Starting Houston Coffee Cart
I started my coffee journey in 2019 working with my then girlfriend, now wife, in a coffee shop that was having a hard time keeping staff on the busy weekend shift. I had always enjoyed coffee, if you consider the milky sugary concoction my grandma used to make me coffee, but I had never imagined the idea of being a barista, steaming milk, and pulling shots of espresso.
After a few weekends serving cups of coffee by the literal hundreds, I fell in love with the craft of creating a delicious beverage, and offering an empathetic, and personable service experience for those enjoying my coffee. It’d didn’t take long for the idea of owning my own coffee shop or coffee company to subtly start floating into my mind, but with that comes a price tag and I couldn’t really think of a way around it.
2020 struck and with the pandemic shutting down everything I went from hundreds of shots of espresso to making pour-overs, and small batches of cold brew in my apartment for myself. But, finally around November 2020, after getting engaged in September, I stumbled into another coffee job, at a much slower shop, focusing more on quality, and found a whole new layer to the coffee business. Coffee went from being something hastily prepared in a cup with a smile to a beautiful cup of joy prepared with a friendly conversation and information about what was actually being brewed. At this point the idea of coffee business was not longer a subtle thought in my mind, but something I began to seriously contemplate.
While planning the wedding, my fiance and I came across Creature Coffee, in Austin, TX, a coffee company that started as a mobile coffee cart, and decided to hire them to serve during the reception at our wedding. I really didn’t know what to expect when we booked their service, I was mostly just excited to have specialty coffee as an option at my wedding, but, after seeing and experiencing what they had put together it clicked in my mind that a coffee cart was the next step in my coffee journey.
Over the next year, we saved up our money, my wife and I moved out to the suburbs, and in September of 2022, I was finally able to file all the fun paperwork and officially, technically, own a coffee company! Very quickly I ordered the perfect espresso machine, my La Marzocco Linea Mini, found the one stop shop for coffee carts, Simple Cart Systems, and after a very lengthy conversation with Michael Craig, owner of Creature Coffee, I was suggested perfect grinder, the Anfim Scody II .
BOOM! Now I’m a successful coffee cart owner, Right? Nope! It’s now August, a full seven months since I received my last piece of equipment in the mail, my cart from Simple Cart Systems (if you’re considering one, just order it now! They have a long, but worthwhile, lead time), and there are still days I wonder if i’m doing this right, or if I should be doing this at all. I just quit my job that i’ve had since I graduated high school, a job thats paid my rent, bills, and allowed me to actually be able to save money. But I persevere, I’ll keep making these phone calls, serving coffee and espresso wherever I can fit my little cart, and making friends every step of the way. Michael wrapped up our phone call gently reminding me “buying all of this equipment is expensive, and feels like the hard part, but the real hard part is finding people to hire you”, and he couldn’t be more right. It’s been a grind but I’m building more and more traction everyday!
I’m asked at every event “Why a Coffee Cart?”, initially the answer was simple, it was the cheapest option for starting the coffee company I wanted to start. But honestly now its evolved. Every event I get to set up at I meet all new people, I get to walk them through my menu, show them something new, and hit their tastebuds with something they’ve never had before. I roll in my mobile coffee cart, with my house made syrups, full cafe menu, and blow everyones socks off! And every time I get that guest that says they’re not into coffee, I whip up the best hot chocolate for them they’ve ever had! My favorite part of the business is creating a fun experience for everyone involved from the birthday boy, to the DJ playing the reception, getting to hang out with new vendors, and industry insiders. My goal with Houston Coffee Cart is to become the best coffee catering service in the greater Houston area, serving not just the best coffee from Tenfold Coffee, but also giving everyone that hires us an experience to remember, and be the highlight of that day, whether its just a back to school event for teachers, or the bride and groom’s big day! I’m super excited, and super scared for the next chapter of Houston Coffee Cart.