Matthew Burnette, Staff Writer

The Golden Hour Coffee Bar was born out of Renee Holt’s deep affection for the historic Manchester square, a source of many memories from her upbringing.

“I was born and raised here in Manchester, and we used to walk to the square when I was a kid and buy groceries and shop at the five and dime and the hardware store that was down here,” she recalled. “I just have those memories as a child, so I’ve always wanted to have a business on the square, and I would not have one anywhere else.”

After moving her Mercantile Café to its current location right across Irwin Street from the Manchester City Hall, she became interested in a small building next to the restaurant.

“I’ve always really loved this little spot, and I remember years ago when it was the phone company and then it was a barbecue place. It’s been several things,” Renee explained. “I’ve always loved this building. I told my landlords, Lee and Laura Nettles, that if it ever became available, I’d be interested in something.”

“I had no idea for what,” she added.

Renee brought in her son Dylan and his wife Savannah to see what they thought would be a good business to fill the space, and they both recommended turning it into a coffee shop.

“I had toyed around with that idea, but I’ll just brew a pot at home and I’m good,” Renee confessed. “Dylan and Savannah both like good coffee and good espresso. Generationally speaking, they have a lot of different ideas than me because I’m old, but they started getting some ideas together and we started working on the building.”

Over the course of a few months, they refurbished the space that needed a lot of work and got in all the equipment to make good quality drinks.

“Everything’s going well,” Dylan explained. “Of course, we had some issues to iron out, especially prior to opening there were some delays. We wanted to open up a month or two prior but that’s the way it goes. We’re offering our full menu now. We’re officially opened and everything is going well.”

Dylan noted that he’s had an interest in good coffee for the last decade or so for the same reasons that many enjoy it: it tastes good and makes you feel good. He’s also had culinary interests for most of his life.

“I’ve always been kind of interested in exploring things in the kitchen. Growing up around my mom, she was always in the kitchen,” he said. “I’ve kind of branched off into other areas, namely coffee and cocktails and those sorts of things. Over the years I’ve brought probably too much coffee equipment for my house and knew that eventually I’d want to have something like this.”

He and his wife Savannah also come up with all the recipes for the coffee and make the syrups they use from scratch. Dylan says he enjoy experimenting with flavors that people wouldn’t expect in a cup of coffee.

For instance, Golden Hour offers a Pina Colatte that is made with pineapple syrup and coconut milk.

“People don’t think of pineapple and coconut and coffee in the same thought typically, but it’s something that goes really well together and people seem to be pleased with the results,” Dylan explained.

Golden Hour, a reference to the time in the morning that most people associate with coffee, sources a lot of its ingredients locally. They recently featured a blueberry syrup made form berries picked in Hillsboro.

Their coffee also comes from the Nashville-based company Crema which offers quick delivery times to maintain freshness. The shop also sells bags of Crema coffee to take home.

“Looking around, a lot of the towns in the area that are similar sized and similar geography have local coffee shops and Manchester doesn’t have one that’s a local establishment,” said Dylan. “We have Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts and 7Brew now, but I thought we needed something with a little bit of a local flare.”

Dylan says that the ultimate goal of the coffee shop is to offer the Manchester community a somewhat elevated coffee experience while maintaining the small-town atmosphere that makes Manchester what it is.

“We want to bring an option for people here locally so that they can have really good coffee without having to travel or make it themselves at home,” he said.

Golden Hour also serves breakfast and lunch items that come from The Mercantile like pastries, sandwiches and even a panini made from the restaurant’s pimento cheese.

The coffee shop opens up at 5:30 Monday through Friday for those who may need a pick-me-up on the way to work, and also opens at 7 on Saturdays. There’s a sitting room decorated with pieces from local artists, some of which are available for purchase, where customers can hang out with their coffees and read a book or carry on a conversation.

While the interior of the shop has about 15 seats, Renee says she hopes to add an outdoor seating area for the fall. Ultimately, she wants Golden Hour to be a good thing for the community.

“We have a great customer base that is amazing and has been very supportive,” said Renee. “I love having my son and his wife up here helping me spearhead the coffee part because it’s a little out of my realm, but it’s right up their alley.”

“Everyone seems to be enjoying it,” Dylan added later. “We’re just hoping to maintain this quality and keep making people happy.”