Coffee is one of my vices – I drink it daily, usually more than once. In fact, coffee was one of the first bonds that I shared with my co-editor, Brian Sherman. He and I both love the stuff, although he drinks his totally black, no cream or sugar, and I like to experiment a little more with lattes, espressos, cappucinos or whatever woos me at the time.
In addition to coffee, Brian and I both love supporting independent businesses. We recently discovered several awesome places that are serving java around East Cooper, so we decided it was time to share our favorite spots to get a caffeine jolt with our readers. After all, winter is the perfect time to sip a hot drink and contemplate what your plans are for the coming year.
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Sip
“I like to create a concept, hire good people and get out of the way.”
Brian:
Part of the Mount Pleasant coffee scene since September, Sip offers indoor seating, as well as a patio facing Ben Sawyer Boulevard. On a beautiful Lowcountry day, we dropped by to visit with owner Mark Dewitt, and, for some reason, we chose to sit inside.
Sip is more than a coffee shop, offering breakfast, lunch, dinner and desserts, as well as wine and beer. Coffee, though, is its most important commodity, at least in my humble and sometimes overcaffeinated opinion. Mark set me up with a mug of black coffee: no sugar, no cream, no swirly design staring back at me from the steaming hot liquid – the way coffee is supposed to be consumed. My only issue was the gargantuan size of the mug, forcing me to chug rather than sip. Once coffee falls below a certain temperature, it loses its allure – almost. I guess next time I can request a smaller cup.
Mark said he chose King Bean Coffee Roasters as his supplier on the recommendation of a committee of taste-testers.
“Coffee drinkers are loyal. People who come in once come back,” Mark remarked, adding that Sip is the eighth business he’s started from the ground up.
“I like to create a concept, hire good people and get out of the way,” he said.
Denise:
Cam Brune, one of Sip’s morning baristas, brought me a caramel macchiato, though he admitted that plenty of people go for the vanilla lattes and cappucinos. The macchiato is made with a caramel bottom, vanilla bean syrup, two shots of espresso and steamed milk and is a sweet treat, right down to the caramel-drizzled whipped cream on top. I’d definitely save this for special occasions – fortunately, for a magazine editor, that could be any day. And if it was a REALLY special occasion, I might leave with a six-pack of beer or some wine.
Sip
1440 Ben Sawyer Blvd., Suite 1404
Mount Pleasant, South Carolina
843-936-3545
www.sipcharleston.com
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Metto
“It’s lively. That’s how we like it.”
Brian:
I can’t remember the names of all the coffee shops that have come and gone in Mount Pleasant in the past decade or so. I do know that Metto is not among them. It’s been a popular hangout for coffee lovers for more than nine years now, thanks in part to its drive-thru window, its awesome outdoor seating and the enthusiasm of owner Sarah Parrish.
I grabbed the last parking space in Metto’s lot the day we stopped in, so I wasn’t surprised by the large crowd inside.
“It’s lively. That’s how we like it,” Sarah told us before disappearing for a few minutes to make me a pour-over, a steaming hot cup of black magic with the wherewithal to cure all that ails you. Am I making too much of the wonder of coffee? Maybe just a little.
The coffee was grown in Ethiopia and roasted in Seattle by Zoka, Sarah’s former employer.
Metto, which also serves made-from-scratch pastries, is the only independently-owned coffee shop in Mount Pleasant with a drive-thru, the source of 40 percent of her business, Sarah pointed out. And, of course, there’s the tree-shaded deck, one of the best places in East Cooper to enjoy a hot cup of coffee.
Sarah added one more important reason why Metto has succeeded while other Mount Pleasant coffee shops have failed.
“Determination and the support of my family,” she explained. “That’s why we’re still around.”
Denise:
One of my all-time favorite coffee drinks in Mount Pleasant – or anywhere – continues to be the honey latte at Metto Coffee & Tea. Thus, I was secretly pleased when that’s the signature drink they brought me to “try.” Made with espresso, steamed milk, real honey plus vanilla and a dash of cinnamon, the mug warmed my hands while Sarah Parrish, Metto’s owner, told Brian and me how important coffee is to her. I couldn’t help but think it shows.
Metto
354 W. Coleman Blvd.
Mount Pleasant, South Carolina
843-216-8832
www.facebook.com/mettocoffee
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Saveurs Du Monde Café
“We always have the same coffee. That’s what people like.”
Brian:
It seems that most people who own independent coffee shops in Mount Pleasant have an interesting story to tell. Take, for example, Saveurs Du Monde Café, where we talked with owner Thierry Chateau. He gave up his job as an attorney in France to travel around the world on a sailboat with his wife, Christiane, and two children. They home-schooled their kids during their five years at sea.
