This New Bedford firefighter became his station's barista. Now he's thinking bigger.

NEW BEDFORD — Summer may not be the time SouthCoasters are thinking about nor'easters, but for a growing segment, it's when "Nor'Eastahs" are most on the mind, according to one New Bedford entrepreneur.

"I make a batch every week," Brian Gallant said of his creation, a gourmet iced coffee blend he named after the storms synonymous with New England. "The size will depend on how many orders I have, but this time of year I'll make a little extra."

Gallant, a 2001 New Bedford High graduate, launched his coffee start-up Union Java last year. But the story goes back almost as long as his 18 years on the New Bedford Fire Department , where he's a lieutenant at Station 7 on Cottage Street, and the third generation member of his family to serve the city.

"Part of our routine on my shift was that we'd try to squeeze in time to go to different local coffee shops, relax and just hit the pause button for a while; but when the pandemic hit that kind of got thrown to the side," he said. "So what we ended up doing is we all chipped in and bought this single-serve home espresso machine for the kitchen of our fire house."

With that, Gallant said he naturally gravitated to the role of resident barista of Station 7 , eventually leading to the development of the Nor'Eastah, which he describes as having "that cravable, coffee ice cream flavor." From there, NBFD was taken by storm.

"Everybody started enjoying the drinks at work, so if I had a free moment I would ask some of the other fire houses, 'hey, you want to come by and grab a coffee?'" he said. "Even if we only had a minute in between calls, we'd just spend time enjoying each other's company, which I thought was really cool."

It was from his realization of coffee's ability to bring people together that Gallant says he conceived the name "Union Java."

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"It made me feel good to bring people together over a cup of coffee and eventually I said, 'hey, I really want to do this,'" he said.

Taking Union Java on the road

Gallant's current business model consists mostly of filling half-gallon and 16-ounce Nor'Eastah orders, making the deliveries in-person, he said. The 16-ounce bottles are also kept stocked at The Rescue Cafe in Fairhaven, 414 Main St., where Gallant said he uses the commercial kitchen to whip up his batches of regular dairy Nor'Eastah and an oat milk version.

By next summer, Gallant said he hopes to evolve Union Java into a mobile "coffee truck" operation which will expand upon the success of the Nor'Eastah and offer a number of new flavor and drink options.

"My goal is to have it anchored in the North End of New Bedford," Gallant said, noting he's a lifelong North End resident. "I'm a big fan of local coffee shops and we've never really had one in the North End that I can remember."

GNB Voc-Tech up to the job

Gallant said he was fortunate to come across a suitable food truck last August, which he purchased with extensive repair work needed. After a friend mentioned the possibility that the diesel shop at Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational Technical High School might be able to help, Gallant entrusted the truck to the students and staff there, where it's been since about January, Gallant said.

And while it's an obvious help to Gallant, Voc's lead diesel instructor Serge Moniz said it's been a benefit to the juniors and seniors who got experience working on the truck this past school year as well.

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"We rely heavily on outside work ... but the problem with the diesel shop is most diesel trucks are work trucks, so most people can't afford the downtime," Moniz said, noting practice materials can be expensive when real world equipment isn't available to work on. "Whenever we can get an opportunity like this, it's very valuable to us."

Gallant and Moniz said work on the truck would continue in September.

"Before school ended for the summer, I gave the students a marker — green for Voc — and had them sign their names in the cab of the truck," Gallant said. "Everywhere I go I want to remember them and the work they did."

What is the future of Union Java?

Since embarking on his entrepreneurial journey, Gallant said he's come to find "the food truck community" to be a warm and welcoming one, with the more-experienced happy to share what they know to benefit newbies like himself.

"Joni Rhoades ( Rescue Cafe owner) has become a dear friend of mine and a mentor," Gallant said, noting he was "inspired" watching Rhoades go from coffee truck to brick-and-mortar location.

"Hopefully, if I do it long enough to get a foothold in the industry, maybe one day I'll upon up my own brick-and-mortar cafe in the North End of New Bedford."

Gallant said he intends to remain on the New Bedford Fire Department while he runs Union Java.

This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: This New Bedford firefighter became his station's barista. Now he's thinking bigger.