FairWave Coffee Collective

Daniel Smith and Charon Thompson, Black Drip Coffee, The Porter House KC

Coffee for the culture: Porter House KC founders partner with Messenger to craft Black-owned coffee brand

Black Drip Coffee brewed from within a desire to bring coffee culture to historically disenfranchised and underserved communities, said Charon Thompson and Daniel Smith.  “It’s more than coffee,” noted Smith, who co-founded the brand, Black Drip Coffee, as well as the Porter House KC with Thompson. “We always talk about breaking down barriers and creating…

Isaac Hodges, Messenger Coffee Company

Plaza plus Prairiefire: How a conversation over coffee tripled Messenger’s expansion plans

A new, slow-roasted Johnson County location for Messenger Coffee Co. is expected to anchor the Kansas City brand south of I-435 with sprawling windows, copious light, leafy plants, open baking and the familiar wafting scents of coffee and pastries. But for those whose thirst for the roaster’s expansion can’t wait until the new store’s spring…