College is known for late nights and early
classes. Sometimes students need a pick-me-up,
and the old standby coffee is a late night studier’s
(or partier’s) saving grace with its glorious jolt of
caffeine. When needing to satiate the cravings for
cappuccinos, shots of espresso, macchiatos, frappes
or the lowly cup of drip coffee, Strange Brew
Coffee House is a veritable coffee-lover’s mecca.
Established in April 2005 by MSU alumnus
Shane Reed, Strange Brew has filled a niche in
Starkville by being a local, independent coffee
house known for its specialty drinks, like
the Albino Squirrel or Blueberry Cobbler coffee,
friendly staff, unwavering support of MSU athletics
and opinionated signage.
“I’m a Bulldog. I graduated in archaeology from
Mississippi State,” Reed said. “We never really had
a good college coffee shop here, and that always
kind of bothered me. We sort of started aiming
everything to Mississippi State and EMCC also,
but it really grew from there.”
With beans roasted in nearby New Albany,
Strange Brew offers the freshest roasted beans
available in Starkville. Besides brewing the beans,
Strange Brew has bags of whole, roasted beans for
sale for the do-it-yourself barista. Reed said good
coffee by itself, though, is not enough to make a
coffee house popular, and Strange Brew’s baristas
work hard to ensure patrons are satisfied.
“The first thing we start off with is the coffee,
and after that, customer service. Everyone
is trained big time on customer service. You can
have the best coffee in the world, but if the people
serving it are jerks, it’s not going to do any good,
and really vice-versa,” he said. “We’re really trying
to educate people about good coffee, not what you
get in a convenience store or McDonald’s.”
Strange Brew barista Katelyn Ullmer said that
interacting with the customers is one of the best
things about working at the coffee house.
“We get a lot of good regulars that come by
every morning,” Ullmer said. “I get to have my
cup of coffee before anyone else, but it’s nice to
help customers get their day started off right.”
Besides its caffeinated offerings, Strange Brew
is well known for the entertaining advertisement
sign, which changes from week to week. Taunts
for teams opposing the Bulldogs, movie quotes
and pop culture references all make their way onto
the sign, offering a small dose of levity amidst the
sprawl along Highway 12.
Also, Strange Brew’s Twitter feed is one of
Starkville’s most followed, with more than 1,200
followers of the brew feed.
“When it comes to Twitter and the sign, I’m
really trying to put a little bit of my personality
out there. We really want a virtual coffee shop on
Twitter, and the sign was sort of my Twitter before
Twitter,” Reed said.
Located on Highway 12 next to McDonald’s, in
a building that formerly housed a gas station, the
coffee house shares its building with Reed’s other
business, Cold Stone Creamery. For patrons like
Kelsey Marx a junior double majoring in English
and Spanish, they can come by for a cup of joe,
tank of gas or a quiet study spot.
“First of all, they have a really chill atmosphere
for one-on-one catching up with friends, or for
studying in small groups or by yourself. In the fall,
I love getting their Pumpkin Spice latte. Not to
mention they are in close proximity to Coldstone,
which makes them just that much better,” Marx
said.