Five-year-old downtown coffee shop looking to open drive-thru on east side of Liberty Bay.
On foot or on wheels, Hot Shots will serve
POULSBO — Common is the sight of a crop of laptops buzzing with illumination inside Poulsbo’s Hot Shots Java. The Front Street coffee shop often plays home-away-from home to the technologically mobile, catering to the crowd its free wireless Internet.
Soon, however, owners LeAnne and David Musgrove say their shop will reach out to mobile customers of a different sort. A Hot Shots Java drive-thru is “in the works,” they report.
And while much remains to be completed — they’re in contract negotiations, they say, and hope to open at State Route 305 and Hostmark Street before the end of the year — Hot Shots is reaching a memorable event of another nature: This month, the shop is celebrating its fifth year in business.
A place that is now a go-to destination for individuals and groups of all kinds is, the Musgroves say, a family operation a half-decade in the making.
When asked what it is that has set the business apart, what’s made it a mecca for a myriad people, David said the question is one better aimed at patrons.
“What the jist is, what we try to do is offer a pleasant place where there’s no rush,” he said. “Hang out as long as you like.”
Consistency, a unique local coffee blend and grade-A customer service round out the list of Hot Shots provisos, as a spacial interior complete with autumnal decor make up its list of physical amenities.
“We’re very open and welcoming and we try to maintain that,” David added. “They (customers) come in here because they get good quality all the time.”
Early Friday afternoon, a trio of kids sits coloring pictures in crayon, one patron reads a book and a pair take advantage of the shop’s comfy chairs, perusing the daily news.
LeAnne, a former Seattle-ite who worked in the corporate coffee business before starting a shop of her own, said different clubs, groups of mothers and senior citizens walking into town have made Hot Shots a regular stop on their agenda.
“We try and appeal to everyone, we try to offer something to everyone,” she said.
Students can take advantage of the Study Buddy discount, a buy-one-get-the-second-half-off deal for kids who bring their books in with them.
The shop has a smattering of treats, from the caffeinated to the non-caffeinated, as well as ice cream, milkshakes, pastries and sandwiches. One of Hot Shots’ more unique flavors is its chai tea latte, a creamy sweet concoction LeAnne said tastes like the aroma of a hot-from-the-oven holiday cookie.
There’s also the Biohazard, a cold chocolatey coffee blend that could be in the running for best-tasting invention since the truffle. Hot Shots specializes in tasty Frazzes, blended drinks with the shop’s own mouthwatering spin, David said.
Three (of five) of the couple’s adult kids now work at the shop. Manager AJ Stokes, LeAnne’s son, will open the drive-thru. He was voted best barista in the 2008 Best of North Kitsap competition.
LeAnne said customers, too, have become like family to the staff of 10.
“Your customers are your neighbors, are your friends,” she said.
The shop also features the work of local artists. For more information, call (360) 779-2171.
