A Robust Coffee Business

Comeback’s expanded operations mean much more of our favorite co ee soda.

omeback Beverage Co. is “up and running,” says Hayes McPherson. “We ofcially moved into our new space roughly May 29th, and we started operations June 5th. at is, brewing our co ee sodas and also roasting our own co ee, as well.” e impressive facility in the Pinch district, with its 160-gallon temperature brewing tanks, is at 354 North Main Street, right next door to Comeback Co ee, the comfortable co ee shop that Hayes, 28, and his wife Amy, 28, opened four years ago.

Comeback Beverage Co. is “four things in one,” Hayes says. “It is our headquarters for Comeback. It is our roasters. It is our co ee brewery.”

It also shares space with Amy’s plant shop, Golden Hour, which is set to open June 17th. It features an all-glass greenhouse, which is the front entrance to Comeback Beverage Co. “If you’re walking down North Main, it’s this beautiful all-glass greenhouse lled with beautiful green plants.”

With the new beverage facility, Hayes says, “We are essentially quadrupling our space.” ey began producing canned co ee soda in 2021 during the pandemic. “We started o in our kitchen and we were doing 100 cans at a time. And we were selling out in 30 minutes or an hour.” ey then moved the beverage business to a garage behind the co ee shop. “ at allowed us to do 600 cans at a time.” e new space “allows us easily to do four times that with new equipment coming in and the scope in general.”

It also ful lls part of Comeback Coffee’s mission, which is to give people “an opportunity to grow with us.”

Ethan McGaughy, who has helped them “every step of the way,” is now their

“right-hand man,” helping brew, roast, and create recipes.

Hannah Sisson and Kelsey Taylor will “help us push this thing to a different level,” says Hayes, who wants Comeback beverages to be available “on the national stage.”

Comeback Beverage Co. currently makes two canned Comeback Co ee Sodas: Southern Style, which is lemon and thyme, and Field Day, which is strawberry and lime.

“We’ve got one coming up — pineapple cinnamon co ee soda — and a few up our sleeve as well.” ey’re able to test their co ee beverage ideas in their co ee shop by putting a co ee beverage on their special menu and testing its popularity. “Memphis is literally creating these drinks with us, in a way.”

Hayes and Amy launched their co ee soda with their rst two avors at the 2018 Grind City Co ee Xpo and intro- duced the cans at last year’s event. “We threw it on the bar last year. ey got a really good reception.” ey knew from the overwhelming response they’d start making those two avors as soon as they got in their new space.

“Because of the space we’re in, we have the capacity to play how we want to. And get to be creative with our o erings. So, it allows us to be who we are at our core, which is co ee lovers and co ee professionals. What we’ll do is make fun, interesting, tasty co ee drinks for our co ee shop.”

And, Hayes says, “ e space and equipment we’ve got will also enable us to have cold black co ee. We pride ourselves on our ash chill co ee — how we make our cold brew co ee. It’s a special method that we believe holds all the good things of cold co ee, and co ee in general. And we’ll be canning that.”

Comeback has also partnered with

Grind City Brewing Co. “We’re roasting the co ee for them for their co ee beer.”

Future Comeback Beverage Co. plans include making their own “ avored sparkling waters.”

As for the big picture, Hayes says, “ e past two years we spent shaping out what this will look like. And, ultimately, what we want to do is be the Wiseacre for the co ee of Memphis.”

Like Wiseacre Brewing Company, which “put its beer on a national stage,” Hayes wants to do the same thing “for the co ee industry. Whether co ee sodas or canned ash chill or roasted co ee, when people think about Memphis, I want them to think about our co ee industry.”

“Memphis is known for barbecue, beer. I want them to think Memphis is also known for high-quality co ee.”

By Emily Guenther