New coffee business supporting veterans opens in Gahanna

GAHANNA, Ohio (WCMH) — A new walk-up shop in Gahanna that has been in the works for a decade is now serving coffee and supporting veterans in the process.

SGT. Coffee Co. set up shop at 106 Short St. on Monday. The business is owned by married couple Ryan and Brandi Sargent. For the 25 years they’ve been a couple, they have talked about starting a business together, Ryan said. 

“We would go out early Saturday mornings to go on coffee dates,” Ryan said. “We started doing the Columbus coffee tour. We finished the whole booklet … we were like, we could probably do this. So we kind of started dreaming about what it would be like.”

As an army veteran himself, Ryan said he and his wife hope to sponsor a local veteran nonprofit once a month through the coffee shop. Brandi also recently lost a family member who was a veteran, and created a drink named after him – proceeds from the purchase of that drink will go toward a veterans’ charity. 

“I have a cousin who passed away a little over a year ago, his call on the radio was Easy42,” Brandi said. “He was a veteran, he served in Afghanistan and his favorite was a caramel latte. So the drink is named after him — his radio call — and 10% of the drink we’re gonna give back to the Gary Sinise Foundation.” 

SGT. Coffee Co. is set up in a mobile pop-up camper which the couple converted into the walk-up coffee shop. The business serves coffees, sparkling drinks and tea, and has partnered with Crimson Cup for their flavors, syrups and sauces. 

“As of right now it’s all drinks, but after the first week of July we’ll be serving Madelyn’s of Granville and they’re vegan and gluten free pastries,” Brandi said. 

The coffee shop is open Monday through Friday from 6:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.