Waseca coffee brews success

Waseca county residents Alyssa Barbknecht and Shelby Kaiser joked with each other about owning a coffee shop for about a year before they realized both were serious. 

 

“She sent me a trailer on Facebook for sale and she’s like, ‘What do you think?’” Kaiser said. “I’m like, ‘Let’s go look at it.’ So then we both knew that we were serious.” 

 

The pair drove out to South Dakota last year to look at the bright blue old camper trailer now seen regularly around Waseca and thought it felt right. 

 

“We went and looked at it, came home, kind of talked some things through, and then I think it was a week or two later, we went back and we bought it,” Barbknecht said.

 

MN Mornings Coffee Company was born. 

 

Since opening in mid-February of this year, Barbknecht and Kaiser’s blue coffee trailer can be seen on weekends at the fair grounds during the farmers market or occasionally in the parking lot at Bomgaars. 

 

The pair decided to start a coffee trailer not only because they both like coffee, but they also enjoy going to different coffee places, especially local ones. 

 

“Support more the Ma and Pa shops, you know,” Barbknecht said.

 

“There isn’t — I mean, there’s Lush Cakes — but there’s not really a coffee shop in town,” Kaiser said. 

 

The two landed on the idea of the trailer because it was less commitment and allowed them to retain their full-time jobs. Barbknecht works in the accounting department at Johnston’s in Owatonna; Kaiser is in the accounting department for Guardian Energy in Janesville. 

 

Thankfully, the trailer they bought was already fitted out as a coffee trailer, and after a few changes to make it fit Minnesota codes, MN Mornings Coffee was up and running. 

 

With a few learning curves, of course. 

 

“Electrical work is not our specialty,” Barbknecht laughed. “Our espresso machine went down one day in the beginning and it was an electrical thing. We closed down and took it to our maintenance team and they helped us.” 

 

Both Barbknecht and Kaiser said they are very grateful for the people in their lives who have helped them. The pair are sisters-in-law, with Barbknecht having married Kaiser’s brother. 

 

Besides learning that they needed a new generator to handle both their coffee and espresso machine, the pair partnered with someone who has experience roasting coffee, who helped them understand inventory and which product to sell. 

 

“We had no clue how much to order. How do you know? So they’ve been great,” Barbknecht said. 

 

Kaiser added there was definitely a learning curve, saying there are a “bzillion” different cups to figure out which to use on top of learning the product. 

 

Barbknecht had a bit of coffee making experience going into this, having worked at a restaurant that had an espresso machine. Kaiser, however, was brand new to the experience. 

 

“This roaster that we also go through, they have classes,” Kaiser said. “That was super helpful.” 

 

Kaiser also said they experimented with a few products and techniques on Barbknecht’s small home espresso machine before bringing them to the public. 

 

“We just kind of tried out a few things and then we took that workshop and it was like everything we did was wrong. It’s like, well, I’m glad we took this and didn’t just start messing with that machine and messing up drinks,” Kaiser said. 

 

Through the workshops and practice, Barbknecht and Kaiser were able to perfect making drinks on their machine. When they were ready, they set out first to the Bomgaars parking lot and then found a community at the Saturday farmers’ market.

 

“We’re happy to serve them good coffee. We want them to come and chit chat and make small talk with us. We want to be a friendly face to come and get your coffee,” Barbknecht said. 

 

The pair expressed how much they enjoy seeing and talking with their customers, encountering new faces and making relationships with people in Waseca. 

 

“We have some regulars we see most of the time; it’s fun to chit chat with them and meet people.

 

“We live in the town, but there are people we never really knew until they started coming to the coffee trailer,” Kaiser said. 

 

Barbknecht talked of the joy of hearing updates of customers’ lives and building relationships that are meaningful, especially in the farmers’ market community. 

 

“Just getting to know other people we never would’ve — we don’t get out much. That is our outing, and so meeting other people, that’s been awesome,” Barbknecht added. 

 

The pair plans to continue running the coffee trailer for the foreseeable future. They currently plan on continuing to operate into the start of winter and the holidays, then pausing until next summer.

 

Eventually, Kaiser and Barbknecht hope to expand their business with a bigger trailer and bigger equipment. 

 

“When you go and look at a cute coffee camper, you don’t really think about how much room there is, or what the wiring can handle. It would be nice someday to be able to have a bigger espresso machine,” Barbknecht said.

 

Their goal is also to someday add premade food like muffins, bagels or grab-and-go items to their menu. 

 

“Right now, we’re just kind of figuring out what works, what doesn’t,” Barbknecht said. “We’re having fun and we love it and plan to continue for the future.”

 

“As long as people keep buying coffee, we’re not going anywhere,” Kaiser added.