Walking into Kindred Coffee is like walking into a new friend’s home. The scent of freshly cut wood and the sound of gentle guitar chords waft to greet visitors as they step through the doors.

Kindred Coffee first got its start as an internet coffee roaster in 2013 after one of the three founders and alumnus, Ryan Hammer, moved to California for a year and worked for another niche coffee shop, Blue Bottle.

Hammer fell in love and started Kindred Coffee with his sister and fellow alumna Sarah Harms and her husband Patrick Harms when he moved back.

“We started the roaster back in 2013, and it was just sort of small-time internet sales,” Sarah said. “It was always kind of a thing in the back of our minds to open a cafe someday.”

“We want to see the shop grow,” said Sarah. “To be a place for people to come after school or work and just hang,”

In the next few months, Kindred Coffee will be expanding its menu and hours, in hopes of becoming a place to hang out and relax for the community. Instead of just serving everything coffee, in the next few months, the menu will begin to feature muffins and light lunch food.

Additionally, open mic nights and art showings are planned for the future.

“We’ll be planning events,” said Sarah. “We really just want it to be a place for the community to come together and get to know each other better.”

Kindred Coffee is open from 7 a.m. – 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday, but they are looking to expand their hours.