Jana Farrell had been involved in the coffee business most of her life, and was a manager at the Barnes & Noble Café, by the time she decided to open her own coffee shop.
“I finally just decided I want to branch out and do my own thing,” said Farrell. “I basically knew that I wanted to do it a few years before that.”
Farrell launched Cozi Cup Coffee in September 2021. The transportable coffee bar consists of a fully renovated trailer complete with an espresso machine, a roaster and a grinder.
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“Everything’s in there that you would have in a normal coffee shop,” said Farrell. “I do specialty latte espresso, coffee, hot chocolate, Italian soda, specialty drinks, all different kinds of drinks.”
Among the more popular sellers, Farrell says, are the signature Cozi Cup, a salted caramel white mocha; a milk chocolate and toasted marshmallow brew called the Happy Camper and a spicy gingerbread chai.
That initial entrepreneurial urge proved a challenge for the Washington state native. While Farrell knew she wanted to start a café, she wasn’t sure where to begin.
Her husband, Travis Farrell, had been in the Navy and was stationed at Fort Gordon, bringing the couple to the Augusta area. Though she had worked at Barnes & Noble in the Augusta Mall for four years by the time she resigned, she had to discern the best way to navigate the local market. About a year before leaving Barnes & Noble, she says, she’d chosen her unique approach.
“I didn’t know if I wanted a brick and mortar,” said Farrell. “I knew somebody who had a mobile unit and thought it was supercool. I finally quit my job and decided I wanted to do mobile.”
There were a few bumps in the road along to opening Cozi Cup. Shortly after quitting at Barnes & Noble, COVID-19 interrupted Farrell’s plans. She also notes that it took nearly a year to find a mobile unit that suited her, which she did in fall of 2020. She then had to adjust to the red tape of starting a mobile beverage business in Richmond County.
“I didn’t realize like how long it was going to take to work with the health department because they have requirements if you don’t have a brick and mortar,” she said. “There’s a lot you have to jump through. I got all my permits and everything, but it did take a solid year to get going.”
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Since then, Farell has maintained business primarily by doing events, such as the River Island Holiday Market and the Laney Walker Farmers Market; business, hospital or neighborhood events, and weddings. Customers will book her services, she’ll hitch the mobile unit to her truck, and travel anywhere in the Augusta area where she’s required.
Farell studied psychology and sociology in college, but ultimately came to feel that her calling was something less heavy and more intimate and sociable. She and her husband have adapted to the Augusta area well, Farrell says, and she hopes to bring a kind of Northwest appreciation of java to Georgia.
“I love like meeting people and chatting, serving good coffee and making people happy,” she said. “In a small way I think it makes a big impact. It’s the best part of people’s day. I feel like I can represent that with Cozi Cup and still do something meaningful.”
For more information about Cozi Cup Coffee, visit its social media at https://www.instagram.com/cozicupcoffee/ and https://www.facebook.com/cozicupcoffee/.
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter covering education in Columbia County and business-related topics for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
