate of the shop is bright, with white marble countertops and hickory beams and columns competing for the onlookers’ attention. The nicely tiled floor leads customers within the entryway, laying out a path all the way up to the kiosk. 

Once the customer makes their way toward the seating area, they are met with a more relaxed pair of tables and couches. Both appear fit counterparts for either a productive day or deep conversation. As one sits down awaiting their order, they are met with the background noise of espresso machines fulfilling their lifelong purpose. 

Turbo opened in its current location in 2016, and initially started with under half of the space it contains today at around only around 400 square feet.

“You could really only fit about ten people at a time so it was a really small operation,” Shirey said.

But in 2017, Turbo was able to remove one wall and expand next door, which provided an additional 700 square feet. This was soon filled with the tables and couches that its customers enjoy curling up on today.

These days, Turbo provides a wide selection of unique drinks with all their in-house coffee blends being roasted at their secondary location in Tuscaloosa, Ala. 

One of these drinks, the “Moto Mocha,” is a simple blend of chocolate milk and coffee, customer favorite.

Accompanying this is the Vietnamese mocha, which provides a uniquely sweet taste not found at any other coffee shop in the region.

Turbo has quickly grown into a popular hub of the Shoals community and serves as a favorite meeting location for creative professionals and casual conversationalists alike.

Oftentimes it is the aforementioned “New York” aesthetic which draws so many creative individuals in the Shoals area to the location to complete their work, with the large windows and white marble aesthetic providing ample amounts of lighting that set both a clean mood, and often increases productivity.

Shirey takes this daily attendance of regular customers into great account, and views it as a critical responsibility within Turbo’s mission.

“I think really what I’m passionate about is being a part of peoples’ daily commute and daily lives,” Shirey said. “I think that’s a huge thing, when you’re a part of someone’s daily routine that’s a big deal. So we don’t take that lightly.” 

Turbo takes great pride in its customer service, often pumping out drinks at a rate which lives up to its name.

“One of my favorite things to do is like, guessing people’s orders, or like seeing them scream what it is, and by the time they’ve paid their drink is out,” Blanco said. “People just don’t expect that all the time at coffee shops.” 

Salvador Blanco has only been working at Turbo coffee since May of 2017, however he has been around to witness its entire rise to prowess.

“In 2014, I was an edgy high schooler…the friends I hung out with, it was our ritual to come to Florence every weekend, so we wanted to be a part of Florence,” Blanco said. “We heard about this cool place that gave like amazing haircuts, Greasy Hands. One of the first times I came, Reese was making chemex coffee in the back and giving it away for free. I had never tried a good pour-over ever and he gave it to me for free. So when I tried that it blew my mind and I knew I just wanted to follow this guy because he’s a great guy. So I kept coming because the vibe in there was unlike anything else…” 

Blanco became a regular customer of Shirey’s espresso bar, taking every chance he could to pay him a visit when he was in town.

“It was a little window, and I would come and get smoothies and coffee. It was a little closet space…I was like ‘man this is building up to be something cool,’” Blanco said. “That’s all it was [initially] over there.”

Blanco eventually moved to Florence which allowed him to spend more time at this favorite location.

“I would come every Saturday. And I’ll never forget the Saturday, I had already mentioned [working for Turbo] to Reese, and [another employee]…looked at me and she said ‘When are you going to start working for us?’” Blanco said. “I was like, ‘I’ll come over this bar right now’ and she said ‘Show up for training next Saturday,’.” 

“All the coworkers are my best friends…It’s just excellent. Every bit of it.” Blanco said. He also recalled some of the smaller aspects of Turbos rapid growth which began to outpace even the machines they made their drinks with. “Back in those days we were still running a single head espresso machine, and on Saturdays…toward the end of that machine’s life…it pretty much [went] crazy. So it’s rush, and we were doing all of those drinks with a single-head espresso machine. Just cranking them out.”

Turbo also serves a wide variety of health-conscious foods, which include everything from acai bowls to ham and cheese sandwiches. Having a variety of choices makes their selection more widely available to the specific needs of customers.

“We wanted to just do something a little different as far as you know, having clean, healthy foods as an option,” Shirey said. “We have gluten-free options. A lot of our stuff is health-conscious just because that’s how my wife and I eat and live so we kind of brought that into the shop.” 

Turbo Coffee has been a Florence staple since 2016, but they recently opened a second, much larger, location in Tuscaloosa, Ala., where the majority of their coffee-roasting operations now occur. Shirey also emphasized the importance of Turbo’s continued focus on best serving the Shoals community.

“…Here in the Shoals, you know we’re still getting new people, we’re still meeting new people,” Shirey said. “Our plans are to continue reaching people here in Florence, and the whole entire Shoals area.”

However, he also indicated that he does not intend to stunt Turbo’s growth, as they have also their sights set on other potential markets for expansion in the future.

“We’re not gonna just stop in Florence…we do have plans to grow,” Shirey said. “We’ve already expanded to Tuscaloosa. We have a shop there. We’re looking at different markets.” 

While many would relate the success and cultural significance of Turbo in the Shoals to similarities with bigger chains like Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts, the association is quite the opposite. The success of Turbo is due to much more than the popularization of caffeinated beverages.

From the second you enter the shop to the moment you leave, patrons are more than just a numbered customer. You’re a member of their community, and every detail of your transaction and experience is treated with equal importance. It’s this attention to detail that set Turbo apart from its big chain competitors.

While I was interviewing Salvador Blanco for this piece, a rarity occurred. For the first time in my many visits, my order was accidentally done incorrectly. They corrected my order, offered sincere apologies (although I was certainly not upset over a simple mistake), and gave me the drink free at no charge.

This type of efficient yet personal, customer service really goes a long way in making Turbo a personal interaction, rather than a corporate coffee one.

“Turbo is crazy, man,” Blanco said. 

The craze that has become Turbo Coffee is in full effect each day. This coffee house stays so crowded that one could spend a single hour here and have conversations with countless influential members of the Shoal’s community.

At the end of the day, Turbo Coffee is a true fulfillment of its mission statement.

It makes the Shoals faster.