The Coffee Cow is bringing the dairy farm to town.
Almost everyone knows Blue Ribbon Dairy in Kent offers up fresh milk and ice cream. It’s available at the dairy and the milk is available in local grocery stores. But Michaela Sanders wanted more and has opened The Coffee Cow on Roosevelt Avenue.
“We are trying to bring the dairy to town,” Sanders said. “We want to make it more convenient for our loyal customers.”
Customers have been able to find Blue Ribbon milk in some local grocery stores, but other products such as ice cream had to be purchased at the farm. Customers can now get Blue Ribbon products in the drive thru and in coffee.
“We wanted to get it to town and more readily available to our customers,” Sanders said. “With us not being directly in town, people have to drive to us to get some of our specialty things they can’t get at a grocery store. With the coffee shop, they can go through the drive through. They can buy our milk, ice cream. They can buy our coffee drinks.”
The name The Coffee Cow comes from a vision.
“I have always wanted an ice cream shop, but I know coffee is the second largest commodity in the world,” Sanders said. “It is popular. When you put coffee in the name it grabs people’s attention. The cow means it's all real milk, all real ice cream. It’s all real everything.”
Sanders and Blue Ribbon Dairy has been working with Opelika's Mama Mocha’s Coffee Roastery for coffee beans. They have been playing around with a product on the farm called Iced Crack. It's a cold brew mixed with brown sugar and Blue Ribbon milk.
“It’s been very popular,” Sanders said.
The coffee shop’s menu takes its clues from customers.
“We are following what the customers want as to what our menu looks like,” Sanders said. “Right now, we are going with the flow and taking suggestions from customers to figure out what products, drinks and add-ons are wanted in the community.”
Sanders and The Coffee Cow are looking at expanding the menu. There may be chicken salad sandwiches and fruit cups. She is also looking at the product line.
“We may be able to partner with another local farm that makes their own yogurt and granola,” Sanders said. “We try to support local as much as possible for items we have in our store. If it's not local we really don’t have it.”
The Coffee Cow is a double drive-thru coffee shop located at 604 N. Roosevelt Street in Tallassee. It is open Monday to Friday 5:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Saturday from 7 a.m. to noon.