There is a small espresso bar within Good Bottle Co. in South End that you should know about: Hex Coffee. Co-owners Chandler Wrenn, John Michael Cord, and Tanner Morita came together in 2015 to launch a pop-up series that brought community together over coffee in unfamiliar places. The three lived in South End, all working full-time jobs, and would meet regularly at Good Bottle Co. for their Hex Coffee meetings. The pop-ups happened around Charlotte, including a few at their “local bar,” Good Bottle Co. During those pop-ups, the income generated never went into their pockets, but into a fund they’d eventually use to secure a brick-and-mortar spot. 

After about a year of pop-ups, the owner of Good Bottle Co. offered Hex Coffee a portion of the shop’s space — a more permanent location. All of the money saved during the pop-ups went to turning the front corner area of the bottle shop into a small espresso bar. The small-scale experience of construction and permitting gave the three owners a glimpse of brick and mortar ownership without the risk of doing it solo.  Following delays caused by a minor hand sink debacle, Hex Coffee espresso bar opened in June of 2016. 

“The hand sink used for Good Bottle Co. was about two feet too far to be considered usable for the espresso bar, so we had to construct a system to get water from the back of the shop to the front of the shop without breaking into concrete,” Morita says. “It was nerve-racking. I felt a lot of emotion, but it was a good entrepreneurship growing pain to experience and learn from. It could have been worse.” 

The espresso bar allowed the boys to expand from filter coffee and cold brews to craft espresso drinks. Some of the bar’s drinks have included Hex shandy, draft Mexican mocha, Mayflower coffee soda, and citrus elderflower espresso tonic. 

The success of Hex’s espresso bar led the trio to pursue roasting their own beans a year later. Hex Roastery carefully sources beans as close as they can to their harvest time to present the coffee at its peak. Hex beans are small batch, with about seven to eight varietals offered at a time, averaging 30 varieties a year. All beans authentically represent the region they are from, staying as close to their purest form as possible. 

The meaning behind Hex is a nod to a symbol of Charlotte, the hornet’s nest. Simple, clean, and contemporary, the hexagon represents the several points that keep Hex Coffee focused on its core value: bringing community together over coffee. 

As for the future of Hex Coffee? The espresso bar is turning into something bigger very soon: a full-service spot serving wine, food, and coffee. Down the road, the boys hope to find the place for what they call Hex proper, their vision for a cafe. Until then, grab a box of Hex beans and visit the espresso bar for fun espresso “cocktails.” Hex Coffee is located in Good Bottle Co. at 125 Remount Rd.. –Justin Burke-Samson 

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