A year-round coffee shop in Door County has new owners who plan to expand its summer hours

SISTER BAY – One of the new owners of Skip Stone Coffee Roasters will be very familiar to patrons to the popular year-round coffee shop.

Lilly Orozco, who's been Skip Stone's general manager for five years and a partner in the business for the past two, bought the business with her husband, Juan Ornelas, from Britt Unfeker. The change in ownership became effective May 13.

Skip Stone first opened in November of 2018, and Orozco became general manager in April of 2019 before becoming a partner in 2022.

The shop is known for its proprietary Skip Stone blend, coffee which is roasted especially for them by Kick Ash Coffee in Ellison Bay. Orozco said the shop gets fresh batches every week.

Orozco said another point of focus is its syrups for the coffees, made in-house and by hand from natural ingredients. Along with the more common flavors like vanilla, chocolate, hazelnut and caramel, Skip Stone also makes unique syrups like pecan (which Orozco said has become its signature flavor), lavender and pistachio.

Along with its regular and decaf coffees, Skip Stone's menu has a range of espressos, lattes and other coffee drinks, as well as breakfast sandwiches (egg with optional meat on English muffin) and pastries. But Orozco said the coffee will continue to be the most important item on the menu.

"Fresh, small-batch, locally roasted coffee is our main focus," she said. "We're going to maintain our focus on the coffee."

Orozco said she's not planning immediate changes to the menu, with the coffees or otherwise. She said that as a year-round shop, it'll offer seasonal syrup flavors and coffee drinks, such as pumpkin spice latte for the holidays, but otherwise she sees no need to tinker with a successful menu.

"At the moment, we want to just keep everything the same," Orozco said. "Customers love us for a reason."

Something that will change under Orozco, though, is the hours Skip Stone is open. Not to worry – the hours are expanding, at least for the summer visitor season. It'll continue as a year-round coffee shop, which not all coffee shops in Northern Door do, but now it'll open an hour earlier in the summer and early fall (6:30 a.m.) and close later, at 3 p.m.

Also, Orozco said the shop plans to be open Wednesday and Friday evenings from June through August to serve wines and desserts on its patio, featuring baked goods by Mary Mead, the former co-owner of Shoreline Restaurant.

Orozco it's important to her and Ornelas to be local business owners. They live in Sister Bay, where Orozco is a member of the Village Board, and have a child enrolled in the Gibraltar School District.

Skip Stone Coffee is at 10678 N. Bay Shore Drive, Sister Bay. Current hours are from 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. daily; hours starting the first week of June and running through October will be from 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily, with evening hours that include wines and desserts along with the coffees planned for Wednesday and Fridays in June, July and August. For more information, call 920-421-4388 or visit skipstonecoffee.com.

Contact Christopher Clough at 920-562-8900 or cclough@doorcountyadvocate.com.

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This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: New owners of year-round Sister Bay coffee shop to expand summer hours