Cattle Dog Coffee is Ready to Serve

M at Cohen began his coffee journey in the windy city of Chicago during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. A freelance journalist and yoga teacher at the time, he found himself out of work during the full swing of a global shutdown. He ended up working at a local coffee shop, and over the next few years, he learned how to craft coffee and create a community-based third space.

“I think I properly learned what it takes to run a coffee business, and I’m not trying to cut corners along my process,” he recalls. “Being a part of a couple different shops, I was able to see what works and what doesn’t work and pick up things I like and things I don’t like.”
It was during this time Cohen began tossing around the idea of his own coffee service.

“I had always loved the idea of coffee shops and third spaces, both inside and outside, so I knew it was an idea I was interested in exploring,” he explains. “I got into it thinking about owning my own shop one day.”

And that was the beginning of Cattle Dog Coffee. His coffee brand concept gets its name from Cohen’s blue heeler Zoe whom he adopted during the pandemic, his vision inspired by the active, tough, passionate and loyal lifestyle cattle dogs live. The pair can often be spotted together at events alongside the coffee truck.

In September 2022, Cohen did test runs of Cattle Dog at local community events, cold brew run clubs, and smaller pop-ups. Offering a convenient option for mobile specialty coffee from a converted 1974 mail truck he purchased earlier that same year. He and a friend spent months building the old truck into a fully functioning coffee bar.

Shortly after Cattle Dog was created, Cohen moved to San Francisco, shipping the beloved coffee truck all the way to California. While operational, the old mail truck can only be trusted with short distance driving. The mobile specialty coffee business catered to many San Francisco events and customers, ranging from beach wedding receptions, backstage at concert and more. Soon after getting started out West, he moved Cattle Dog and settled back in his hometown to be closer to family and look for more business opportunities.

Currently, he’s working with local markets, pop-up events, small businesses, school sports games, wedding showers, and almost any other kind of event interested in serving specialty coffee. The event menu usually features classics like matcha, chai, Americano, and handcrafted lattes.

Cohen’s goal is to focus on craft and quality. Making his syrups himself is one way he controls the quality of his product. He boasts a lavender syrup made from California lavender and he recently began using coffee from Viva Coffee Roasters, located in O’Bryonville and sourced from Honduras. Sustainability in his business is also an important goal of his as he uses compostable resources and composting coffee waste to a greener future. “I’ve done a couple events without using any single-use items, which is a lot easier than people think, especially if it’s a pop-up type event,” he says.

Cattle Dog can be booked for nearly every kind of event or occasion through its website or by sending a DM to its Instagram account .

As Cohen’s business expands, he hopes to find a local spot to plant roots. “I love having the truck and it will always be involved,” he explains. “But I hope to establish a storefront space in Cincinnati that is multi-purposeful, and much more than coffee.”

The post Cattle Dog Coffee is Ready to Serve appeared first on Cincinnati Magazine .