As early as the 1400’s, people have been meeting up to drink coffee together. Historically, coffee shops were important places to play games, socialize and discuss politics and news. Fast forward to today and everyone around the world is still gathering in coffee shops, working and reconnecting face to face – something often more challenging in this age of technology, social media and our virtual world.
A new concept in meeting up for coffee, created by local Hush Hush Coffee, is the ‘outdoor coffee shop' experience or the “Nomadic Café” – where friends and family venture out to sip coffee together in the great outdoors, no matter the season or weather and no matter how remote the meet up location. Bend Lifestyle magazine spoke with Hush Hush Coffee and Nomadic Café owners and operators, Adam Foster and Ron Sparks, about cultivating this new phenomenon in Central Oregon.
Where are you both originally from?
Adam: I am originally from Michigan; my wife and I came out here ten years ago when we were traveling and living full-time in our 1982 Volkswagen Westfalia to house-sit a relative’s 80-acre ranch out in Terrebonne. We fell in love with the area and found a place to rent in town and jobs to allow us to stay longer term.
Ron: I grew up mostly in the Willamette Valley but have had family in the Bend area for thirty years. Nine years ago, my wife Julia and I moved to Bend from Corvallis – we wanted to be in Oregon with the sun, and we decided to come here for the outdoor spaces.
How did you two get into the coffee business? Where does the coffee come from?
Adam: Being coffee nerds together for the last eight years, it kind of sprouted organically. We met here in Bend at a food event at a co-working space and started talking about our love for coffee. After that it was a TON of brewing, roasting, meeting up at other cafes in town, and dreaming about doing something in the coffee space someday. We began running the Hush Hush events, then added the coffee subscription. The idea for the cafe cart and the addition of the new roaster are more recent. The coffee is sourced from several amazing importers around the country that spend a ton of time and energy getting to know the farmers over many years and making sure they are paid above market rate.
Ron: We met the first year we were both in Bend. I met Adam at a fun 'amuse-bouche' food event. Becoming friends at some point with our common love of coffee was clear. We each had worked in coffee in the past and both worked in some kind of creative space. In a world where everything is digital and fast, there was something organic about the processes of being intentional for a moment in the morning and connecting with people that we loved.
Tell us about how the idea for outdoor coffee experiences started.
Hush Hush Coffee started nine years ago as a fun hobby— roasting beans in Ron’s garage and sharing them with friends and family. It was never meant to be a business, just a love for good coffee and good company.
That love turned into something more when we started building outdoor coffee kits in Stanley lunch boxes that we’d use when travéling or camping or sneaking away on lunch breaks to brew pour-overs in the park. One day, we thought, “Why not invite some friends?” That first official Nomadic Café happened about 2.5 years ago with just eight people. Then we put it on our social media and it grew fast— 8 became 20, then 50, and now nearly 100 people gather with us every month to chase the sunrise and share a slow cup together. We’ve just kept pulling on the thread of our community and coffee and slow moments… and people keep coming and friends have been made.
The Hush Hush Coffee Club subscription launched just over a year ago as a way to share our love of coffee and slow mornings with others. What started as a garage hobby has become a growing community, fueled by adventure, connection, and really good coffee.
How are you investing in your small business and how does that impact your community?
At Hush Hush Coffee, every investment we make is rooted in our love for community, sustainability, and the wild spaces that inspire us. As a small, locally owned business, we believe that investing in the right things—people, planet, and quality—creates ripples that go far beyond just a good cup of coffee. The thing we invest the most is our time. We also think that if whatever we are doing doesn't turn out huge, we know that at least we brought people together and hopefully made them feel part of a community.
One of our biggest investments this year is in our roasting process. We’re moving to an on-site, fully electric, ventless roaster at Chariot Bike, Ron’s wife Julia’s bike shop. This cutting-edge technology recycles and re-burns its own air, eliminating VOC emissions and making our roasting process one of the most sustainable in the industry. By investing in this cleaner roasting method, we’re reducing our footprint and keeping the air in Bend as fresh as the mountain mornings we love.
We also invest in packaging that aligns with our values—100% recyclable coffee bags and stickers made from plants—so that every cup of Hush Hush Coffee leaves no trace. And with every order placed, we plant a tree through 1 Tree Planted, investing in the very landscapes that fuel our adventures.
But beyond sustainability, we’re investing in slowing down. Our coffee space at Chariot Bike will serve only pour-over coffee, intentionally inviting people to pause, connect, and savor the moment. We want it to be known as Bend’s Slowest Coffee—a reminder that great things take time, and that slowing down is an investment in itself.
All of these efforts—our roasting, our packaging, our events, our slow coffee—are investments in a deeper kind of wealth: community. The Hush Hush community isn’t just about drinking coffee; it’s about gathering before sunrise, brewing coffee together in the wild, and fostering real connections. And that’s the kind of return on investment we care about most.
What are your future plans for Hush Hush Coffee and Nomadic Café?
We are busy bringing Bend’s Slowest Coffee to life….slowly. As mentioned, we are building out our coffee cart/space inside Chariot Bike Shop, creating a cozy little space where people can slow down and savor a proper pour-over. We hope to be open at least one or two days a week in this new space by late spring.
Our goal is to continue to host a Nomadic Café once a month, but life has a way of keeping things interesting—especially since Adam just adopted a toddler! So while that’s still the goal, we’re giving ourselves a little grace and flexibility. Whether it’s monthly or slightly less frequent, we’ll always make space for slow mornings.
What is your mission statement?
Our mission is simple: to build community through coffee and adventure. To build the world we want to live in for the people around us. To take such care that people are drawn to return. To be a little antidote to the digital world and make space to connect slowly.
HushHushCoffee.com
All of these efforts—our roasting, our packaging, our events, our slow coffee—are investments in a deeper kind of wealth: community. The Hush Hush community isn’t just about drinking coffee; it’s about gathering before sunrise, brewing coffee together in the wild, and fostering real connections.
-Adam Foster and Ron Sparks, founders of Hush Hush Coffee