Need a caffeine fix? Try this recently re-branded coffee bar. Here's what you need to know

MOUNT DORA — There’s one thing for sure: There’s nothing like an ice-cold drink on a hot Florida summer day. Thankfully, GroundUp Coffee Bar is showcasing its refreshing summer specials at its recently re-branded mobile location. Here's what we know:

How it began

GroundUp opened two years ago. The owners are Jesse and Katie Lorentz. Jesse is a retired police officer and Katie previously worked as a barista and in the medical-spa industry. The family moved to Eustis in 20221 from Oregon and decided to start a new chapter in their lives.

“We were both working our tails off in our careers and so we just decided to save up enough money to start this,” Jesse said. “This is really a result of my wife and my daughter’s dream, but the whole family helps out.”

Originally, the couple had tried to purchase a brick-and-mortar location, but was outbid by a popular coffee chain. However, it was a blessing in disguise as this mobile location has allowed them to show up at festivals and events, as well as keep their permanent location off Wolf Branch Road and U.S. 441 in Mount Dora.

Getting involved

Community also played a big role for the couple. With their kids attending local schools, they knew they wanted to be involved in all things community, sponsoring many local events.

“You’ll see our banners in a lot of places because it was important to us to be a part of this community,” Jesse said. “We want to sponsor little league teams and help build the generation coming up. We want this to be the real purpose of our business.”

On The Menu

GroundUp Coffee specializes in locally roasted, handcrafted coffees and drinks. When looking for a roaster, taste was one of the most important factors. They found the perfect roaster, near Tampa, who roasts all organic coffee beans fresh weekly.

They offer “The OG” coffees like Americano, latte, mocha, white mocha, caramel macchiato and frappe, but the options only get better from there.

Their specially coffees include the Mexi Mama (sweet cinnamon spice swirled together in chocolate), The Ninja (white chocolate macadamia nut), Celtic Midnight (Irish cream breve), Oregon Cheesecake (white chocolate, raspberry, vanilla and hazelnut) Bear Country (dark chocolate swirled with caramel topped with sea salt) and AED (six espresso shots with Irish cream).

Energy refreshers made with a plant-based ingredients so you get the energy without the crash. They can also be ordered without caffeine. These include the Beach Babe (raspberry, watermelon, coconut and vanilla cream), Shark Attack (pineapple, coconut, blue raspberry, vanilla cream and a drizzle of raspberry puree), Huckleberry Pie (huckleberry and vanilla cream), Tropical Gold (passionfruit and peach with a hint of pineapple), Sucker Punch (pomegranate chillin with a blueberry villain), The Gator (granny smith ale with bursts of watermelon) and The Dora (orange creamsicle).

The real fruit smoothies are also a hit, with strawberry-banana and mango, and they Oregon chai tea latte, lemonade, Italian soda and frozen hot chocolate. Their summer specials include summer splash peach and raspberry iced tea, pina colada smoothie, watermelon lemonade, mango dragonfruit refresher and butterscotch latte.

The key information

GroundUp Coffee Bar, 20010 U.S. 441 in Mount Dora, is open 6:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 to 11 a.m. on Saturday. More at www.facebook.com/GroundUpCoffeeBarFL.

This article originally appeared on Daily Commercial: GroundUp Coffee Bar brings refreshing drinks to beat the heat