The story behind the bow ties.

Plenty of people are coffee OR bow tie guys. How many of them are both? Here's the story behind that iconic look!

I wasn't always this stylish. For me, I was perfectly content with jeans and a t-shirt. When I was attending the Culinary Institute of America, I was for the first time in my life required to adhere to a strict dress code. That was when I began learning how to dress for the occasion, but never cared much for it.

A few years later, I'm a married man who was allowed to wear Converse to the wedding. All of my jobs until 2020 provided uniforms, so knowing what to wear was still never an issue. In 2020, I began preaching at Central Baptist Church of Pawling. Preaching in this church called for snazzing up my wardrobe a bit. That was when I began wearing neck ties.

But enough about my wardrobe background. What's up with the bow ties?

My dad has been a draftsman his entire life and a darn good one he is! It was always fun as a kid to go somewhere in the general Louisville area and Dad would point out what he designed in various buildings. In 2017, he was diagnosed with Hydrocephalus, which impairs much of the body's ability to function, both physically and mentally. Thankfully, the doctors were able to diagnose the condition and give him a shunt, which relieves the pressure on his brain. Things improved immediately. In fact, he started calling himself "Brad 2.0!"

Unfortunately, a year later there was an issue with the shunt. In 2018 they had to perform a procedure to fix things. Though the operation was successful, it left him with severely impeded function with his entire right side. His right leg, right arm and right eye all suffered significantly.

Thankfully, this isn't the end of the story!

His doctor suggested sewing as a means of occupational therapy. Having to thread the needle requires precision and a steady hand, lest you be jabbed by it. That's when he decided to start making bow ties. So, as Dad put it, after jabbing his left hand a thousand times, it occurred to him that he has a sewing machine. Not only will it make the sewing easier, but it actually allowed for a more robust form of therapy. When he was making them by hand, it was helping his hand and eye, but the legs sat idle. The machine required use of his right foot for the pedal, his hand to guide everything and his eye to line everything up.

Here we are 8 years later and he's able to function as though nothing had ever happened in the first place!

To tie everything together here, (or in this case, bow tie everything together,) when I told my parents I was starting a coffee business, Dad found some coffee fabric and made a tie out of it. That was when I decided to make bow ties a part of the style. Eventually, we found more fabric, which led to more coffee ties. Fast forward to just a few weeks before the coffee shop was opening and I realized I need a logo. What is my business all about? Coffee! What separates my coffee from everyone else's? Style! What's my style? Bow ties! So, I call Dad and ask if he could help me with a logo and this is what he came up with:

That's the story behind the iconic happy cup and bow ties. Every bow tie I wear started as part of someone’s recovery. What began as therapy became tradition — and eventually, the symbol of this little coffee company.