Meet Ticy Cox and her 24-year-old daughter, Ayanna, the founders and owners of Kawaha Java, the first Black-owned gourmet coffee shop in the Owensburg, Kentucky area.

The mother-and-daughter duo has always been passionate about coffee and the atmosphere that local coffee shops provide for conversations. That is what inspired them to open Kahawa Java with the motto: “The pattern of coffee and conversation.”

While they were looking for the perfect location for the coffee shop, they found out that they are also offering something new to the area. The coffee shop is situated within a residential area where people can stop by to get their cup of coffee.

“Talking with the realtor, he said ‘there’s nothing [like this] over here, nothing at all.’ So we wanted to bring something to the west side and it ended up being exactly that,” Ticy told the Owensboro Times.

The name Kahawa Java comes from their Swahili roots, which literally means “Coffee Coffee.” But aside from coffee, they also serve teas, matches, and pastries. They also have a room for spoken word and live music performances.

Moreover, they hope to expand beyond the walls of their location as they plan to also open a coffee truck. Since launching their shop a few months ago, they have also added catering and coffee services at different events.

“We hope to outgrow the space and hope that we do amazing to where we can take it to the next place that we go and do our own build, but you never know,” Ayanna said.