The Coffee Gin Co. opens in West Point
BY KADIE TAYLOR
THE LAFAYETTE SUN
WEST POINT, GEORGIA — The Coffee Gin Co. held its grand opening event on Sept. 23 at noon. Since its soft opening on Aug. 20, co-owner Chelsea Morris said the community has responded positively.
“We had our soft opening, Aug. 20, and for the first two days we just opened our door, like we put on the open sign and it was word of mouth,” she said. “I cannot tell you how overjoyed and grateful I am for the amount of support that we’ve received from people in the community coming in and sharing their excitement. It’s just been wonderful.”
Chelsea said she was inspired to open a coffee shop for locals to enjoy a cup of coffee and have a relaxing atmosphere without having to drive to another city.
“Personally, I was driving to either LaGrange or Opelika to go and just have a little bit of time at a coffee shop,” she said. “I started talking to people, and that was very much the same. I love the convenience of Dunkin Donuts to be able to drive through. But there’s something about an intimate shop where you can just go sit down, take your laptop in, read a book or just go sit down and talk with a friend that you haven’t had a chance to talk with in a while.”
Chelsea’s husband and co-owner for The Coffee Gin, Scott Morris, said that the community response since the soft opening has been encouraging and supportive.
“We have had an unbelievable outpouring of community support,” he said. “Just the number of people who’ve walked through the front door is pretty humbling. We just kind of wanted to quietly turn on the open sign and see what happened, so that we could train our people to make sure we get everything squared away, so that when we do have the grand opening it’s a well-oiled machine.”
Along with local drinks, The Coffee Gin Co.’s children’s space provides a spot for children to play and color while their parents or guardians enjoy a cup of coffee.
“For moms that come in to meet each other for a mid-morning coffee, because that’s what’s fueling them through the day, they need to be able to put their kids down and not have to worry about them breaking something,” Chelsea said. “We have a little kids area, and it’s more geared towards younger kids, probably like eight and under, but there’s paper for them to color, markers and crayons. There are the Duplo Lego blocks with the Lego boards up on the wall.”
Scott said The Coffee Gin will also create a space for people to gather and spend time together.
“I think The Coffee Gin is really important, because it’s a place that people can come for the community, whatever that means to them, whether they want to come to a Bible study, they want to meet up, let the kids play and just have a place to hang out,” he said.
Along with a space for the community to gather, Scott said, The Coffee Gin Company has cultivated quality products for customers.
“We’re excited about the products that we have, we’re really proud of them, but I think what we’re most excited about is what’s yet to come,” he said. “There are a lot of flavors, a lot of ideas. We have an awesome staff who have really put their energy and effort into making the place awesome and really kind of joining our family, if you will. And you know, they all have ideas. We’re still in such an infant stage that I think it’s only going to grow.”
Chelsea said if a new customer is unsure what to order, she enjoys helping them find something they will like.
“I usually just try and ask them what they would normally order,” she said. “If they’re adventurous and I kind of get the idea that they like to try new things, we might recommend something that has been popular lately. Here lately, a hot new flavor has been the toasted marshmallow, and it is delightful.”
For more information, visit The Coffee Gin Co. on Facebook or www.thecoffeegin.com.
