What started out as a college business project in 2013 turned into Amy Gough’s career and passion.
“I chose coffee for the project and learned so much about the industry while doing the homework assignment; I found I really wanted to pursue this in real life,” she recalled.
In 2022, a building was up for sale in Kimball, and Gough took advantage of the opportunity, bought the building, attended a coffee school, and opened Coffee Cantina in 2023.
“I came up with Coffee Cantina because I wanted to use the initials of my late grandpa’s name, Claude Carl, but also incorporate being a coffee bar, thus the name Coffee Cantina was born,” she said.
“We make a specialty menu each month and we try each one to make sure they are perfect for our customers.”
-AMy Gough
The face of the coffee shop is a light-hearted donkey, which is sporting sunglasses in the logo.
“The donkey came into play when I wanted to keep our family’s Western style part of my business,” said Gough. “My family is also a big, sarcastic, smart-ass group of people. The donkey just fits our personalities perfectly.”
Coffee Cantina’s menu also reflects the Western style with fan favorites like Be My Huckleberry with caramel, toasted marshmallow, and vanilla, and the Wild Bill with dark chocolate, caramel, hazelnut, and almond.
In addition, the menu includes Cantina Energy drinks like the Sunset Jack with cherry, cantaloupe, and cream topped with orange juice, Sugarless Drinks like the Pegasus with sugar-free white lotus, mango, coconut, and pineapple, and Blended Bliss with the Lasso with chocolate and peanut butter.
Smoothie lovers can order items like the Sharp Shooter with peach, and if patrons are more into tea they can order options like the Lavender Chai Tea Latte with lavender cold foam.
MORE ON THE MENU
SIGNATURE DRINKS
Doc Holiday
Dark chocolate and almond.
CANTINA ENERGY
Kickin’ It Kasi
Purple lotus, blueberry, and lavender.
COLD BREW
Dessert Dawn
Toasted marshmallow sweet cream.
SUGARLESS DRINKS
Blaze Runner
Sugar-free white lotus, raspberry, pineapple, and passion fruit.
BLENDED BLISS
Spur
Caramel/cinnamon and sugar churro.
SMOOTHIES
Outlaw
Peach/banana.
TEA
Oatmeal Cookie Chai Tea Latte
Spiced brown sugar, white sauce, and sugar can sweet cream.
Gough says the Kimball location brings in a lot of locals for quality beverages, but also brings in hundreds of tourists.
“We saw a traveler from each of the 50 states in our first year of being open. This doesn’t even count the out-of-country travelers,” she said. “We’ve had visitors from Russia, Ireland, Canada, South Africa, New Zealand, just to name a few.”
Patrons can either order inside or go through the drive-thru. Gough says customers often order ahead online so their food and drinks are ready ahead of time. For food items, Coffee Cantina provides pastries from the local grocery store bakery department and breakfast sandwiches.
When asked for Gough’s go-to order, she says it’s hard to choose, as they taste-test each item.
“To pick one favorite, that’s a hard one,” she said. “I’m going to go with the Cowboy Mocha with a cold foam top. It literally tastes like pudding.”
“We actually have a map in our Store For All the travelers to pin where they are coming from. it was so fun to see that map fill up so quickly.”
– Amy Gough
Just in time for tourism season, Gough and her team opened a new location May 19 in Oacoma in the Pump‘N Pak gas station, which also has walk-in and drive-thru options.
“I chose Oacoma because I wanted to see more travelers,” she said. “We see so many out-of-staters at our Kimball location and we just knew we’d see that number grow being in Oacoma.”
Gough says this will open the opportunity to grow with their products and cater to hunters, fishermen, and more.
When she’s not working, Gough says she’‑s always still brainstorming new drinks, creative ideas, and ways to engage with customers.
“I’m very passionate about what we do and how we deliver our product,” said Gough. “I love visiting. I just look forward to our growth.”
