Taste: Local Flavor - The Perk Beverage Co's Custom Coffee Blend

Story & Photos by Kelsey Wagner / Ponca City Monthly Editor-in-Chief

For the majority of the population, coffee holds a special place in their heart. It is the thing that helps weary workers begin their day. It might be the thing you drink while catching up with an old friend, or it may be the only source of warmth while working outside in the cold winter months.

Everyone has their own unique preference when it comes to coffee — its smell, taste, texture, and even how it’s prepared — which differs from person to person. You may like it hot, cold, with a dash of sugar, caffeine-free, or made with almond milk. You may prefer the rich and robust flavor of dark roasts, or the light and delicate taste of a breakfast blend. You might also have a preference for a French press or pour-over coffee maker, or maybe you prefer your Mr. Coffee machine that’s been brewing your coffee perfectly fine for the last twenty years. However you take your coffee, there is no denying that, aside from the few holdouts, coffee is the singular thread that binds Americans together as a culture.

The Perk Beverage Co. serves coffee and other fine espresso drinks, 100% real fruit smoothies, homemade bakery items, and a daily breakfast and lunch menu. But when you step into the Perk Beverage Co., it is the aroma of their own unique coffee blend that has been bringing customers together since 2016.

Togetherness is what drives owner Jennifer Green. It is the strong sense of togetherness, and her love of people, that first led Jennifer to open The Perk Beverage Co. on September 17, 2016, after deciding it was time for a career change. “I was interested in doing something in the public. I wanted to see people. I wanted to do something that made people feel better from the time they came in to the time they left.”

Jennifer decided coffee could help her to both bring people together and make them happy. Jennifer knew that her coffee shop needed to be carefully

designed, and she took great care when choosing the look, feel, and layout of her coffee shop. “I looked at the history of the town and the prominent architecture,” she says, “especially the Marland history.”

“This wall right here,” Jennifer says as she points to the north wall, a whiteon-white board and batten wainscoting, “reminds me of the living quarters in Marland’s office.” There are also industrial and rustic looks that bring a hardiron-meets-cozy-warmness to the atmosphere.

Jennifer describes the same care she took choosing the blend of coffee she serves. During the first few years, Jennifer served a blend from a coffee roaster out of Seattle, WA called Herkermer Coffee. But due to logistical difficulties getting the fresh coffee in the winter months, Jennifer begin looking for a more local roaster. However, she was nervous about switching.

“The taste of our coffee was at least 75% of who we were,” Jennifer says. But a chance meeting with a roaster out of Enid, OK, named Vitruvian Coffee Roasters, was enough to convince Jennifer to make the switch. Jennifer worked with them to develop a unique blend just for The Perk Beverage Co.

In addition to serving it, The Perk Beverage Co. sells their unique blend so their patrons can have it anywhere they travel. Jennifer says The Perk Beverage Co.’s coffee sells whole bean and ground coffee, and also offers a half pound for $8.50 and a full pound for $14. Once purchased, the coffee can be customground for paper filter or wire filter, and it can even be ground for espresso. Jennifer says they offer coffee grinding for free, even if patrons bring in outside coffee. “We have people who bring in whole bean coffee they got for a gift because they don’t have a grinder. We happily grind it for free, no hard feelings. It’s just a service we offer to the community,” says Jennifer.

Jennifer says that opening this shop, even despite the setback of COVID-19 and other missteps and mistakes, has been a truly rewarding experience.

“Far and beyond, my favorite part of owning this coffee shop is getting to know people. I love the regulars who come in, the friends we’ve made – sometimes we know their names, sometimes we don’t, but we know what they want.”

And what they want are coffee and happiness, both of which Jennifer proudly serves fresh daily.

In addition to The Perk’s primary location on 14th Street, they are adding a downtown location in City Central that is set to open in October. The new location will be called “Central Perk.”