“Being an attorney was too much work, and there was not enough time with the kids,” he said.
In May 2014, Thierry and Christiane decided it was time for a new adventure, so they opened their French café in Seaside Farms. In addition to coffee, the menu includes a variety of breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert items.
The cup of black coffee Thierry served me was roasted locally by King Bean Coffee Roasters. He pointed out that coffee drinkers generally are creatures of habit who appreciate the taste and aroma of a consistently good cup of joe.
“We always have the same coffee. That’s what people like,” he said.
Thierry said Saveurs Du Monde Café sold 28,400 cups of coffee from October 2014 to October 2015, serving around 400 customers a day. And youngsters who haven’t yet developed the urge to caffeinate are treated to a small cup of hot chocolate.
Denise:
I’d never ordered a mocha before, but thanks to the friendly owners of Saveurs du Monde I likely will in the future. The heavenly drink they served me perked me up – way up – and is made with espresso, steamed milk, homemade chocolate from the cafe’s own kitchen and a generous dollop of whipped cream. I was crazy-awake when Brian and I left a while later – so I’ll probably be back after a late night out.
Saveurs Du Monde Café
1960 Long Grove Drive, Suite A and B
Mount Pleasant, South Carolina
843-352-7498
www.saveursdumondecafe.com
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Brown Fox Coffee Co.
“I love coffee and I love people.”
Brian:
On most weekdays, rain or shine, you’ll find Brown Fox Coffee in a gravel parking lot on Simmons Street, just off Coleman Boulevard and across from Moultrie Middle School. However, if you stop by for a hot or cold cup of instant energy and the lot is empty, you can always use Facebook or Instagram to find Biz Foxworth and her coffee truck.
Biz and her 16-foot trailer have been in business since February. Many of her loyal customers are teachers or parents of students at Moultrie Middle, but the coffee truck has also been at corporate events, farmers markets and Charleston County School District seminars. Brown Fox has been at the First Flush FesTEAval on Wadmalaw Island and the Boone Hall Plantation Pumpkin Patch, and, in November, Biz brought her own brand of coffee lovers’ heaven to a local wedding.
Denise and I visited Biz on a beautiful Lowcountry afternoon and enjoyed our caffeine fix at one of two shaded tables along Simmons Street. Biz fixed me a pour-over from medium-roasted beans grown on the La Amistad Farm in Costa Rica. She said her customers also like a dark roast from Cameroon in Africa. All her coffee is roasted by Lowcountry Coffee Roasters.
Biz told us she generally serves around 80 cups of coffee a day, from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. She also sells CG Pralines, peanut butter energy balls, muffins, scones and other snacks. She thinks she has found her calling.
“I love coffee and I love people. And I always wanted to be in the hospitality industry,” she said.
Denise:
I go to visit Biz at the Brown Fox Coffee Truck often enough that I have a couple of “usuals” – the southern pecan roast and the Mexican Fox latte, which are both delicious. But on our official coffee article visit, I tried a little something new: the raspberry white mocha, made with espresso, steamed milk, raspberry syrup and a lot of love. Then I enjoyed it outdoors while feeling happy and inspired. You might say it was “berry” good.
Brown Fox Coffee Co.
307 Simmons St.
Mount Pleasant, South Carolina
www.brownfoxcoffee.com
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Cooper River Coffee Roasters
“We like to think of ourselves as a coffee roaster with a small coffee shop up front.”
Brian:
Is there any better way to spend the final hour or so of a magnificent Lowcountry morning than filling your belly with coffee and filling your brain with useful information?
That was the case when Denise and I took a short drive down to Cooper River Coffee Roasters. Co-owner Paulette Sullivan made me four pour-overs from coffee grown in four different countries: Peru, Ethiopia, Bolivia and Columbia. Meanwhile, her husband, Sean Sullivan, showed me how he roasts coffee beans.
“We like to think of ourselves as a coffee roaster with a small coffee shop up front,” Sean explained during the 12- to 15-minute roasting process.
Cooper River Coffee Roasters, open since late October, sells to local restaurants and boutique shops. Sean and Paulette ran a coffee roasting company in Ohio before they made the move to the Carolina coast.
The Sullivans, who import green beans from Brazil, Rwanda, Sumatra, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Cost Rica, Bolivia, Mexico and Columbia, are passionate about coffee, of course, but Paulette also takes great interest in the efforts of companies that supply them with coffee from around the world. For instance, Organic Products Trading Company, which imported the coffee I tried from Bolivia, financially supports women who produce coffee “in various fundraising activities that go directly to help women, their families and their communities” through the Café Femenino program, which empowers “female farmers using the production and sale of their own product as the vehicle to create social change.”
