Photo by and courtesy of Catherine and Devin Masters
Left to right: Catherine and Devin Masters, and Shelby and Logan Torrance—owners of Hammond coffee shop Luma and its sister grocery concept, Sôlt Provisions. Pictured here promoting Luma's "Camp Luma" summer programming and specialty menu items.
By midmorning, Luma Coffee hums. Sunlight spills through the shop’s east-facing windows, warming the floors of downtown Hammond’s former Central Rexall Drugs building as the scent of freshly roasted coffee suffuses the air. Inside, conversations rise and fall in waves—students, regulars, and first-timers all folding into the same easy rhythm.
The cadence carries through the menu, where Luma has made a name for itself with in-house roasted blends, a curated toast lineup, and handcrafted drinks developed by its baristas and rotated seasonally. The team leans playful with its creations—sometimes incorporating unexpected elements. Fall menus, for instance, have featured house-made syrups like caramelized banana and miso brown sugar. Past favorites include the Mardi Gras Matcha, now an annual Carnival offering sweetened with vanilla and topped with ube cold foam and bee pollen.
Beyond the menu, Luma has become something of a social hub, with community regulars and Southeastern Louisiana University students routinely gathering in the space, which still bears the Central Rexall Drugs name—a nod to the 130-year-old pharmacy that once occupied the building and shuttered in late 2016.
Owners Devin and Catherine Masters and Logan and Shelby Torrance met in college through campus ministry at Southeastern and remained close after graduating in the mid-2010s. A college road trip through Nashville proved pivotal for the young men. Before that, their experience in coffee shops was mostly quick-service-style. Nashville introduced them to a different model: a space built for people to stay, not just grab a drink and leave.
Later, Devin returned with his wife, Catherine, during their honeymoon. Soon, after the Masters returned to Hammond, the two couples began shaping the idea for their own shop together.
“The central idea is twofold,” explained Logan of the name, “Luma.” “[First,] it’s a space in the community that brings light—a safe and gentle place. The other side was to have a light on at night—we have late hours for a coffee shop.”
With four years of barista experience courtesy of a stint with Starbucks, Logan knew he wanted to brew his own coffee with the help of his long-time friend and newfound business partner, Devin. Tiptoeing into the world of specialty coffees, Devin wanted to explore the possibilities presented by roasting coffee for himself.
The friends’ first roaster was a stovetop popcorn popper, no larger than a laptop, and still inconspicuously displayed on one of the cafe’s shelves today. The popcorn popper could only roast roughly two hundred grams of coffee beans at a time, and it took multiple roast batches to fill each bag.
Early orders came through Instagram, and the team served coffee from a mobile cart at local pop-ups at the Hammond Art Center, local churches, and the campus ministry while learning the craft in real time.
About a year and a half in, they connected with Scotty Meades, a local accredited trainer for the Specialty Coffee Association. As a result of that mentorship, the Masters and Torrances pursued formal training in roasting and barista work while continuing to dream about someday opening a permanent space in Hammond.
Eventually they set their sights on opening in the former Central Rexall Drugs space, where a longtime pharmacy operated at the corner of East Thomas and South Cypress streets until closing in 2016. An antiques shop initially moved into the space after the pharmacy closed, but a local realtor reached out to the aspiring coffee shop owners at the end of 2019. In 2020, during the pandemic, early financing attempts fell through before they finally secured a loan from Gulf Coast Bank.
With four founders came four visions for the space, so they brought in an interior designer to unify the concept. Much of the decor was sourced from local thrift and estate sales, while renovations were tackled after hours, as the founders balanced full-time jobs and young families.
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Photo by and courtesy of Catherine and Devin Masters
Luma and its sister concept, the specialty grocery store Sôlt Provisions, have not only introduced into downtown Hammond delicious, handcrafted coffees, gelatos, and grocery items— but generous and invigorating community spaces.
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Photo by and courtesy of Catherine and Devin Masters
Luma and its sister concept, the specialty grocery store Sôlt Provisions, have not only introduced into downtown Hammond delicious, handcrafted coffees, gelatos, and grocery items— but generous and invigorating community spaces.
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Photo by and courtesy of Catherine and Devin Masters
Luma and its sister concept, the specialty grocery store Sôlt Provisions, have not only introduced into downtown Hammond delicious, handcrafted coffees, gelatos, and grocery items— but generous and invigorating community spaces.
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Photo by and courtesy of Catherine and Devin Masters
Luma and its sister concept, the specialty grocery store Sôlt Provisions, have not only introduced into downtown Hammond delicious, handcrafted coffees, gelatos, and grocery items— but generous and invigorating community spaces.
Finally, after about four years of dreaming, the Masters and Torrances officially opened Luma Coffee on August 17, 2021.
The first months were, as Logan described, “a beautiful chaotic mess.”
“I thank God for the team we have, because they had grace for us as new business owners,” he said. “We were learning things in real time about leading people, as well as the financial side of things.”
The community response, he said, was immediate, and over the years, business has grown steadily enough that Logan was able to step away from his other job at a local church last year to focus on Luma full-time.
More recently, the team has invested in a new coffee roaster, tripling production capacity as they look to expand wholesale operations to supply coffee to other businesses, churches, and hospitals.
Acting as Luma’s head roaster, Devin now roasts five days a week in a space tucked behind the shop’s sister concept, Sôlt Provisions, which opened two doors down in 2024 as a local general and specialty grocery store. The couples learned the space was going to be available two summers ago, and began brainstorming concepts they believed would complement downtown Hammond well.
The general store offers local goods, fresh dairy and meats, and items designed to make everyday moments at the home feel special. The top seller is a shop-made gelato, with rotating flavors like rosemary fig.
Together, the two businesses serve as a go-to stop for artisan delicacies and specialities not available at other local businesses as well as spaces intentionally built to foster meaningful connections among neighbors and visitors alike.
Meanwhile, Luma’s own menu continues to evolve. The original toast offerings have expanded to include wraps, sandwiches, and salads, and the team recently introduced a Sundown menu—an evening lineup of mocktails with functional add-ins like L-theanine, cordyceps, and lion’s mane, alongside small bites.
Looking to the future, Logan is working with cafe manager Kailey Hymel to refine operations and document processes as the business continues to grow. Paying off their initial loan is a near-term goal, after which they may begin exploring expansion—all with their Hammond home remaining their primary focus.
“Hammond was such a perfect ecosystem for our brand—a mix of generations of customers.” Logan said. “I would love to recreate that in Baton Rouge, or another city with a college.”
Luma Coffee Roastery & Social Club
125 East Thomas, Hammond, LA
Sôlt Provisions
111 North Cypress, Hammond, LA
Instagram @soltprovisions
