Java goes mocha: African Americans are getting in on the coffeehouse craze.

From espresso to cappuccino, French roast to gourmet blend, specialty coffees are big business. The coffee craze, which began on the West Coast in the mid-'80s, has percolated eastward. Coffee bars are now the "in" non-generational dining spot. In some towns, they're threatening to replace the neighborhood pub as the local hangout.

"Coffee is starting to taste good again," says Dave Dallis, president of the Specialty Coffee Association. "There's lots of new recipes and new ways to make it, whether it's latte [pronounced la-tay], cappuccino or espresso." Catering to wholesale and retail markets, specialty coffee companies are expected to earn $1.2 billion in sales by 1999. On average, a coffee cafe--which sells by the bean and the cup--generates about $300,000 in annual sales. Espresso bars, which sell only by the cup, make about $150,000. Recognizing the business' growth potential, African-Americans are starting to get in on the boom. Although black-owned cafes number under a dozen, they are growing nationally.

For Carla Bravo-Wing, co-proprietor of Washington's Roasters on the Hill (666 Pennsylvania Ave. SE; 202-543-8355), the specialty coffee craze has generated over $600,000 in sales for her company. These revenues come through a combination of retail cafe sales and bulk-packaged distribution to the Smithsonian Institution and several D.C.-area churches and restaurants. Roasters on the Hill features a selection of 50 coffees and specializes in Viennese, French and espresso roasts. Colombian and French blends roasted in-house are customer favorites.

"The specialty coffee buyer is looking for the premium bean," says Bravo-Wing, who co-owns the company with partners Estelle O'Connor and Yvonne Nicholson. "Africa is really where you get some of the best coffees in the world. They are smooth, and have a rich, buttery wine-like flavor," she says, citing Ethiopian Yirgacheffe and Zimbabwe beans as prime examples.

At Atlanta's Cormier Coffee Roasting Co. (31 Mill St., Suite 100; 800-422-9866), espresso is the hot commodity, according to owners Arva O. Lumpkin and her husband, Bruce W. Matthews. "We specialize in 'straight' coffee," says Lumpkin of her brew. "We buy the best beans with the highest quality." Kenya AA, Columbia Narino (Reserva del Patron) and Costa Rican La Minita (Hacienda La Minita Estate) are the most popular blends, and lattes, cappuccinos and espressos are the favorite coffee drinks.

Industry experts think they've discovered why the specialty coffee market is booming. "As people get a little older, they tend to want something more sophisticated than a soda pop. Coffee fits that quite nicely," explains Dallis, who co-owns Dallis Brothers Coffee Co., a majority-owned firm in New York. And, as alcohol consumption declines, people are looking for a bar-type place to hang out. Coffee bars, says Dallis, can give people that same type of atmosphere. "Instead of doing tequila, they can do shots of espresso."

Entrepreneurial-minded coffee lovers predict there will be many more coffeehouses across the country. "If this industry grows like it has in New York and on the West Coast, we will be able to pass it on to our [future] children," says Bruce Matthews of Atlanta. "We don't plan on this being our only location."