Unmistakable Hospitality from Kape Coffee | Columbus, OH

With unmistakable hospitality, excellence in service and a unique synergistic appreciation of their heritage, it feels like an understatement to say that the founding team of Kape Coffee (pronounced like “cafe” but with a P) brings a infinite culture from around the world to Columbus, Ohio.

You can feel it in the way they speak of their origins, their upbringing, their city and their communities. Most of all, you can feel it in the way they speak so highly of each other while the six of us gather around a small table in Little Cat, one of our favorite cafes in downtown Columbus. If you ever get a chance to sit down with Casey Kim, Sean Dupiano, Mark Cruz, Isabelle Sansait and Kiujoy Kokko, consider yourself lucky and be sure to take the opportunity.

I felt like we could’ve kept talking for hours. I got to hear about the origins of Kape, some wild stories of their evolution as a pop-up cafe, why their focus on hospitality and quality is so captivating and a few ideas about what they’re up to in the near future. What’s even more meaningful for me, though, is that I got to experience firsthand what it looks like for a group of people to come together and continuously speak so highly of each other and so passionately about their work.

Kape Coffee evolved as a pop up of curiosity and serendipity, a group of friends that found themselves gravitating toward exploring different ways they could experience coffee, and gravitating toward each other in the process. Happenstance meetings at co-working spaces, church and throughout the community turned into conversations and late nights centered around what it means to share a coffee with someone.

After an initial pop up, they were invited to become a guest resident at a local club, then to pop up at a downtown bar, then to an ice cream shop on the north side of town, until they outgrew that space as well. With every move, Kape was welcomed with enthusiasm, followed by a growing community, followed then by the need for more space.

Exploration

While global awareness and propensity for moving seem to be a natural part of many businesses, the reason it’s so familiar to Kape’s ethos is likely in it’s origins. On little more than a whim, Kiujoy found inspiration from a video on social media, booked a flight to Colombia to learn about coffee and returned to Columbus to bring back everything he learned.

This foundation of exploration led to experimenting with new drinks, curiosity around global cuisine and the distinct ability to showcase the authentic flavors and hospitality that are quickly becoming synonymous with Kape’s more-than-notable brand. Curiosity amongst friends turned into a makeshift lab exploring what new drinks could look like.

An invitation to friends to come and try these drinks quickly turned into the feeling of a grown-up lemonade stand: friends would gather to try drinks, more energy would build around the idea, and more people would show up excited to support what Kape had to offer. As they often do,bigger opportunities led to bigger problems. The same excitement that secured offers to pop up in various locations across the city also ensured Kape’s need for room to grow.

But the specific space was never the point. The fluidity that provoked the evolution of Kape’s pop ups is the very thing that attracts people to it. It’s not in spite of this evolution that people are attracted to Kape; it’s because of it. The team at Kape has a unique way of offering connection and hospitality that can’t be imitated, and that connection to the world around them is the exact thing that keeps them exploring and keeps their guests coming back for more.

Hospitality Roots

Kape is both the Filipino and Korean pronunciation of the word cafe, and it’s not lost on me that the ancestral roots of this lovely group of people sitting around the table with me are so beautifully connected in the way they named their project. The way they all speak with intention and honor regarding their cultures, their respect for each other and the integrity in representation, it's especially beautiful.

It’s unmistakable that their name so succinctly ties together the communal representation of all of these things and more. At many points during the conversation, each person would start to list off the admirable qualities of the others sitting around the table: the love for travel and bringing people together, marketing genius, artistic eye and creative drink ideas, systems and processes and logistics, technical latte brewing skills, latte art, appreciation of roots, accountability… I’m not even gonna try to identify who has what quality, because honestly every single one of these folks is so proficient in so many of these, but also I want to let you find out for yourself as you experience all of this (and more) firsthand the next time you visit Kape.

Kape definitely has talent on their side. They have the ability to source and acquire some of the best coffees you can try from world-renowned roasters, small roasters that have never exported to the states before and even their own unique offering (that I can’t get enough of) called Community Bake Sale. They also have award-level coffee, brand and marketing professionals.

The experience you get when visiting certainly lives up to this standard. Expertly crafted drinks served with intention and irrefutable passion meet the warmest smiles and compassionate service.

The respect that the people in this company have for each other and the people they serve is undeniable. The absolute passion and care for the community they serve is infectious. The intention and commitment to innovation and bringing new experiences to Columbus are exciting.

And the energy around what Kape is and what it is becoming is compelling.

Moving into this new phase of growth, Kape is excited for their perpetual new beginnings. More pop ups are in the works and might even be happening at the time you’re reading this. Perhaps bigger projects and more ideas are brewing; who’s to say?

One thing is certain: complete with real conversations, authentic hospitality and absurdly good coffee, Kape offers such a beautiful, unique experience in the Columbus cafe scene and I can’t wait to see what else they create next.