A local coffee business offers more than just a caffeine fix

By: Nick Viland
Posted on: Friday, November 12, 2021

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On top of a table sits cold brew coffee, flavored syrups and a speaker.

To the average person it may appear as just that, but for Sean Smothers it means more.

“I’m not just selling coffee, I’m making friends,” Smothers said.

That mentality he has is how he uses the business to help others reconnect and talk with each other. Something Smothers thinks that society has lacked over the past five years. 

 “Come back to life, start looking at the people around you that you love and just appreciate every single phase of your life,” he said.

It’s something Smothers thinks that Jukebox Java is a symbol of all of that.

The location of his stand right now is settled behind some bushes in front of a fraternity on College Street. Some pedestrians, if they don’t hear his music playing, could walk past without even knowing.

In order to get customers he has to hit the street. Greeting every student and local community member that passes by.

He doesn’t sell the idea of just coffee, he sells getting your morning started on the right foot. With a fresh cup of coffee and music.

The Jukebox with the Java

Starbucks puts your name on your cup, some coffee companies put your order but for Jukebox Java has something unique.

A bright colored sticker on every cup with a different song title and band for the customer to go look up.

Smothers wants to showcase uncommon bands and songs to give the customers a chance to hear something new. He hopes that this will help get people talking again.

“You have a cup of coffee and you look at other Jukebox Java cups around them and think we have some sort of community, we have some comradery,” he said. “Then you can talk about music and we can talk about things that matter.”

It may just be a table, but the mixture of coffee roasts, musical rhythms and relationships that Jukebox Java uses to make the world a better place. 

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