Decadent Nutella lattes, turkey bacon ranch pitas and fresh, made from scratch, chocolate chip cookies are all just a few of the hidden treats Shippensburg has to offer.

Tucked inside of the Shippen Place Hotel on King Street, One Bean Espresso Bar sits modestly in the back of the main lobby. Shop manager Ashley Coover said One Bean used to actually be the hotel’s continental breakfast room.

She explained how the breakfast room was about to undergo construction, but the owner of University Grille, a restaurant also in the hotel, Mike Kalathas, saw this as an opportunity. Coover said Kalathas has been in the restaurant industry for a long time, and it has always been a dream of his to open a coffee shop.

Kalathas and Matthew Ramsay, owner of Mosaic Coffee Company, spent four to six months renovating the space to rebuild it as a coffee shop.

“The bar was built from scratch,” Coover said.

Coover also said how Kalathas and Ramsay brought in One Bean’s furniture, including a black leather couch, tables and chairs, a foosball coffee table and new appliances. The two created the menu together.

Then, in October 2013, One Bean Espresso Bar was born.

“We had a year of just existing,” Coover said. She explained how utilizing social media and having regular customers bring their friends around helped get its name out.

“Trying to sell people a cup of coffee is a job and a half,” Coover said. “Getting people to come in and stay and spend their hard earned money [can be difficult] … and people just bringing their friends in is leaps and bounds of help.”

Creating a unique menu also helped attract more customers, Coover said. The shop has basic coffee flavors such as vanilla, cinnamon and chocolate, but what makes the business stand out are its less common flavors like lime and butterscotch.
One Bean regular, Shippensburg University junior, Austin Landes, said his favorite drink is the dirty chai, chai tea with espresso, which is off of the shop’s secret menu.

“We’re looking to do all natural flavors soon like jasmine and rose, too,” Coover said. “We are taking a more clean eating route with our menu.”

Starting on the path of healthier eating, the shop started offering new fruit and vegetable smoothies in the end of April. Customers can customize exactly what they want blended together, from apples, bananas and strawberries to avocados, kale and ginger.

Another addition to the menu is alcohol. Flavored liqueurs were always available to mix with coffee, but the shop just started selling beer towards the end of April, and One Bean recently debuted its cocktail menu. Barista Sean McCarthy said it features four martinis along with fresh squeezed mimosas.

Aside from its one-of-a-kind menu, One Bean attracts customers through its efforts to reach out and network with the community. One Bean hosts second Saturday book and poetry readings, open mic night every Friday and they sell artwork, such as paintings, digital art and jewelry, created by local artists.
“[The open mic nights] are pretty laid back,” McCarthy said. “They’re pretty varied. They gravitate more towards acoustic … people play a lot of blues.”

“Different thinking minds can park their ships in our harbor,” Coover said. She described her shop as a welcoming environment for any personality type.

“[It’s] a place to come and be social or hide away from the world,”Coover said.

It has elements of home such as a television that is always on, books from “Insurgent” by Veronica Roth to a “How to Dance” guide, games like Chinese checkers, Apples to Apples and puzzles. Or, One Bean can also be a place to mingle.

“[It has] a very chill atmosphere and it’s a great place to relax.” Landes said, “and they have great coffee.”

“We have a lively, friendly, chatty staff … we like to get to know our customers,” Coover said. McCarthy added the workers try to keep a cool, yet professional atmosphere in the shop.

“We do our best to keep things comfortable for our customers,” he said.

As One Bean strives to build a larger clientele, Coover is mapping out plans for the store’s future.

“With acceptance from the community, a storefront would be ideal,” she said.

Coover plans to keep the shop on King Street, but she is considering making it more than just a coffee shop. She said she has thought about turning One Bean into a hookah lounge, eventually.

“These plans are years down the road [though,]” she said.

Until then, the black “One Bean Espresso Bar” sign will continue to hang outside of Shippen Place Hotel in downtown Shippensburg, brewing “John Gross” brand coffee and serving their signature pastries and wraps.

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