Denise:
I left Cooper River Coffee Roasters pretty much feeling like I could fly – meaning, of course, that I tried the variety of pour-overs that Brian tried, except, unlike Brian, I’m sensitive to caffeine. I’m happy to report that my favorite of the bunch was the Ethiopian variety, which was smooth enough that I did not even require cream. Brian said he was proud of me, which made it all totally worth it.
Cooper River Coffee Roasters
1303 Ben Sawyer Blvd., Suite 5
Mount Pleasant, South Carolina
843-810-7917
www.facebook.com/cooperrivercoffeeroasters
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Vintage
“I want people to love good coffee. I want them to realize what the differences are.”
Brian:
Vintage looks more like a stately old home – complete with a porch that doubles as a spacious outdoor seating area – than it does a coffee shop. In business since mid-September, it’s the kind of place you go when you want to relax, sip a steaming hot cup of coffee and enjoy the pleasant Lowcountry weather.
Vintage offers breakfast and lunch, including a kids’ menu, but the star of the show here is coffee. Manager and Art Director Powers Gray considers part of her job to be to teach local residents about the wonders of coffee.
“I want people to love good coffee. I want them to realize what the differences are,” she said. “We’re focusing on educating people about coffee.”
The day Denise and I visited Vintage, Powers brought me a pour-over of Bonta, a coffee grown on family farms in Papua New Guinea and purchased from CounterCulture in Durham, North Carolina. Powers said Vintage will buy from other roasters in 2016, including Heart Roasters in Portland, Oregon; Ingtelligentsia in Chicago; and Slate in Seattle. She said Vintage uses around 50 pounds of coffee a week.
When I asked Powers what sets Vintage apart from the many independent coffee shops that opened their doors in East Cooper in the past year, she insisted that one doesn’t stand out above the others – not even her own place of business.
“We’re not above anyone else. We just want to share the knowledge about coffee,” she said.
Denise:
The cinnamon latte at Vintage, one of my favorites of the new spots in East Cooper, had some of the best latte artwork I’d seen, besides being made with homemade cinnamon syrup. Not too sweet and just frothy enough, it’s the perfect afternoon drink when you’re working on a deadline and in need of extra inspiration. Not that I ever wait until the last minute for anything.
Vintage
219 Simmons St.
Mount Pleasant, South Carolina
843-654-9606
www.vintagecoffeecafe.com
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Joey Bag a Donuts
“It’s OK to press your nose to the glass.”
Brian:
During Joey Casale’s formative years in an ethnic neighborhood in Cleveland, he was known as “Bag a Donuts, which, he explained, means “heavy set Italian man.” He brought the nickname with him to Mount Pleasant, where he, his sister (Kim) and their mom (Mardy) are the proprietors of a family-run coffee shop and bakery.
I sipped a steaming hot cup of black coffee – in a plastic foam cup – when we visited with the three owners recently. Joey let us know that the coffee was imported from Italy, but he chose not to reveal which company roasted the beans. I guess he preferred to keep that information from competitors who read Mount Pleasant Magazine.
Joey Bag a Donuts, which has been featured on The Travel Channel, has been offering its loyal customers more than just imported coffee for the past six years. The menu also includes sandwiches, bagels, muffins, 60 different flavors of donuts that are baked on-site and even homemade Stromboli, a nod to their Italian heritage.
Kids certainly are welcome at Joey Bag a Donuts, where the display case is low to the ground so people who have not yet reached their adult height can get a good look at the bakery items. According to the company’s website, “It’s OK to press your nose to the glass.”
It’s also OK for kids to let Joey, Kim and Mardy know that they are grateful for the respect they are shown at Joey Bag a Donuts. The walls are decorated with notes of appreciation from youngsters who have visited the local establishment.
Denise:
Sometimes you need a dose of sweetness in an otherwise “meh” day, and the salted caramel macchiato at Joey Bag a Donuts is perfect for those occasions. In fact, I think it was the first drink I ever sipped at the coffee shop – right before I promptly became jealous of residents of North Mount Pleasant who get to visit Joey Bag a Donuts all the time. Made with salted caramel syrup, fresh espresso and milk that is both steamed and frothed, this drink defines decadence.
Joey Bag a Donuts
1118 Park West Blvd.
Mount Pleasant, South Carolina
843-856-5639
www.joey-bag-a-donuts.com
By Denise K. James & Brian Sherman.
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