Vox Veniae · East Austin

Coffee & Bread
Volunteer Center

The Eucharist is the shared meal at the center of the liturgy. One loaf is lifted and broken in front of everyone at the start, and then each person takes a piece. Whoever has bread that week makes or buys the loaf the whole room will hold.

Coffee does different work. It's the reason people stand around together before and after, and the reason someone who walked in alone gets talked to. It also helps the room show up awake for what follows. It's poured by hand, one Chemex at a time, and that care is part of the welcome.

Both need someone every Sunday. This is where the team keeps the schedule and the instructions. Claim a Sunday, check the ones you already have, or look up how something is done.

Sundays

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Coffee

00 Before You StartWhere things live · how much to grind

Where things live

  • The coffee — upper right-hand cabinet, to the right of the sink
  • Kettles, scales, Chemexes and beakers — high cabinet to the left of the sink
  • The Vox Coffee chalkboard — one of the drawers facing the front of the church

Sign the chalkboard

Pull the Vox Coffee chalkboard out of the drawer and write your name on it in chalk, so people know who poured.

How much to grind

Everything is built on 56 g of coffee per pot. Count the pots you expect, then multiply.

  • Typical Sunday — 8 pots × 56 g = 448 g
  • Busy Sunday — 10 pots × 56 g = 560 g

Grinder set to about 28 — a relatively coarse grind.

The gear

  • 2 stands, each holding 2 separation funnels — 4 funnels, 4 spouts
  • A small Pyrex dish under every spout to catch drips
  • 3 small kettles + 1 large kettle
  • 3 work stations, each with 1 scale and 1 Chemex carafe
  • Paper Chemex filters — one per pot
  • Medium beakers for ground coffee, plus one beaker set aside for trash
  • Paper cups, regular sugar, stevia, individual creamers and tea
  • The small donation jar, if you choose to put it out
01 Set UpArrive 9:15 AM · 10 steps
  1. Arrive at 9:15 AM.
  2. Grind the coffee into the medium beakers.Do this before liturgy starts — the grinder is loud. Coffee lives in the upper right-hand cabinet, right of the sink. Grinder at about 28. 56 g per pot: 448 g for a typical Sunday, 560 g for a busy one.
  3. Set up 2 stands, each with 2 separation funnels.
  4. Set up 3 small kettles and 1 large kettle and start heating water.
  5. When the water is boiling, fill all 4 separation funnels with hot water to preheat the vessels.
  6. Set up 3 work stations, each with 1 scale and 1 Chemex carafe.
  7. Put a small Pyrex dish under every spout to catch drips and spillage — four spouts, four dishes.
  8. Set out paper filters — one for each pot you make — and stacks of paper cups next to the stands.
  9. Set out on the counter: regular sugar, stevia, individual creamer servings, and tea.
  10. Set out the one beaker designated for trash. Optionally, set out the small jar that collects donations for the coffee service.Drop a $1 bill in so people know what it's for.

How the counter is laid out

VOLUNTEER SIDE (back of counter) GRINDER + beaker of ground coffee STATION 1 scale+ Chemex STATION 2 scale+ Chemex STATION 3 scale+ Chemex 2 STANDS · 4 FUNNELS · 4 SPOUTS a Pyrex dish under every spout CUPS CUPS sugar · stevia · creamers · tea · trash beaker · donation jar SERVING SIDE people come to the counter from here

Overhead view, not to scale.

Two metal stands, each holding two glass separation funnels
Two stands, two funnels each. This is what you're building in step 3 — and it's also how the stands should look when you put them away at the end.
02 Brewing56 g in · 900 g of water · 14 steps
  1. Fill the kettles to their max fill line.There's a black notch on the kettle wall facing the handle.
  2. Line the Chemex with a filter so the 3-ply side faces the spout and the 1-ply side faces the handle.
  3. Pre-wet the paper filter sparingly — a quick pour around the top of the filter. Don't overdo it or you'll run out of brewing water. Swish to heat the Chemex, then pour the water out.
  4. Set the Chemex with the pre-soaked filter on the scale.
  5. Tare the scale.
  6. Add 56 g of ground coffee to the filter.
  7. Tare the scale again and start the timer.
  8. Pour in 3 rings just outside the perimeter of the grounds, then wait 30 seconds.
  9. Pour in concentric circles just inside the perimeter, creating an island, until the scale reads 350 g.
  10. Pour to sink the island and soak the grounds until the scale reads 450 g.
  11. Pour in a 2-inch ring until the scale reads 600 g. Do not overflow the filter.
  12. Pour straight down the center in a very slow pour until the scale reads 900 g.Water should be entering and exiting the filter at the same rate.
  13. Let the water finish dripping through the filter.
  14. Throw away the filter and grounds, and transfer the coffee into a separation funnel or straight into cups.

The pour, at a glance

Bloom
Wait 30 secondsThree rings just outside the perimeter of the bed.
350 g
Build the islandConcentric circles just inside the perimeter.
450 g
Sink the islandSoak the grounds through.
600 g
Two-inch ringDon't overflow the filter.
900 g
Slow center pourIn and out of the filter at the same rate.
03 Tear DownBoiling water · everything back · 6 steps
  1. Wipe down and store the coffee grinder.
  2. Drain the separation funnels of coffee and fill them with boiling water. Add 1 Tabz tab to each funnel (optional). Drain the water and return the funnels and stands to their original locations.
  3. Rinse the Chemex, beakers and any other glassware with boiling water and wipe down. Return to the high cabinet to the left of the sink.Kettles on the top shelf, scales and grinders in the middle, Chemexes and beakers on the bottom. See the photo below.
  4. Return scales, cups, sugar and creamer to their respective locations.
  5. Dispose of trash.
  6. Wipe down the counters.
The high cabinet to the left of the sink, with kettles on the top shelf, scales and grinders on the middle shelf, and Chemex carafes and beakers below
The high cabinet to the left of the sink. This is what it should look like when you close the doors — kettles up top, scales and grinders in the middle, Chemexes and beakers on the bottom.

Bread

Both loaves by 10:00 AM

Prepped is ideal. If you can't prep, just get the loaves here by 10:00 AM and someone will cut them before liturgy.

A The Two LoavesWhat's needed and how to prep it

Loaf 1 · The breaking loaf

One whole loaf, sliced almost all the way through but still joined along the top. It has to hold together as one loaf when it's lifted, then come apart easily when it's broken at the start of communion.

Loaf 2 · The cubing loaf

Cut into roughly 200 cubes, about 1 inch by 1 inch, for the Eucharist.

The bread itself

  • Low salt
  • No seeds, no nuts
  • Limited ingredients

Gluten free

You don't need to bring any. Vox provides the gluten-free bread and keeps it in the freezer.

B Same-Day LoavesTwo loaves · about 3 hours

Makes two loaves

  • 900 g bread flour (about 7 cups)
  • 590 g warm water (about 2½ cups)
  • 9 g salt (1½ tsp) — deliberately light
  • 10 g instant yeast (1 tbsp)
  1. Stir the flour, salt and yeast together, add the warm water, and mix until there's no dry flour left.
  2. Knead 6–8 minutes by hand, or 5 in a mixer, until smooth.
  3. Cover and rise somewhere warm 60–75 minutes, until doubled.
  4. Divide in two and shape each into a round.Rounds are easier to cube than long loaves.
  5. Rest on parchment, covered, 40 minutes.
  6. Meanwhile heat the oven to 450°F.
  7. Slash the tops and bake 30–35 minutes, until deep brown and hollow-sounding underneath.
  8. Cool completely on a rack before cutting or wrapping.Warm bread tears instead of slicing, and wrapping it warm softens the crust.
C Overnight No-KneadAlmost no hands-on time

Makes two loaves

  • 860 g bread flour (about 7 cups)
  • 690 g water (about 3 cups), room temperature
  • 9 g salt (1½ tsp) — deliberately light
  • 2 g instant yeast (½ tsp) — or 200 g active sourdough starter, with the water reduced to 600 g
  1. Stir everything together until there's no dry flour left. It will look shaggy and wrong. That's correct.
  2. Cover and leave on the counter 12–18 hours, until bubbled and more than doubled.
  3. Scrape onto a floured counter, divide in two, fold the edges into the middle a few times, and shape each into a ball.
  4. Rest seam-side down on parchment 1 hour, covered.
  5. Meanwhile heat the oven to 450°F with a Dutch oven inside for 30 minutes.
  6. Lower one loaf in on its parchment, slash the top, cover, and bake 30 minutes.
  7. Uncover and bake 12–18 minutes more, until deep brown. Repeat for the second loaf.
  8. Cool completely on a rack before cutting or wrapping.
D Where To BuyAustin bakeries

Ask for a plain loaf — no seeds or nuts, short ingredient list. Call ahead; the small ones sell out.

Central Market

4001 N Lamar Blvd

In-house bakery counter, long hours, plenty of plain loaves to choose from.

Whole Foods Market

Bakery counter with plain loaves. Several Austin locations.

Sprouts Farmers Market

Bakery section with plain loaves. Several Austin locations.

ThoroughBread

East Austin · inside East End Wines

All-organic flour, naturally leavened, small batch. The Pain au Levain is the obvious choice. Closest good option to the building — but it sells out by midday, so go early or go the day before.

Easy Tiger

709 E 6th St · other locations citywide

The most reliable option — a real production bakery with long hours, so you can still get loaves when it's Saturday night and nobody baked. Ask for a levain or country loaf, not an enriched bread.

Sour Duck Market

East Austin, on MLK

House bakery from the Odd Duck team, focused on local flour and a long ferment. Easy weekend stop.

Boone Family Bakery · Sanford Sourdough

Austin · farmers markets and pickup

Both naturally leavened and well regarded around town. Better for a standing weekly order than a same-day run.

Photos

A record of Sunday mornings. Add one if you took a good picture of the counter, the pour, or the team.

Photos go to a shared Vox Drive folder and are visible to anyone with this page. Don't upload anything you wouldn't pin to the noticeboard.

Sign-ups are shared — whatever name you enter is visible to everyone on the team.