Essence of Coffee: Rapid City Specialty Coffee Shop

Essence of Coffee

LESLIE AND MICHAEL FEWSON MAKE RAPID CITY THEIR HOME AFTER LIVING DOWN UNDER.

BY DOWNTOWN RAPID CITY // PHOTOS BY SHILOH FRANCIS

Lesley and Michael Fewson hadn’t planned on living in Rapid City longterm. In 2014, while visiting their son, Dale, and their grandkids, they came up short in their search for a “good cup of coffee.” And in the true spirit of entrepreneurship, they decided to perhaps create the solution to their own problem. “We already had our coffee house in Perth [Australia], and we are coffee snobs,” Michael admitted. “So, when we couldn’t find a cup of specialty coffee, we decided to bring Essence to Rapid City with the help of our son.”

In 2014 the first Rapid City branch was in the shopping center off Sheridan Lake Road and Catron Boulevard, but they wanted to be in a more central location. “Our store in Perth was in the middle of a downtown area, and we loved the feel of the store,” he described. “Our store off of Catron didn’t have the feel of a third space we were hoping for, business was good, but it wasn’t the hang-out space we had envisioned.” People have their homes, and their workplaces, but that third place of frequency and comfort is what Michael describes as a person’s “third place.”

Leslie and Michael Fewson, owners of Essence of Coffee in Downtown Rapid City

It wasn’t long after when Essence was able to acquire the former Bully Blends location on Main Street and begin establishing itself as the third place for locals and visitors alike.

During this time, Michael and Lesley were continuing their international roles. They had their coffee house in Perth that they owned and operated and would come back to the United States on work visas to help their son, Dale. In 2019, Dale decided to pursue a career in the United States Air Force, and left the family business in the hands of Michael and Lesley. While not easy, it was manageable until COVID-19 threw them obstacles they never saw coming.

“Our home country went into lockdown; we couldn’t get home to re-up our work visas because Australia had some of the toughest restrictions in the world. Our visas ran out in 202, in 2021 our I94’s expired. We couldn’t get home, we couldn’t get US citizenship, and we couldn’t leave the country. We were stuck,” Michael recalled. The couple was living in Rapid City illegally to no fault of their own, and they couldn’t do anything about it.

This not only had an impact on the Fewsons personally. It also put the business in a tough spot. “Because we weren’t US citizens, we couldn’t get the help the government was offering to small businesses,” explained Lesley. “We are thankful for our customers during that time…[they] kept us afloat while we tried to figure out what to do.”

At last, they were able to return to Perth to address their visa issues. But not long into their May 2022 trip, they realized that Perth was no longer home. The Rapid City community had rallied around these strangers and helped them survive. It was now their home. “Within six weeks of being back in Perth, where it all started for us, we realized we missed Rapid City,” said Michael. “We sold our coffee house to our kids, sold our house and everything we had, and decided to make Rapid City home.”

"WE REALIZED WE MISSED RAPID CITY, WE SOLD OUR [AUSTRAILIAN] COFFEE HOUSE TO OUR KIDS, SOLD OUR HOUSE AND EVERYTHING WE HAD AND DECIDED TO MAKE RAPID CITY HOME."

And now that it is home, the Fewsons are continuing to bring their taste of Australia to Rapid City. The coffee house is adding a bakehouse element, featuring Aussie baked goods made from scratch by Lesley. Michael can also be found serving up some wisdom and life lessons. He has had a regular spot on KOTA news radio at 7:25 Monday mornings. “In order to build anything in life, you have to have a good base, same with a cup of coffee.”

A Few Extra Shots: Did you Know?

MICHAEL GOT HIS DEGREE AT 36 IN MINISTRY AND THEOLOGY AND SPENT 37 YEARS AS A MINISTER WORKING WITH UNDERPRIVILEGED FAMILIES AROUND THE WORLD.

LESLEY BAKES ALL THE AUSSIE BAKE HOUSE GOODS FROM SCRATCH BRINGING FLAVORS FROM THEIR HOME COUNTRY TO RAPID CITY. BAKERIES IN AUSTRALIA ARE CALLED BAKE HOUSES.

MEAT PIE IS AN ICONIC AUSTRALIAN FOOD, NOTHING SAYS AUSTRALIA LIKE FUTBOL, MEAT PIES, KANGAROO AND A HOLDEN CAR.

THE FIRST ESSENCE OF COFFEE BEAN ROASTER IN PERTH, AUSTRALIA CAME FROM IDAHO. MICHAEL AND HIS SON WENT TO VERMONT TO LEARN ABOUT BEAN ROASTING AS WELL AS THE ART & SCIENCE OF ROASTING.

MICHAEL WAS UNDER COURT SUPERVISION WHEN HE JOINED THE MILITARY AND TURNED HIS LIFE AROUND PROVING YOUR PAST DOESN’T DICTATE YOUR FUTURE.