As many good stories start, there was a girl who fell for a boy over coffee and tea and long conversations. christine drank the coffee. jon drank the tea. they both found their person.
That was when we were in college. Both seniors, both supposed to be looking for jobs. But instead we got lost in conversations. So. Worth. It.
Somehow or another we also managed to both find next steps in our lives as well. I (Christine) always knew I wanted to start my own coffee shop. I made a business plan in college for an entrepreneurship class; did an internship in Kenya for two summers learning about micro-franchising, and coffee; and I landed an awesome job as a barista at a top Austin roaster flagship shop. Cuvee Coffee was set to open a month after I was hired.
After working and training at Cuvee under Loren Perkins (Co-Founder of Fleet), I quickly realized there was more to coffee than I anticipated. Weighing inputs, outputs, temperatures, and TDS levels were all aspects of being a barista I had to quickly master within a few weeks. This was more than making coffee. This was science.
This science aspect— the weighing, the dialing in, the experimentation-- is what led Jon to get into coffee as well. Jon finished in the top of his class from the University of Texas at Austin in Neuroscience and was at that time finishing his masters in Exercise Science at UT (#ProudWife). Needless to say, science was his language and slowly but surely, he stopped drinking tea and started drinking coffee. I fell EVEN MORE in love with him.
On January 2, 2016, we got married in a Texas vineyard. We celebrated with our best friends, family, craft beer, and of course, a coffee and espresso bar provided by Cuvee. At that time, I had moved up to Customer Experience Manager. Several months later, a GM position opened up and I stepped into the role ready to roll my sleeves up and learn. At the ripe age of 24, I had my ultimate dream job.
I started getting the hang of the GM position, and my desire to open up our own shop came back in full force. Jon and I had been setting money aside since the wedding to open up our own shop one day, but it seemed "one day" was sooner than we realized. So we buckled down, put aside as much as we could, and started dreaming about what a shop would look like for us.
After months of dreaming, researching, and discussing, we came up with a mobile coffee trailer in KCMO. I had grown up a stone throw away in Leavenworth, Kansas and wanted to return home to my roots. So we moved ourselves to Kansas City from Austin, Texas, in the summer of 2017, ready to begin a new life and new wild adventure. With less overhead than a shop, we were able to truly focus on the quality and consistency of the product, and most importantly, our customers.
Our coffee camper officially launched April 14, 2018 at the corner of 31st & Gillham Road in Kansas City, Missouri. We now have traveled all over the city serving coffee to events as big as corporate activations for Sprint/T-Mobile, SMG, C2FO, Lockton and Phillips 66; as local and inspirational as Happy Gillis, Sequence Climbing Gym, Novel, Golden & Pine, Peaches Vintage, and The Campground; and as special an occasion as weddings, grad parties, bridal showers, baby showers, birthday and engagement parties. We are honored to attend all of these incredible moments and feel blessed with every opportunity we've had to share in these celebrations together.
Of course, we also love serving the good people of Kansas City at our Warehouse home, the Overland Park Farmers' Market, at the corner of 56th & Brookside Blvd or anywhere else our little Camper pulls up. Thank you for finding us "out in the wild", in our Warehouse, or at an event. We love getting to serve you coffee the wild way.
xxxx
Christine Clutton
She, Her, Hers
Owner/Operator/Trailer Driver
Somehow or another we also managed to both find next steps in our lives as well. I (Christine) always knew I wanted to start my own coffee shop. I made a business plan in college for an entrepreneurship class; did an internship in Kenya for two summers learning about micro-franchising, and coffee; and I landed an awesome job as a barista at a top Austin roaster flagship shop. Cuvee Coffee was set to open a month after I was hired.
After working and training at Cuvee under Loren Perkins (Co-Founder of Fleet), I quickly realized there was more to coffee than I anticipated. Weighing inputs, outputs, temperatures, and TDS levels were all aspects of being a barista I had to quickly master within a few weeks. This was more than making coffee. This was science.
This science aspect— the weighing, the dialing in, the experimentation-- is what led Jon to get into coffee as well. Jon finished in the top of his class from the University of Texas at Austin in Neuroscience and was at that time finishing his masters in Exercise Science at UT (#ProudWife). Needless to say, science was his language and slowly but surely, he stopped drinking tea and started drinking coffee. I fell EVEN MORE in love with him.
On January 2, 2016, we got married in a Texas vineyard. We celebrated with our best friends, family, craft beer, and of course, a coffee and espresso bar provided by Cuvee. At that time, I had moved up to Customer Experience Manager. Several months later, a GM position opened up and I stepped into the role ready to roll my sleeves up and learn. At the ripe age of 24, I had my ultimate dream job.
I started getting the hang of the GM position, and my desire to open up our own shop came back in full force. Jon and I had been setting money aside since the wedding to open up our own shop one day, but it seemed "one day" was sooner than we realized. So we buckled down, put aside as much as we could, and started dreaming about what a shop would look like for us.
After months of dreaming, researching, and discussing, we came up with a mobile coffee trailer in KCMO. I had grown up a stone throw away in Leavenworth, Kansas and wanted to return home to my roots. So we moved ourselves to Kansas City from Austin, Texas, in the summer of 2017, ready to begin a new life and new wild adventure. With less overhead than a shop, we were able to truly focus on the quality and consistency of the product, and most importantly, our customers.
Our coffee camper officially launched April 14, 2018 at the corner of 31st & Gillham Road in Kansas City, Missouri. We now have traveled all over the city serving coffee to events as big as corporate activations for Sprint/T-Mobile, SMG, C2FO, Lockton and Phillips 66; as local and inspirational as Happy Gillis, Sequence Climbing Gym, Novel, Golden & Pine, Peaches Vintage, and The Campground; and as special an occasion as weddings, grad parties, bridal showers, baby showers, birthday and engagement parties. We are honored to attend all of these incredible moments and feel blessed with every opportunity we've had to share in these celebrations together.
Of course, we also love serving the good people of Kansas City at our Warehouse home, the Overland Park Farmers' Market, at the corner of 56th & Brookside Blvd or anywhere else our little Camper pulls up. Thank you for finding us "out in the wild", in our Warehouse, or at an event. We love getting to serve you coffee the wild way.
xxxx
Christine Clutton
She, Her, Hers
Owner/Operator/Trailer Driver
Spicewood, Texas: January 2nd, wedding day
|
Toronto, Canada: Trip for coffee shop research
|
Picking up our Slayer from Lula Rose General Store in Denver, Colorado
Our whole 2021 team (+ a few former baristas) at our team member Jacob's, wedding in the fall! Jon and I were the officiants for Jacob & Stephen's wedding and the whole team was there celebrating and dancing the night away. One of the best moments of 2021 as a team.
|
First day of business!!!!
I proudly took over full ownership in 2020 at Jon's suggestion. He continues to work as our Chief Science Officer while holding down a full-time job at KU Med as a research coordinator and data scientist. I am honored to lead my bad ass female-forward team into the wild unknowns of this business as we look forward to seeing and serving our customers espresso & smiles here in Kansas City.
|
Serving KC COFFEE // Stay Wild // Kansas City
