Coffee News
McKinney has a quirky new coffee coffee shop hangout with CBD on the side
Croissant, coffee, water at McKinney Leaf Cafe.
McKinney has a new coffee shop with a little something extra: Called McKinney Leaf Cafe, it's a coffee shop that also sells CBD items and is opening in a storefront at 405 N. McDonald St.
Operator Josh Ritchie is a former electrician who originally ran a head shop called Smoke on the Water in the same location for a year before he felt the calling to switch from smoke to coffee.
The shop still has a back room as its heritage from the smoke shop, and that's where you can find CBD items and other alternative medicine products.
"The shop is meant to provide an environment for people to start conversations about wellness and mental health, and a place where people can feel safe," Ritchie says.
Their menu features hot or iced espresso drinks, drip coffee, tea, and smoothies. Here's a thing: They offer eight kinds of milk including all the various dairy (whole, 2 percent, heavy cream, half-n-half), plus nondairy almond, oat , coconut, and hemp. No soy?
A highlight of their menu is their flavored frappés, in options such as Matcha, Taro Root, Cookies-n-Cream, Fruity Pebbles, and Cinnamon Toast. All drinks can be CDB or D8-infused.
Ritchie also offers a military discount. Back in his electrician days, he used to do work on military bases.
Cafe hours are 8 am-8 pm, weekends until 10 pm, and closed on Mondays. They're currently in soft opening mode, selling drinks and wellness products.
They'll eventually add food, partnering with local indigenous woman-owned kitchen CK’s Kitchen to offer breads, muffins, breakfast sandwiches, and parfaits, with numerous vegan and gluten-free items.
The shop is designed to be a hangout place, with events such as paint classes and tie dye workshops. It has a combination of high-table seating and benches, with an instagrammable green wall with a couple of hammock chairs to lounge. There are plugs all around, TV with a gaming system set up for customers to play, and free wi-fi.
"I feel like I’m doing what I am supposed to be doing," Ritchie says. "Everybody has been so supportive. even competitors across the street have helped me train on coffee. It’s a community, not a competition."
