CUPLA COFFEE
175 W 200 S Salt Lake City, UT
Contact: 385-207-8362
WWW.CUPLACOFFEE.COM
IG @cuplacoffeehouse
Facebook
Date Visited: November 1, 2019
Welcome to your home away from home!
Step into Cupla Coffee in Salt Lake City, Utah, where you’ll not only find friendly people and flavorful pastries but some rich coffee as well. It was the day after Halloween and I was in dire need for a good cup of joe to wake me up before heading east on my road trip. While interviewing other coffee shops in SLCI was asked quite a few times if I’d been to Cupla Coffee and met “the twins.” A twin-owned coffee shop?!Sounds pretty unique if you ask me. My Dad’s a twin and it would be the coolest thing to see him and myuncle serve coffee and breakfast every day… they’ve talked about it!
I made my way downtown and spotted the Cupla Bakery & Cafe sign. I walked into the Axis Building, tothe left, and down the stairs to the basement: welcome to Cupla Coffee. My first basement coffee shopexperience; it was super cool! In the “living room” there are tons of chairs to sit on, tables to work at,benches, a book library, and of course the classic coffee shop game of checkers. I loved the industrial lookof concrete floors mixed with hardwood, pipe ceilings, and exposed brick.
I made my way through the doorway into the cafe, which was one of the cutest small coffee shops I’vebeen in. I was standing below the giant street-level windows which filled the shop with natural light fromabove. There was a bench made of artificial grass, a full coffee bar, and a minimalist coffee menu.
Have you ever met someone and wondered to yourself “WOW! Have I been friends with this person foryears?” That’s how it was introducing myself to Abby and Madi. They were so thrilled about Find ThatCoffee. Abby hyped me up so much I could feel dopamine flooding my brain! Abby was one of the twinsthat owned and operated Cupla; unfortunately, Beth, the roaster and fellow twin, had just left before Iarrived. Madi is their one and only superstar barista and friend.
The Coffee
Every good conversation starts with a good cup of coffee. So I ordered a latte for a change and begantossing questions at them. Madi served me a gorgeous latte with great art on top in a nice glass mug. Itsomehow tasted even better than it looked. Later on, I ordered a regular coffee as well to really experienceboth fancy and plain. Their drip coffee was so full of flavor that I didn’t need to add anything to it. Beth –great job roasting! We will have to cheers to your coffee next time I’m in Salt Lake City.
The Food
There were tons of enticing pastries on the counter. I caved for a thick slice of banana bread. Abby makesall of the pastries fresh and makes sure there are paleo, vegan, and keto options available. This bananabread was amazing! They warmed it up a little bit and added a pat of butter; my goodness, I was inheaven!
Their Story
The word cupla means “twin” in Irish-Gaelic. Cupla Coffee has been proudly serving for the past twoyears and hopes to expand in the future. **As of May 30, 2020, they did! Cupla Coffee now has a newlocation in Cottonwood Heights. Congratulations!** There were a few major turning points that ledthem to where they are now. Beth and Abby were raised Mormon but ventured outside the religion andtried coffee. They fell in love with it. The twins picked up jobs serving coffee. If you’ve worked in coffee,you know the days are long and high speed. Life happened and before they knew it Beth and Abby wereonly able to catch up over the phone, whilst driving home from work. It was tough, they wantedsomething that would allow them to hang out like they had in the past.
Abby recalled a story that was one of the key inspirers in their decision to start their own coffee shop.One day, Beth was working at a coffee shop when one of her regular customers came in. Unlike any timepreviously, he was quiet and seemed very distraught. She poured him his coffee and kindly asked himwhat was wrong. He confided in her that his wife had died the night before and all he wanted to do washave some normalcy so he came there for a cup of coffee. She walked over to him, gave him a hug, and satwith him for hours as he retold stories of his wife. They laughed, they cried, and she was truly there forhim in his biggest time of need. Days later, the twins decided that owning a coffee shop, meeting people,and being there for people though coffee was their mission.
The twins love coffee and its power to connect people. It even reconnected them; owning a shop togetherallows them to spend tons of time together once again. Ultimately, they never have to dread going to“work” either. Abby does the baking and Beth does the roasting – they’re a coffee powerhouse! My biggesttakeaway from this whole interview was when Abby told me that life is all about “living the moment.”This is what coffee means to them: it makes you stoked, gives you energy, and wakes you up, yet it allowsyou to stop for a moment as you savor it.
The Bathroom
The way the building is situated the bathrooms are upstairs on the main level. It was a little tricky for meto find, but they were clean and fully stocked. These are the bathrooms for the entire building so Cuplaisn’t able to do any fun branding on the walls. For that, I am going to rank these bathrooms an 8/10.
