Cultivator Coffee offers community-oriented space in New Albany

Jun. 25—NEW ALBANY — A local couple has opened a small coffee shop with the goal of providing a neighborhood space for people to connect.

Cultivator Coffee, a business launched by Allie and Jon Dunn, is celebrating its grand opening Saturday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. The coffee shop is at 1415 E. Spring St. near East 15th Street.

The shop has been in operation over the past week with a soft opening last Thursday.

Cultivator Coffee has partnered with Sunergos Coffee, a Louisville coffee roaster, for its drinks, and is also featuring coffee from the Arkansas-based Onyx Coffee Lab.

All of the syrups used in the drinks are house-made and include ones you wouldn't find at other coffee shops, Allie said.

For example, Cultivator Coffee offers a specialty drink called "The Healer" featuring turmeric and ginger with a smoked milk foam infused with rosemary.

A maple brown sugar latte called "The Comforter" and an Earl Grey lavender latte are other specialties as well as drip coffee. The shop offers teas from the Wisconsin-based Rishi Tea.

The shop also offers Japanese-style iced coffee. Unlike cold brew, this type of coffee involves actually brewing a hot, strong coffee over ice, and it provides a "lighter, fruitier cup of coffee," Allie said.

There is no "guess work" involved in their coffee, Jon said.

"It's all very, very particular, because our aim isn't to make a bunch of money — it's to care for people well, and I think part of that is really serving them something excellent," he said.

The shop is offering baked goods from Leaven Bakery in New Albany, and the Dunns hope to form more local partnerships.

The space is also filled with houseplants ranging from staghorn ferns to cacti, which are both decorative and available to buy.

"We both really love plants, and if you can also sell the decor, cool," Jon said. "That also comes with the name Cultivator. We love houseplants and growing things, so that was just one more thing to add in."

The couple was originally planning to start a mobile coffee business. Before the pandemic hit, their first event was scheduled for mid-March of last year.

"We actually went overseas on a mission trip [in Cyprus], and while we were there, the travel ban was announced, so we got back and all of our plans were canceled," Jon said.

They kept running into hurdles as they tried to open their mobile coffee cart, but both Jon and Allie feel it all worked out for the best.

"Looking back now, it's just a huge blessing that it didn't work out," Allie said. "Since then, both John and I have both been able step so much more into the coffee industry."

They bought a house in New Albany and moved from Louisville in September. They didn't originally plan to open a brick-and-mortar coffee shop at that point.

They did a pop-up shop at The Earl, a bar in downtown New Albany for about a month earlier this year.

When they first saw the tiny, 600-square-foot space on Spring Street, they initially thought it "would be awful as a coffee shop," Jon said, but it all came together.

"But then as we talked more, as we prayed more about what God would have us do, it just seemed completely right," he said. "So we met back up with [owners] and worked and worked and worked, and here we are."

Jon and Allie are in their mid-20s. In addition to working as co-owner of Cultivator Coffee, Allie also works for Prima Coffee Equipment in Louisville.

Jon has a background in campus ministry, and he said his faith has inspired him to pursue their business.

"I was personally transformed by Jesus during college, and so much of that transformation happened over a cup of coffee," he said.

The shop is named Cultivator Coffee because they want it to be a place to "cultivate friendship and relationships," Jon said.

"The idea of a third place really appeals to me — the first place being home, the second place being work and then the third place you get to choose," Jon said. "It's the place where you get to build your community."

"For us that really would be our church, but a lot of people don't have that, or they want another place where they're meeting people, where they're building relationships with people, so we wanted to start a place that could do that."

Jon said their three main values as a company include hospitality, humility and excellence.

Their hope is to be "planted in this community," and they have seen local residents discovering the shop over the past week.

"I think it's really sweet just meeting people where they're at and having this small space where we can get to know them," Allie said. "It's not just some kind of drive-thru trying to get people in and out as quickly as possible."

The shop is open Monday through Saturday. Hours of operations will be from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. during the week and 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays.