Origins: Crazy Beagle Coffee

March 5, 2020
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On the surface, it might not sound like praise, but to the ladies at Crazy Beagle Coffee, it’s a compliment of the highest order: “I don’t even know what I order anymore.”

“There are a lot of customers who have been here since I’ve been here and they have never once changed their drink in 15 years,” Crazy Beagle Manager Jillian DeHaan said. “And there’s a few of them who every single day will show up, and we just know what we make them. They say, ‘I don’t even know what I order anymore.’”

  • Longtime Crazy Beagle baristas Zaonna Onstott, left, and Jillian DeHaan

Crazy Beagle has built its business with a dual commitment to customer service and consistency, serving beans roasted by DOMA in Post Falls since opening the Liberty Lake coffee stand in 2002.

A major part of that consistency is the team of five employees, led by Jillian, who was a 15-year-old high school student babysitting owner Julie Clark’s kids when “they came home one night and said, ‘Hey, do you want to work in our coffee shop?’”

That was 2004, and Jillian has now spent approximately half her life as an employee of Crazy Beagle, the past seven of those years as manager. For her, it’s difficult to imagine another work environment. Before moving to Liberty Lake, her family lived in Laramie, Wyo., where her parents owned — you guessed it — a coffee shop.

“I remember working in there as a child,” Jillian said. “I would clean dishes and make Italian sodas and stuff like that. It’s just in my blood.”

Jillian said she is most proud of the Crazy Beagle team. While they have been hit by seasons of turnover in the past, for the most part she and Assistant Manager Zaonna Onstott (five years on staff) have led a tight-knit and talented group.

“A lot of the coffee shops have a very high turnover rate — girl after girl after girl,” Jillian said. “I think it helps we have girls who have stuck around and formed relationships with customers that definitely bring the people back.”

She added that a consistent team translates to the reliability of the coffee being served.

“We’ve had a lot of comments on how every (barista) is consistent with what their drink tastes like,” Jillian said.

Regarding the team, Jillian deflects credit to Julie Clark, who not only owns Crazy Beagle but is the owner and lead veterinarian at Liberty Lake Veterinary Center on the same property. She said Dr. Clark invests regularly in the business, from a remodel 2.5 years ago that included a second machine for efficiency, to making sure each employee is well taken care of.

  • From left, Zaonna, Julie and Jillian

“Julie is awesome and everybody just loves the environment here,” Jillian said. “We get along really well, and it just makes everyone want to stick around. … I mean, I’ve been here 15 years for a reason.”

She said over the years, the business has grown steadily alongside the community. Country Vista Drive in 2002 might as well have been a barren wasteland compared to the plethora of nearby businesses, apartments and housing of 2020.

Even with the 2019 opening of Wake Up Call across the street, “we have stayed very steady,” Jillian said. “We’ve got a really solid base of customers that know us. … I think that having competition is a good thing, too, because it just forces you to up your game a little bit.”

THE NAME

Dr. Clark was pursuing her veterinary studies at Washington State University when a group of research beagles came through the school.

“I don’t want to criticize because I don’t really understand everything, but it was all a bunch of beagles, and they were doing brain surgery on them to develop a procedure for people that had brain problems like epilepsy,” Dr. Clark said.

She was able to adopt one of the beagles.

“He had one brain surgery — we called him crazy, and that’s the Crazy Beagle name,” she said. “It was after a real beagle who had brain surgery.”

THE VIBE

Dr. Clark loves the festive and creative nature of Crazy Beagle Coffee, an attribute she credits to her team.

“This reflects their personality a lot, and I think that’s why it does so well,” she said.

The stand is always decorated for the latest theme or holiday, with a list of specials designed to keep with the spirit, inspired by everything from St. Patrick’s Day to The Office to Harry Potter and beyond.

Crazy Beagle also loves to do drawings and giveaways, partnering with fellow Liberty Lake businesses whenever possible, such as a recent Valentines promotion in partnership with Epic Hair and Barber.

“Liberty Lake is so community oriented, and I love being a part of that,” Jillian said. “I grew up out here in Liberty Lake. For me, it’s home. My parents still live in the same house I grew up in.”

THE TOP PICK

Like most coffee stands, drink orders cover the gamut, but Jillian said Americanos are probably the most common selection. Sauces — and particularly caramel — are more popular than syrups these days. As people look for increasingly dietary-based options, non-dairy milks have exploded in popularity.

For the non-coffee crowd, the Red Bull and Lotus energy drinks are a common order.

On the food front, Crazy Beagle sells a lot of breakfast sandwiches and muffins, Jillian added.

  • Lotus energy drink
  • Zaonna and Jillian

THE CULT FAVORITE

Among the items that have a smaller but loyal following, Jillian noted an increase in the number of people ordering drinks made with oat milk as well as those who add Keto-friendly MCT Oil Powders to their coffee. One that she has a harder time explaining, though, is a bit of a rabid following for the Crazy Beagle granita.

“It isn’t overly popular just because it’s a slushee drink,” she said, “but we’ve gotten comments that we have the best granitas around, and I’m not sure why. I don’t know what we do differently. We definitely sell more in the summer, but we have a couple customers that get them every single day. It’s not the most popular drink, but it does have a following.”

THE TEAM

Of the five employees, the newest Crazy Beagle staffer is coming up on one year on the job. Jillian also listed the partnerships with DOMA and the Coffee Warehouse as critical to allowing the stand to provide a consistently excellent product.

THE TIME WHEN

Every once in a while, someone will come by not for coffee but with a certain breed of dog riding shotgun.

“They will say, ‘we actually have a crazy beagle’ and ask if they can take a picture with our sign,” said Jillian, adding several beagle owners have offered their pet as the company mascot.

THE INFO


22026 E. Country Vista Drive, Liberty Lake
@crazybeaglecoffee on Facebook
@crazybeaglecoffeeco on Instagram

  • Thanks to Dr. Julie Clark and her team for sharing the Crazy Beagle Coffee story with me — along with a delicious oat milk latte (Oatly is my fave, and that’s what they carry)!
    — Josh Johnson (soccer jersey: Seattle Sounders FC, concealed this time because it was cold!)

While you’re here, would you do me a favor?

If you enjoy articles like this one, join the CoffeeJosh mailing list. It’s hurry-free, spam-free and also free … free. As a thanks, I’ll send you a PDF — you guessed it, free — that has 10 of the best coffee shop orders in the Spokane area. (All 10 are drinks and treats local coffee shop owners make for themselves. In this case, expect to pay for your order and feel like it was totally worth it.)

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Origins: The Garden Coffee & Local Eats

October 31, 2019
9

CJ Curtis opened a coffee shop for the 88 cents. Sure, she loves lattes and food and friendship and foliage — all the observable ingredients of The Garden Coffee & Local Eats. She loves the entrepreneurial aspects, the camaraderie with employees, the fact it’s located in the heart of Spokane Valley, her longtime home.

But the 88 cents? That’s where the business connects to her soul and to her story.

The 88 cents is for the vulnerable girl unwittingly lured by an older man into the commercial sex industry. In CJ’s case, age 13.

The 88 cents is for the teenager whose life is a spiral of prostitution numbed by drugs. For CJ, a coping mechanism in a life of trauma.

The 88 cents is for the thousands of women who need to be rescued, and for the rescued still enslaved by a long-simmering shame. CJ saw more than a decade pass between her escape from sex trafficking and the realization she had ever been a victim.

“I had to do something with the healing I gained from learning I was a victim — and knowing that there are so many people who have no idea this is going on right under their nose,” CJ said. “So I started sharing my story. In that process, God just put it on my heart that I would raise money for this ministry.”

The ministry? To “reach, recover and restore” fellow survivors of sex trafficking. The money? Well, it’s being counted 88 cents at a time.

CJ Curtis opened The Garden Coffee & Local Eats on June 1, 2019.

CJ designed her menu to feature several entrees with prices ending in 88 cents, mostly favorites made from scratch in the The Garden’s kitchen. Purchase one of these, and you can “eat food, restore lives,” as a sign near the register puts it.

The Garden donates the 88 cents to the anti-slavery work being done by Spokane Valley-based HRC Ministries, a movement CJ not only believes in but plays an active role as HRC’s community engagement specialist. Before starting The Garden, she helped launch HRC’s Repeat Boutique second-hand store at 13524 E. Sprague Ave., where proceeds also help survivors of human trafficking.

All of this work connects to a calling she feels from God to “share the message and love of Jesus” and his ability to heal and restore. As such, her vision for these enterprises goes beyond raising money, and she hopes to eventually provide work experience for survivors.

“That first real job that I got was life changing for me,” CJ said. “I want to be able to offer that to these ladies and have a place for them to cultivate their gifts and passions.”

  • The White Pumpkin Latte
  • Buy an omelette at The Garden, and 88 cents is donated to assist local victims of sex trafficking.

THE NAME

In some ways, the initial seed of inspiration for The Garden was planted years ago by Mr. Curry, a teacher in a drug rehabilitation program CJ attended as a teenager. He taught students the intricacies of tending to a rose garden, and upon graduation each selected a rose to take with them.

“I think that really helped inspire a lot of my love for gardening in general, as well as for bringing things to life and restoring things,” CJ said.

She would later earn a degree in horticulture and has years of experience as a florist, a skill she exercises through hosting popular workshops such as an October event where centerpieces were created using succulents and pumpkins. The garden concept also matches her focus on healthy, fresh food.

The name’s deepest roots, though, are clearly found in a more personal place of renewal — “any sort of way I can correlate restoration in the life and heart of people,” she said.

THE VIBE

While the décor and feel of The Garden showcase the talents and tastes of CJ the Florist, the use of space for people to make connections is clearly her priority. While it’s a comfortable place to throw in headphones and zero in on a project, the layout of the large seating area is geared around access to other people — not the nearest outlet.

“I wanted to create spaces so people can engage with one another, environments where people can get together and look at each other face to face,” CJ said.

She recounts the regularity of old friends bumping into one another or loyal customers reporting The Garden proved to provide the perfect soil for a soul-enriching conversation. That, she doesn’t take credit for.

“Personally, I think it is the presence of God; I really do,” CJ said. “I believe that people can sense his presence even if they don’t know it.”

THE TOP PICK

“Avocado toast is huge,” CJ said. “People love them for a healthier, quick bite.”

As CJ has transformed the former Cool Beans location — and before that, Cuppa Joe’s — into her own likeness, the healthy options truly have become the most famous orders.

To pair with the switch to Indaba Coffee, CJ converted most of the syrups to healthier Monin brand versions, and her decision to invest in the organic Holy Kakow chocolate syrup for the mochas has proved popular.

I always compare it to the first time I rode a Cannondale after growing up on a Huffy.

— The Garden’s CJ Curtis, on her first sip of Indaba Coffee

Still, the first drink she listed when asked about popularity? The chai tea.

THE CULT FAVORITE

The super avocado toast: egg, bacon, red onion, sprouts grown by The Garden, sriracha and sesame seed. When interviewed in October, CJ admitted the dish wasn’t even on the menu for a time, but people keep asking about it.

Super Avocado Toast

THE TIME WHEN …

CJ was approached shortly after taking the reins at The Garden June 1 about using her coffee shop as a movie set. And so it came to be that a Christian romantic comedy about a flirtatious barista who falls for a humanitarian construction worker took over The Garden for two days. If the prominence of the shop in the movie’s one-minute trailer is any indication, The Garden will have plenty of screen time.

“I can’t wait till it comes out, because I want to do a movie viewing party here,” CJ said.

“Home Sweet Home” features Ben Elliott and the barista, Natasha Bure, daughter of former NHL right-winger Valeri Bure and “Full House” star Candace Cameron-Bure.

THE TEAM

About the time CJ began dreaming about opening a coffee shop, she tasted Spokane’s Indaba Coffee for the first time.

“I always compare it to the first time I rode a Cannondale after growing up on a Huffy,” CJ said. “I tasted the coffee, and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, what have I been missing my whole life? This is so good.’”

She also connected to the “Love People, Love Coffee” mission of Indaba and how it partners with nonprofits and has a heart for local causes.

The Garden employs a team of six, and other partners include Revival Tea Company, Sweetbox, Desserts by Sara and Boots Bakery. Even the breakfast burrito includes local partnerships (tortillas from De Leon’s and salsa from Mama Torrez). Additionally, CJ frequents Farmers Markets during the summer months for ingredients used in the kitchen.

  • The Garden is upfront about its pride in serving Indaba Coffee.

THE INFO

213 S. University Road, Suite 1, Spokane Valley
509-315-8612
@thegarden509 on Facebook and Instagram

  • Thanks to The Garden Coffee & Local Eats’ owner CJ Curtis for sharing her story with me.
    — Josh Johnson (soccer jersey: Minnesota United)

NOTE: A version of this story first appeared in the November 2019 issue of The Spokane Valley Current.

What would CJ select off her own menu?

Sign up for the free CoffeeJosh newsletter (delivering stories like this one) and immediately receive our “Owners’ Orders” PDF, featuring coffee and food selections so tempting, they are what local coffee shop owners make for themselves.

Origins: West Plains Roasters

December 26, 2019
3

It’s the end of a decade, and if 2020 Andy LaBolle could travel back and have a chat with his younger self, he would start by having 2010 Andy sit down and put on a seat belt.

“I would say, ‘Hold on, it’s nothing like you think it’s going to be,’” Andy said.

In November, Andy opened West Plains Roasters in downtown Cheney, a specialty coffee shop selling his own coffee to a community he deeply loves. That wasn’t the plan, but not much of what transpired this past decade went according to script.

“(Ten years ago), I thought I was going to live with family for the rest of my life and probably work at Starbucks,” he said. “A pretty boring life, but it was easy, it was comfortable, it paid my bills, it was safe.”

Andy pauses here to smile, and perhaps to take a breath before launching into his favorite run-on sentence: “And then I met a crazy woman who is all about adventure and changed everything and won’t ever let me be comfortable or be satisfied and always pushes me.”

Not all of the amazing adventures, risks and rewards of the past decade involved his now-wife, Hannah, though most of them do. Before they were married in 2013, Andy lost more than 100 pounds (down from a high of 330), and he was crushing it at his job at Starbucks. Not only did he wear the distinguished black apron (for baristas who have passed Starbucks’ Coffee Masters program), but he could move coffee product like no one else. He even has a plaque from the day he was working at the Liberty Lake Starbucks and led the nation in coffee sales.

After knowing each other as friends for a short time, Andy and Hannah took their first date hiking the Liberty Lake Loop in 2012 — and decided to get married by the end of the day.

Hannah was moving to Africa to work with missionary friends in Kenya, and Andy decided he wanted to not just marry this woman, but embark on a world of adventure together.

Their time in Kenya was cut short for several reasons, not the least of which being they learned on short notice that visas weren’t being renewed following a terrorist strike in that country. They spent a week in Cairo before deciding to return to the States.

That would be enough adventure to fill a lifetime for some people, but that leaves out Andy’s stint running a screamo metal concert venue in Otis Orchards called The Kave, “which was so rad … and random,” he recalled. That doesn’t mention the trip to Haiti or the restaurant jobs where he became so indispensable, in one case a Coeur d’Alene manager offered to pay for his gas from Cheney if Andy would, pretty please, reconsider his decision to resign. This also leaves out the time right after he was married when he was hit by a car while riding his bicycle, and regulars at the Liberty Lake Starbucks pooled together to buy him a road bike worth more than $1,000.

2010 Andy was anxious and risk averse. 2020 Andy would tell you that he is still anxious, but he has learned to be regret averse.

“Regret sucks,” he said. “That’s part of why we’re opening a coffee shop and why my wife’s a photographer and why we went to Cairo and why we went to Kenya and why we do the things we do.”

So, guess what, 2010 Andy: In November 2019, you open West Plains Roasters just down the street from the Eastern Washington University campus with a dream to share excellence with a community you didn’t know much about in 2010 — and can’t imagine life without in 2020.

  • Andy LaBolle at work …
  • … at his new shop in downtown Cheney.

THE NAME

For Andy, the location and name of his shop is not the result of market research and focus groups. The West Plains is home. His wife, Hannah, has roots in Cheney, and the couple is helping plant a church in the community.

“We care about this area, and we are going to stamp this area on our name because we believe the West Plains is a value,” Andy said. “This is where we want to be and where we want to pour into. We are proud of it, and we hope to be a standard of excellence in the West Plains.”

Andy quickly dismisses any worry that a name like West Plains Roasters puts geographic handcuffs on the future growth of his business. Admitting he doesn’t “have a clue if it will ever happen,” he said he has considered future locations in Airway Heights and Medical Lake.

