Morning Mugs Coffee will open this Saturday at 15 W. Hughe’s St. in Otterbein. Morning Mugs replaces a shop called Hughes and Hanover that closed amid the COVID-19 pandemic and never reopened. The retail space is located in the Vision complex which has offices, coworking spaces, and apartments.
Morning Mugs is a new business by Federal Hill resident Tyler DellaRatta. DellaRatta learned about the opportunity while getting a haircut at Vision from Sam Cuts. DellaRatta heard about it on Friday, October 30th, thought about it over the weekend, and contacted Vision owner the Chasen Companies the following Monday.
DellaRatta said he was interested in starting a business, and while he had no experience working in a coffee shop, he did develop a following for his fun morning coffee routine. He was working for a kitchen equipment contractor, and discovered the black mugs in the kitchen all had five different colors on the inside. He started filming himself guessing what color the mug was going to be when they were sitting upside down in the cabinet and posting it to Instagram and Snapchat.
DellaRatta said that guessing correct gave him a big boost to start his day, and the videos would make people’s day. He also had some guest appearance guessers in the videos.
This tradition will be part of the vibe at Morning Mugs. DellaRatta found the mugs to serve for dine-in customer at Morning Mugs, and a color sticker will be placed on togo cups. If customers guess the right color, they will be eligible for a to-be-determined prize or discount. Morning Mugs has the motto, “Let us make your day every morning.”
DellaRatta said he began studying the coffee shop industry and got a lot of help from Jim and Lory Caprara that own coffee shop Decadent in Fulton. The Coprara’s are the parents of a close college friend of DellaRatta’s.
DellaRatta put together a business plan, tested out different beans, eventually deciding on Kanas City’s Parisi Coffee, and put together his staff of three.
He saw the lack of coffee shops and businesses in Ottebein and thought the location presented a need for the community. He wants to be a staple of the community and get to know everyone’s name.
DellaRatta said that there is a lot of great coffee out there and it is hard to promise the best cup someone’s ever had, but he said he can create a fun, community-oriented environment where you cup of coffee tastes the same every time. DellaRatta is passionate about charity and will have a monthly charity the shop will support with a percentage of profits along with encouraging customers to donate. He is also looking to start a pay-it-forward program for frontline workers to come in for a free drink.
The menu at Morning Mugs will have drip coffees, espressos, nitro cold brew, lemonade, nitro lemonade, teas, hot chocolate, chocolate milk, and DellaRatta is excited a signature drink they will have called a nitro shandy that is a mix of coffee and lemonade. He noted that it might seem like an odd combination, but it’s “really good.”
Morning Mugs will serve pastries, muffins, and black bottom cupcakes from Morrisons Pastry in Queens, New York. DellaRatta said his parents are from Brooklyn, NY and encouraged him to get pastries from New York.
Morning Mugs will eventually have some seating inside when things return to normal as well as an outdoor seating area. DellaRatta said it will be dog-friendly and will have free wifi. It will offer online ordering for those on the go.
The logo for Morning Mugs has a a bear inside of a black coffee mug. The bear’s nose is a coffee bean and his top hairline has two “M”s in it. DellaRatta said he wanted a mascot for the shop and loves bears. The store will soon have a mural of a bear drinking a cup of coffee.
Morning Mugs will be open every day from 630am-430pm.
via https://www.southbmore.com/2021/02/10/morning-mugs-coffee-opening-this-weekend-in-otterbein/
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