Sitting across from Joe and Neil Couvillion in their soon-to-be coffee bar, Nine-twentynine, the passion these brothers have for coffee and the community they said they hope Nine-twentynine will foster for Starkville residents with an affinity for art, music and of course, coffee was hard to ignore.
Located at 106 East Main Street, Nine-twentynine is Starkville’s newest coffee shop, boasting much more than just a cup of coffee.
Joe said Nine-twentynine came together as he and Neil saw the need for a different kind of coffee destination in Starkville.
“We wanted to do something that was just totally different, but within keeping with the space and the building and then obviously what we’re doing in the coffee and create a spot where people come and when you come in here, it’s going to be a place that’s very comfortable, it’s open, we’ve got a lot of different things that go on here and it’s just neat to see it all come together,” he said
The brothers are co-owners of the shop with Joe’s wife, Carrie, and Neil’s wife, Havilah.
High ceilings, exposed brick walls, blacktop science lab tables from the 1960s, covered in original artwork (i.e. scrawled pencil and pen) and wood from a 100- year-old barn refashioned into a bar make Nine-twentynine an urban, yet comfortable, but above all, one-of-a-kind space.
Joe said he and Neil have worked adamantly on details like these to create an environment where people will enjoy spending time.
“We just tried to do touches that I thought were conversation pieces, that’s why it took so long,” he said. “Neil and I were stupid about details, we can’t let the littlest detail go.”
Neil said the shop’s front porch off-street seating and a garage door that doubles as a front wall and can come up on days when the weather is nice are designed to open up the building and invite people in.
“I think that draw will slowly take effect,” he said. “If you’re walking by you’re going to be interested, so many people are used to the building facade on this street, you know. It’s right there but now you’ve got to turn and actually peer in because it’s not right there, you know so you actually have to kind of step in and look, so it helps create a draw in and it’s something – we think, we like it.”
Nine- twentynine will sell Intelligentsia Coffee, a company based in Chicago, which Neil said ensures the coffee’s freshness because it is roasted just two to three days before it’s received by the shop.
Intelligentsia works closely with coffee farmers all over the world and the company’s personable approach to coffee is one of the reasons the Couvillions chose to sell it.
“They buy all their coffee from them directly so when we get a bag of coffee from them it states the region, it states the farmer, it states the farm and it describes the coffee the notes and things in the coffee but it’s a very personal thing, so its not ‘I just got my coffee from wherever’,” Neil said.
The brothers said they want to share their love and knowledge of coffee with customers through free coffee tastings, called “cuppings,” and by sharing bits of coffee knowledge with them as they order their drinks.
“When you order a cup of coffee, we’re going to describe that coffee to you,” Neil said. “We want to cater to people and we want to educate our customers, and it won’t be in any pretentious ways. It’s going to be helping everybody out, so you know what you want, you know you like that, we want to give that to you.”
In addition to coffee, Nine- twentynine will serve alcohol.
“We’ll have some alcohol here, too,” Joe said. “I went to one of Neil’s open mics in Birmingham, and it was just an interesting feel when you go into a coffee shop and they have everything else you can imagine in there, so it was just something that’s completely different. Being able to get a beer and somebody’s making coffee right next to you, it was an interesting thing to see.”
Including alcohol on its menu makes Nine-twentynine an alternative to local bars whose focus is alcohol, and Neil and Joe plan to use the space as an alternate music venue to those larger bars as well.
“We’re aiming toward a smaller, two or three people acoustic style. I’ve got a lot of friends in Birmingham and throughout, Nashville, I’ve got some people touring right now who want to come here and play, and I think creating a captive audience not in a bar setting but having the amenities of a bar are going to be important,” Neil said.
Neil and Joe spoke hopefully of fostering community and supporting local artists and restaurants through Nine-twentynine.
“We’ll promote local art as well,” Neil said. “I would say 75 percent of our employees are artists in some form or another, so if they make cards or little things, we’ll promote that. I met some guys who screenprint, some students, but utilizing these guys and utilizing what we have in our area is important and so we’re trying to promote a lot of local stuff.”
Their excitement to showcase local talent carries into the shop’s menu as well with pastries, cupcakes, cheesecakes, biscuits, quiches and seasonal pies from Restaurant Tyler and sweet breads and loaf breads from the local Mennonite bakery.
Joe said the proximity to these places ensures familiar, fresh, quality food.
“We’ll go two or three times a week and get our stuff and bring it in, and it’s fresh. A lot of people in Starkville know that bakery and a lot of people know Ty and they both do exceptional and we’ll just bring it in here and make it all work together is our plan,” he said.
 The coffee bar is set to open March 4 and the excitement in Neil and Joe’s voices as they describe their vision of a bustling coffee shop is a sign that the long-anticipated opening of Nine-twentynine will be well worth the wait.
“There’s a lot of excitement and a lot of buzz about it, and on our end, too. We’re super excited about it,” Neil said. “Selfishly, we’re excited about it that we can come here and hang out, have a beer, have a pastry, cupcake, have a cup of great coffee.”
One thing is for sure, if the Couvillion brothers are successful, they will create a community of coffee-lovers in Starkville and a place of comfort and creativity to foster its growth for years to come.
“It creates a community, that’s what coffee is, it’s a community,” Neil smiled, “Many many things have been decided over a cup of coffee.”
For more information and Nine-twentynine’s full menu, visit 929coffee.com.