Not long after Addison Calloway opened Revelation Coffee Company on Aug. 17, someone asked her a fair question: "Why are you opening a coffee shop? We have plenty of coffee shops." She told the Ashe Post & Times that her shop is different because it's mobile and can reach all of Ashe County and other counties.
Three coffee and drink businesses have opened in the county since late summer, and her answer fits all of them. Each one was built around a place people were already going. Two have no permanent address. The one that does has a Main Street storefront, and it sets its opening time by a hospital shift schedule.
The Shop That Opens on Hospital Time
The Bean Market Coffee & More opened at 420 E Main St in Jefferson, in a building that used to be storage space. Owners Mark and Ashley Geercken opened it after several years of work. Ashley grew up in Ashe County, and her family owns Honeycutt Christmas Trees in West Jefferson, a business her father started almost 50 years ago.
The opening time tells you who the shop is for. Many staff at nearby Ashe Memorial Hospital start work at 7 a.m., so the Geerckens open at 6:30 a.m. Mark Geercken said they start brewing between 6 and 6:15. After that early crowd, he said, business comes from the courthouse, the hair salon next door and the post office. According to Ashley, many of their regulars live close enough to walk. It works as a neighborhood shop for the blocks around the county's hospital and government buildings.
The coffee itself was picked with the rest of the High Country in mind. Jeremy Bollman, owner of Hatchet West, mentored the couple early on. Ashley pointed out that Hatchet Coffee is already easy to find across the High Country, so they wanted to offer something the local market didn't have. They chose Counter Culture Coffee, which they sell by the bag and will grind for you. They also make chai, hot and iced teas, and hot chocolate, and every pastry comes from a local baker. Ashley's pick on a cold morning is the London Fog Latte. "I'd put ours up against anybody's," she said.
The name comes from county history. Green beans were one of Ashe County's first major cash crops, before Christmas trees took over. Ashley said canneries came to the county in the 1940s to buy green beans by the bushel from local farmers. The walls show photographs from that decade, a project Jefferson Mayor Peter Eller supported and supplied photos for. Behind the bar hangs a Beaver Creek Beans print from local resident Russell Killen.
Even with four walls and a street number, the Bean Market's business model depends on the people who already work and live around that part of Main Street. The other two businesses take the same idea further and travel to the people.
The Rule That Put a Matcha Bar on a Small Table
Mia McNeill owns Mia's Mark Salon + Retail, and she wanted a matcha bar inside the salon for a long time. When she looked into it, she learned the North Carolina Board of Cosmetology prohibits running a business within a business unless the drinks are given away free.
"So that was not an option, so I started following people on Instagram who have mobile businesses," McNeill told the Ashe Post & Times. "I found out I could take the business anywhere."
That's how Bloom Matcha, which the paper calls West Jefferson's first pop-up matcha bar, started. Her whole setup is about the size of a small table. She and her husband talked about getting a mobile truck, but she decided it was "a lot of work." Her first event was at Burley General Store. She takes bookings for small groups, parties and fundraisers. "It doesn't have to be something grand," she said.
Her summer menu had strawberry, mango and vanilla maple, and strawberry was one of the most popular. For fall she planned drinks like Pistachio Honey Sea Salt, which had already been getting praise. She also has a test for quality matcha: "The color should not look muddy. It should be vibrant, blue-green, a little sweet with umami notes."
Bloom Matcha takes bookings through Instagram direct message at @bloommatchawj. No fall dates have been posted publicly yet.
A Camper Built for Events
McNeill went mobile because a rule ruled out the salon. Calloway went mobile because events were the plan from the start. She is 18, an Ashe County native, and doesn't drink alcohol. She knows that when she gets married she wants a coffee hour instead of a cocktail hour. "I know other people would like that option too, rather than being forced to have alcohol at their wedding," she said. "So I wanted to make that an option."
Revelation Coffee Company serves coffee drinks, refreshers and teas from a camper. It's based in Warrensville, and it has already set up across Ashe County and once in Boone at an Appalachian State University football game. The menu changes with the seasons. Summer had six coffee drinks, a dirty soda and sweet tea. Calloway describes the fall menu as "cozy, warm and filling drinks."
The camper is a starting point. Calloway still works part-time, studies business administration at Wilkes Community College and coaches cheer part-time. "I would like to have my dream café, the whole nine yards, but for now it's perfectly fine," she said. She takes event bookings, and her Instagram account, @revelation_coffeeco, is the best place to find out where the camper will be.
The Old Tobacco Warehouse Behind Two of Them
Calloway's part-time job is at the Ole Burley Market in West Jefferson. She decided to start her own coffee business while making coffee there. McNeill held Bloom's first event at Burley General Store, which is in the same building. So two of the three new businesses trace back to one building.
The Ashe County Chamber of Commerce lists the Ole Burley Market at 130 Burley Ave, in the old tobacco warehouse where Backstreet meets Long Street. It's easy to mix up the names. The Ole Burley Market is the whole building, and Burley Sustainable General Store is one of the businesses inside it. The building already serves drinks. The General Store runs The Burley Soda Fountain, which makes handcrafted sodas, shakes, floats, coffee, chai and serves local pastries. High Country Tea & Grazing Room is also there, with loose-leaf teas, food and afternoon tea by reservation. The other tenants include High Country Arts Center & Let's Be Artsy, Sprinkle's Salt of the Earth and Doe Ridge Pottery.
A building full of small businesses sharing one roof gives a new drink business room to start small. One person learned the trade behind a counter there. Another tried out her product at a single event without signing a lease. Neither had to open a shop of her own to get going.
Finding Them on an October Morning
You can't map these businesses the way you'd map a row of cafés, so here is where to look as of early October 2026:
- The Bean Market Coffee & More: 420 E Main St, Jefferson. It opens at 6:30 a.m.
- Revelation Coffee Company: a camper based in Warrensville that moves around. Find it on Instagram at @revelation_coffeeco, and book it there for events.
- Bloom Matcha: a table-size matcha bar that comes to events. Find and book it on Instagram at @bloommatchawj.
- The Burley Soda Fountain: inside Burley Sustainable General Store at the Ole Burley Market, 130 Burley Ave, West Jefferson.
There's one more stop on BackStreet. The Ashe County Farmers Market runs from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 108 BackStreet, West Jefferson, and the Chamber calendar shows the season ending Oct. 31, 2026. Shipwrecked Seasonings & Coffee is on the market's 2026 vendor list. Neither of the new pop-ups is listed there, so don't count on finding them at the market. The market sits on BackStreet, and the Burley building is where Backstreet meets Long Street, so you can easily visit both on the same morning before the season ends.
If you're planning a wedding, a fundraiser or a backyard party in Ashe County, both Revelation Coffee Company and Bloom Matcha take event bookings. Calloway pitched hers as a coffee bar that can reach all of Ashe County and other counties.
Chris Barr is an Ashe County native, and he knows how much a new coffee stop can change a morning on Main Street or BackStreet. When you're ready to talk about a property near Main Street in Jefferson, close to the Burley building, or anywhere else in the county, Chris Barr knows the area block by block. Schedule a Free Consultation & Home Valuation.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
