On a busy stretch of University Park Drive, a coffee cart is giving Waco runners, residents and passersby a new place to stop for a drink.
Novum Coffee opened in late September outside Riverfront Lofts, where owner Thomas Woolley is starting his first business after years of working as a barista and in commercial kitchens. Woolley is putting an emphasis on the ingredients that go into each drink, drawing from the food culture he grew up around in the Pacific Northwest.
Woolley, who split his time between Portland and Seattle, said the region’s focus on farm-to-table restaurants influenced the way he wanted to approach Novum.
“You can’t really do farm to table coffee, but I wanted to implement sort of that same model as it relates to quality ingredients,” Woolley said.
That means using water and ice from local Waco supplier Blue Jug and milk from Mill-King, which Woolley said gives the drinks a creamier texture. He also makes the syrups and chai in-house and is working with a local roastery to supply the coffee.
“I think that’s kind of where we stand out a little bit is there’s no stone unturned in terms of what we’re trying to do here,” Woolley said. “Quality, I would say.”
The idea behind Novum came after Woolley spent most of his working life in coffee and commercial kitchens. He has worked as a barista and cook since he was 16 and decided earlier this year that he wanted to open a business of his own.
He considered going into food but ultimately chose coffee, partly because a cart was a more manageable way to start.
Riverfront Lofts has allowed Woolley to set up at the location for free. He said the busy street and amount of foot traffic made it a good place for an outdoor coffee cart.
“There’s a lot of people walking by,” Woolley said. “It’s a busy street and I just thought having an outdoor coffee cart would be super fun for people.”
The cart offers four specialty drinks, along with matcha and chai. Woolley said the Terra drink, made with sea salt, caramel and boricha syrup, has been one of the most popular. The strawberry matcha has also been a favorite.
Woolley said he was initially nervous about entering a Waco coffee scene that has seen several new businesses open in recent years.
“I was like, oh man, I don’t want to be just another coffee shop,” Woolley said. “But, I mean, they seem to say the more the merrier.”
For now, Woolley is focused on getting a feel for Waco and building a customer base. His long-term goal is to eventually move Novum from a cart into a coffee truck and, ultimately, a brick-and-mortar location.