“And just, that’s it: Three shops, three areas within the West Plains,” he said.

THE VIBE

The idea of a specialty coffee shop is new to Cheney, but Andy doesn’t use that as an excuse to downgrade the experience in any way.

He purchased top-of-the-line equipment across the board and designed the space in a way to appeal to families and students alike. The color scheme is whites and grays — “our only major pop of color is the plants” — and the high ceilings and open layout make the shop feel even larger than it is.

“Bright, vibrant, modern — the goal is to create a space that invites and is culturally appropriate for the dynamics of people coming to a specialty coffee shop,” Andy said. “Everything is really thoughtful and intentional, just like the coffee.”

  • West Plains Roasters’ open, bright and clean environment

THE TOP PICK

People are loving both the toast — and the toasted. The Toasted Cinnamon Latte is the best seller off the drink menu; it’s star quality is the house-made toasted cinnamon syrup.

On the eats side of the menu, the selection of five toasts may cause one to hold up the line while weighing the finer points of each craving. When in doubt …

“Our avocado toast is insane,” Andy said.

According to the menu, it features “our signature avocado mash topped with thinly sliced cured chorizo, pickled red onion, Cotija cheese and cilantro.”  

THE CULT FAVORITE

Currently listed as a “seasonal drink” on the menu, the Citrus Maple Latte features dark amber maple syrup with a hint of citrus bitters. On my visit with Andy, I ordered this with oat milk, and, Mom, I think I’ve joined the cult.

Divine.

THE TEAM

Andy employs a team of three at his downtown Cheney shop, and he counts Chai Leo (a Cheney-based chai company) and Coeur d’Alene’s MAK Bread as two of his favorite local partners.

THE TIME WHEN …

Both Andy and Hannah are curious hobbyists who excel as they follow their passions. Hannah is a professional photographer who stays busy enough that she is turning people away, but she started years ago by picking up a camera and teaching herself how to use it.

  • Hannah LaBolle’s photos are often featured on West Plains Roasters’ social media outlets

Andy dabbled for a while selling beard oil — “the Espresso Vanilla Beard Oil I sold smelled like a vanilla latte,” he said — but mostly kept it as a side hobby dealing with friends and family.

“Whatever takes less risk, I will do that,” he said. “Any hobby, I’m in. The minute you want me to make it a business and put on risk, I’m out.”

So when Andy decided he wanted to buy a coffee roaster, he was initially thinking of it as a fun side gig he could share with his group of friends. It was Hannah who believed in something deeper and bigger, breathing life into the dream that now has a storefront in downtown Cheney.

“She said, ‘I will support you in this if you will make it a business because you deserve to make it a business, you are capable of making it a business and you will succeed,’” Andy recalled. “And I was like, but it’s so risky. I’m just thinking of all the things that can go wrong.”

In the end, Andy said Hannah’s own success paving the way with her photography business coupled with her encouragement helped him overcome his doubts.

Most of all, Andy credited the continued work of God in his life. It was God who helped him pursue a better story with his life back in 2010, God who “pioneered this whole venture” with West Plains Roasters, and God who put a certain woman in his life to provide support, encouragement and the occasional nudge.

“I may be scared, but I’m enamored by courageous people,” Andy said. “I’m not a go-change-the-world-and-live-in-other-countries-and-who-cares-if-I-die person. That’s not how I operate. But (Hannah) is reckless in a loving and kind way, reckless in her commitment to doing what is right.”

THE INFO


108 College Ave., Cheney
westplainsroasters.com
@westplainsroasters on Facebook and Instagram

  • Years ago, I met 2010 Andy, and it’s been so inspiring to watch this guy’s story unfold. Thanks for sharing the latest chapter, my friend.
    — Josh Johnson (soccer jersey: Uganda National Team)

While you’re here, would you do me a favor?

If you enjoy articles like this one, join the CoffeeJosh mailing list. It’s hurry-free, spam-free and also free … free. As a thanks, I’ll send you a PDF — you guessed it, free — that has 10 of the best coffee shop orders in the Spokane area. (All 10 are drinks and treats local coffee shop owners make for themselves. In this case, expect to pay for your order and feel like it was totally worth it.)

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