Barista Christina Bergquist of Harvard levels a scoop of freshly-ground coffee while making a hot beverage for a customer Tuesday morning at the recently-opened Java Planet, a new coffeehouse and internet café in Woodstock. The new business offers a variety of certified organic, free-trade, locally-roasted coffee and tea brews. (Valerie Tobias (Photographer))

WOODSTOCK – They claim it is “the best tasting coffee in the universe,” and if you frequent Crystal Lake-based Conscious Cup Coffee Roasters & Café, you might agree.

After all, when owner Larry O’Connor Jr. and his wife, Shannon, decided to open a coffee shop, they sought the advice of Conscious Cup managing partners Jason and Michael Shipley. They remain consultants to Java Planet Coffee Shop and Internet Café, which opened this winter off Route 14.

“Jason lives in Woodstock, so he stops by regularly just to make sure we’re doing everything right,” said Larry O’Connor Sr., café general manager and logistics manager for Other World Computing – the computer hardware and service support provider his son started in 1988.

“They trained all of our people,” O’Connor Sr. said of the store’s seven employees.

O’Connor said he investigated a lot of coffee franchises, but he wanted the ability to tweak their business plan as the family saw fit. Baked goods include 26 varieties of Danish “kringle” pastries, available for shipment daily from Racine, Wis. Other treats include cookies, bagels, muffins, croissants, biscotti, tiramisu, cakes and Goldie’s scones from Lakemoor.

Visitors will find a variety of hot and cold coffee drinks, hot chocolate, teas and fruit smoothies. A small coffee costs $1.75. A 24-ounce raspberry mocha granita sells for $5.75. Students, seniors and people in uniform – cops, firefighters, and military personnel – are eligible for a 10 percent discount.

“When you open a new business, you have to go the extra mile,” O’Connor Sr. said.

The key, he added, is customer service and a consistent product. The fair-trade, locally roasted beans are bought from Conscious Cup. But Java Planet also offers something else – wireless Internet service 50 times faster than home DSL, thanks to the proximity of OWC’s headquarters.

“You don’t have to type in a certain code or anything,” O’Connor Sr. said. “You just sit down and flip [your laptop] open.”

Plans include the opening of an adjacent service center by March 1 for iPods, iPhones, computer hardware upgrades and storage solutions; expansion into PC applications and free computer workshops in the 2,300-square-foot space.

The O’Connors also hope to offer curbside coffee service and “open mic nights” starting at 7 p.m. Feb. 14. For information, visit www.spiritofthearts.com.

The O’Connors hope to attract McHenry County College students, commuters and those visiting the adjacent Two Tails Market/Eatery for a sandwich.

“Coffee goes hand in hand with computers,” said O’Connor Jr., 34, of Prairie Grove. “I don’t think there is a better cup of coffee in Woodstock.”