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WHATEVER YOU DO Colyer Coffee House offers coffee and community
from 618 Hometown Magazine, February 2020
by Princeton Daily Clarion, The Hometown Register, Warrick Standard
whatever YOU DO
WRITER: ANDREA HOWE
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A plaque on the wall of a commercial kitchen where all the goodness happens for Colyer Coffee House at 13 East Elm Street in Albion shows steaming cups of goodness and goodies, with some wellknown words found in 1 Corinthians 10:31:
“Whether you eat, or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
“That’s our verse,” grins Meredith (McDaniel) Miller, who par tners with husband Justin in an adventure that has grown from a thought into a passion.
It’s one of those “meant to be” things that grew out of necessity.
The necessity: Grayville native Justin, a medical
student in Louisville, Kentucky, needed a wi-fi spot and found a sweet spot in a coffee house. And the Christian coffee house atmosphere gave them food for thought.
“We wanted to create a space for our community for people to come in and sit and talk,” he said.
It was a thought, a dream that might happen in 10 to 15 years.
But then, things fell together. “Doors started opening,” and the Millers couldn’t say no to the purchase of the historic brick house facing the brick street just north of the Edwards County Courthouse.
“We loved the look of the building,” Justin
Photo contributed | Bliss artisan ice cream is served in a variety of flavors.
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explained. And it really grew on them when they learned after buying the 1908 structure, known locally as the Colyer House, that it was built by Morris and Walter Colyer. Meredith Miller is the great-great-greatgranddaughter of Morris Colyer.
Over the years, the Colyer House has housed an abstract office, medical offices and a boutique. The Millers acquired the building in pretty good shape in the fall, and with the services of local craftsmen and contractors, they made it sing a new song starting in 2016 as a coffee house featuring baked goods, ice cream, coffee and other drinks and a lunch menu on the ground floor.
The baked items are made fresh daily and vary from danishes and scones and cream horns and muffins to the occasional savory hand pies. Bliss Artisan ice cream created by Mike and Angie Woodburn is offered in a rotating roster of flavors. And there’s just about any coffee drink you can imagine created by Coyler Coffee House baristas.
“It’s been a learning process,” Justin says. “The Woodburns told us that it’s a good thing to sell out of something.”
Colyer Coffee House’s items focus on a variety combination of small-batch flavors, with new flavors introduced seasonally. For Val
LEFT: Valentine cookies, one of the many baked good varieties served seasonally at Colyer Coffee House.
BELOW: Fresh-baked scones in a variety of flavors, such as this chocolate mint rendition.
(618) HOMETOWN MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 2020 19 entine’s Day ideas, there are $5 gift cards and first-come, first-served cupcakes and heart-shaped cookies planned on the mornings of Feb. 13-14.
They outsource their daily lunch menu, envisioned and created by Jennifer Greathouse.
Customers can stop in and have breakfast or sit and sip coffee or have lunch, or call ahead for orders to go. With large orders, it’s good to call ahead with plenty of notice. “It takes time to make what we make. We make it good and we make it fresh,” said Meredith.
More than the merchandise, Colyer Coffee House is fulfilling the Millers’ wish for the community to have a place to sit and talk. Within its first year, the coffee cafe set the atmosphere for one young man to ask a father’s permission to marry his daughter.
The second floor of the building had the makings of use as an apartment rental unit, but the Millers make it available for group gatherings. It’s the spot for weekly Bible study sessions for some local churches, as well as other meetings (CEO Club), fellowship and not for profit small events. (Call to reserve space!)
Colyer Coffee House’s community engagement extends outside as well, hosting the annual Hot Chocolate run following Albion’s Christmas parade and some other family-oriented events.
“We want what’s best for our family and what’s best for our community,” said Justin.
To order or to make a reservation for meeting space, call (618) 445- 2800.
