Ground Up Coffee and Smoothies

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Photo by Nathan Kelly.

0313 Ground Up

Owner Casey Morris serves coffees, lattes and smothies.

Selling and creating new drinks has always been a passion of Casey Morris. He had originally wanted to open a bar because he felt the atmosphere molds well with his charismatic personality.

“I got into doing this because of tequila actually,” said Morris, co-owner of Ground up Coffee and Smoothies. “I had a car wreck in 2005 as a result of drinking and driving when I was 19. It opened my eyes to what I was doing was wrong. God used that in an amazing way to turn my life around.”

Since December 2006, Morris partnered with Doug Snider, owner of Snider’s Pharmacy. He began working in the pharmacy business, but he took a leap by opening his own coffee house last year. Snider always appreciated Morris’ work ethic and charisma, so he convinced him to partner up to create the multifaceted store.

The coffee house had its grand opening on Oct. 8 last year and practices an old-school, fountain-style pharmacy approach.

“It’s not about making someone a drink really fast, putting the lid on it and rushing them out the door,” Morris said. “We take time with them. We’re going to ask them how they are, how their day is going.”

Morris used his thirst to please customers to create unique flavors and combinations for drinks. After long nights of trial, error and a lot of caffeine, he designed his own original blends to give his drinks optimal flavor.

Ground Up Coffee and Smoothies offers a variety of coffees, lattes and smoothies made with brand new drink machines covering the counter tops.

The most popular beverage is the Peach Smoothie, according to both Morris and Snider.

“It’s as good as sucking a Chilton County peach through a straw,” Snider said.

The environment in the coffee house is welcoming and friendly. The space is open between the pharmacy and the coffee house, making it easy to fill prescriptions, buy necessities and enjoy a cup of coffee while reading the paper or conversing with the store owners.

“When someone comes in here, we’re excited that they’re buying a cup of coffee, but we just enjoy their company,” Morris said. “That’s why people end up coming back to us, they feel the connection.”

Ground Up Coffee and Smoothies even delivers drinks to local businesses with a five-drink minimum.

“Chelsea Park Elementary School loves us,” Morris said. “They get to school Friday morning, and the main thing they’re excited about is getting a cup of coffee from us. The first full week back at school we got an order of 29 drinks.”

Morris said the main draw to new customers is simply coming in to fill prescriptions.

“The first thing you do when you walk in is smell the aroma of the pot of coffee brewing,” Morris said. “You end up forgetting about the prescription and come over and get a cup of coffee.”