The Affogato coffee truck: Coffee infused with love and chaos
By Krista Kirkham
On the corner of 100 South and Bluff Street, nestled in the parking lot of the Red Rock Bicycle Co., sits the Affogato coffee truck. Strangers and friends alike gather around the truck, sitting in the red and blue camping chairs and joining in casual conversation. Everyone has a drink in their hand and a smile on their face.
“I want them to feel like they’re sitting in my kitchen or living room,” said Elise West, the owner of Affogato. “Anyone is welcome.”
The truck is 28 feet long, almost 14 feet tall, and weighs in at 25,000 pounds. Inside, there are five refrigerators, three coffee grinders, an espresso machine, an ice machine, and two blenders — all powered by one 50,000-watt generator. The truck is a beautiful giant designed to handle the biggest crowds while maintaining the highest standards of gourmet beverages.
You would never guess it looking at Affogato’s menu, but West didn’t drink coffee until she was 26.
“I started off drinking Folgers,” she said, “I just doctored it up with some milk and sugar.” It wasn’t until the late ‘90s, when the Salt Lake City coffee scene began to grow, that Elise started to branch out. She now starts each day off with Davis and Clark Superfood Coffee, her personal favorite drink on the menu.
“We named the drink after two different guys that came on separate days and ordered the butter coffee,” West explains. Inside Affogato’s best-selling beverage is espresso, coconut oil, unsalted Kerrygold butter, five spices, raw cacao, collagen, and coconut sugar. The Davis and Clark is full of good fats and sustainable energy, and like all of Affogato’s signature drinks, it is handcrafted with high-quality natural ingredients.
“If it’s not good,” she said with pride, “it doesn’t go out the window.” When possible, West sources her ingredients locally. The beans she brews are roasted by River Rock Roasting Company in LaVerkin and Espressions Beans in Phoenix. She also sells homemade vegan pastries made by Little Birds Catering and hand-crafted mugs made by local artist Brady Richardson. The truck offers 12 different syrups, and all but two of them are made in-house. The menu is simple but diverse.
“It’s like Mexican food,” she said. “You have 10 ingredients, but you can make 500 dishes.”
West says she feels like an alchemist in the kitchen. She’s takes pride in creating drinks that can’t be found anywhere else. Her menu features a wide variety of coffee beverages, including the classics like lattes, Americanos, and cappuccinos but also featuring her own unique creations.
“I could taste the attention to high-quality, health-conscious ingredients,” said a customer.
The Feellove Moscovato Latte is crafted with Moscovato brown sugar, espresso, and milk and topped with a molasses drizzle. The Affogato Love is the truck’s signature dessert: a scoop of locally-made vanilla bean ice cream topped with a shot of espresso. The Dirty Hawaiian, inspired by an Almond Joy candy bar, is a rich drink loaded with dark chocolate, coconut, and almond flavors. It comes topped with whipped cream, chocolate drizzle, and flaked almonds. All of Affogato’s beverages can be made with a large variety of milks including whole, fat-free, coconut, almond, and even cashew.
Although West has been experimenting in the kitchen since childhood, opening a coffee shop wasn’t always part of her plan. From retail to restaurants and even the airline industry, Elise has done it all. She recently managed Café Soleil in Springdale, which she credits for giving her the knowledge and confidence to open Affogato.
West is not a St. George native. Her father worked for Johnson & Johnson during her childhood, and because of his work transfers, she grew up all over the United States. She moved to Orem at the age of 12 and has spent most of her time in Utah ever since. Despite moving around a lot as a child, West always made friends with ease.
“I’m a bit of an extrovert,” she explains.
After spending the last eight years of her life in St. George, it now feels like her home.
“I’ve found my tribe here,” she said. St. George is a city full of transplants, West being one of them. She loves change and believes the diverse community keeps things interesting.
The truck, built in Brazil in 1988, has a history almost as unique as its current owner. Its first decade was spent as ice cream truck on the Chicago pier. After that, it sat in storage for nearly a decade until it was purchased by the Phoenix resident who transformed it into the coffee-shop-on-wheels it is today. He used Affogato for few years before he put it up for sale on Craigslist.
“A friend told me about the ad,” West said. She had been looking for a location to open a coffee shop for months, but nothing had felt quite right. After checking out the at the ad on Craigslist, she drove down to Phoenix to see the truck in person. She even worked it at a few events before making the purchase to ensure it was a good fit. Her first official day of business was July 4, 2017, and she’s been busy ever since.
“I have no free time.” West said. Her truck is open from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily, and West herself works 16-hour days. When she isn’t in the truck crafting beverages for her beloved customers, she handling everything behind the scenes. On any given day, you can probably find West sitting in her office at a round plastic table on the porch of Red Rock Bicycle Co. Between orders, payroll, shopping, and managing, the truck takes up all of her time.
West is full of energy and thrives on being busy.
“I’m at my happiest when I’m being productive and tackling my list, when every drink that goes out the window is top quality,” she said.
Her positive energy is clearly contagious, a common trait shared between all of Affogato’s employees.
“The coffee is fantastic,” one customer said, “and the staff is just as lovely.” Elise’s baristas are like family to her.
“We all have such love and respect for each other,” she said. West, Kimmy, Bradley, Monica, Sam, and Katie work gracefully together in an extremely tight space. In fact, in seven months of business West said that the work environment has remained completely drama-free. The happy energy of the baristas is an essential part of the Affogato experience.
“It’s more pleasure than work” she said, “and that’s when I know it’s meant to be.”
Like the truck, her baristas and many other aspects of her business simply fell right into place.
“I didn’t even have to interview,” she said, “they all just came to me.” As far as location goes, she was approached by the marketing manager of Red Rock Bicycle Co., who asked if she’d be interested in parking her truck in their lot. She agreed, and said it’s been “heaven” ever since.
With only herself as a guide, West dove head first into life as a business owner, and she hasn’t looked back. Within the next six months, West thinks she’ll be ready to open a brick-and-mortar location, and although it wasn’t her plan originally, she now sees the truck as a perfect starting point. She’s currently in the process of rebranding her business and truck to add her own personal touch: Affogato West. With her gourmet menu and personable crew, West has already made her mark. But by adding her last name to the end of “Affogato,” the truck will become undeniably her own.
“You either fear it or you love it,” West said, “and when you love it, the sky is the limit.” To anyone aspiring to follow a similar path, she said not to discount your abilities but not to be afraid of hard work. Opening Affogato has been the hardest thing she’s ever done but also the most rewarding. You can see passion and commitment, not only in the success of her business but in the way her eyes light up when she talks about everything she’s accomplished.
“Our drinks are hand-crafted,” West said, “with love and chaos.” Her mission in opening Affogato was to bring St. George a new kind of coffee shop where she could share her passion for quality, health, and experience with the community. Undoubtedly, all of her customers would agree that she has accomplished exactly that and more.
