An espresso bar with an unexpected history has opened inside a Las Colinas hotel. Assemble Coffee, which started out as a mobile trailer, is now serving coffee and espresso drinks every morning at Texican Court, the boutique hotel that opened at 501 W. Las Colinas Blvd. in 2018.
Texican Court has two food & beverage concepts on site — Two Mules Cantina and Salt Tequila Bar — and Two Mules is open at 7 am with breakfast. But the hotel lacked a coffee bar with espresso drinks, paving the way for Assemble Coffee, a mom-and-pop founded by passionate coffee lovers Brady and Whitney Johnson.
The couple first founded Assemble as a mobile trailer, and they still do events. At the Texican, they have a symbiotic arrangement: They share the space that is home to the hotel's Salt Tequila Bar. By day, the Johnsons operate the space as a coffee shop; at night it converts into the bar.
"The tequila bar opens at 4 pm every day," Whitney says. "We pitched the idea of utilizing this space as a coffee bar all morning into early afternoon, and the rest is history."
Brady & Whitney Johnson of Assemble CoffeeCourtesy photo
Assemble Coffee serves traditional espresso beverages, including cortados, cappuccinos, and lattes. The signature item, however, isn't espresso but the vanilla cold cream cold brew.
Other drink options include iced and hot coffees and teas, matcha, and chai with the option of vanilla, caramel, and simple flavor add-ons.
The Johnsons have partnered with Voltage Coffee Project, a roaster and coffee consultant out of Decatur, Texas, as their coffee bean roaster. The shop also offers pastries such as cake loaf slices, muffins, and croissants from Montecito Bakery, and breakfast tacos from Texican Court's restaurant, Two Mules Cantina.
The Johnsons wanted to start their own coffee business for years; last summer, they built a coffee trailer with a company out of Nashville and officially held their first coffee trailer event this past February.
The coffee trailer allowed them to take the first step toward their shared dream without the financial risk.
"At Assemble Coffee at Texican Court, we pray you see our three core values in action immediately -- put people first, craft quality coffee, and create memorable experiences," Brady says. "The joy of serving inside of a hotel is the intersection of people from all walks of life, from all over the globe, some working and some playing, first a local and then someone you only get one chance to impact, and everything in between."
