Coffee is enjoyed by many Americans and other cultures. It is enjoyed for many different reasons such as its aroma — filling the atmosphere enough to alert you that it’s time to start your day. Maybe it’s the excitement you get from hearing the sound it makes as its filling the coffee pot from where you added your favorite coffee beans, and are now either patiently or impatiently waiting to get that first hot taste, that surge of caffeine to boost your energy and keep you awake, or lastly, it is the social interaction of meeting up with coworkers, friends, or classmates to conduct business or go over a class project, simply just killing time. Whatever the reason may be, coffee certainly does have a long history.
Meet James and Sarah Yourell, they are the proud coffee truck owners of Frothy Sloth Coffee Hut. James is from Hingham, Massachusetts and Sarah hails from Elyria, Ohio. Moving to Florida when she was just 19, this is where she met James, who was also living in Florida. What followed soon afterwards was James joining the Marine Corps in California. Sarah eventually made the move there.
Somewhere along the way, they both felt compelled to purchase a small mobile trailer because having this mobile trailer made it easier for them to just automatically pick-up and go whenever James would get transferred from one station to the next. “It made the transition for 13 years traveling all over to different places easier,” said Sarah.
“I was medically retiring from the Marine Corps, trying to figure out what to do with my life and I was able to do a program through the military called a skill bridge where you can work with other local businesses that will help you transition out of the Marine Corps into the real world to have a job. So, I was fortunate enough to work with a local coffee trailer on Camp Lejeune called Pine Stand and I learned everything from them, how to make coffee, expresso, the ins and outs of the trailer, how to build, and with the help of the owner from Pine Stand we put this trailer together and we started on May of 2022, renovating it from a mobile storage unit to a mobile coffee trailer,” said James.
Once James retired, they renovated their mobile trailer into a mobile coffee truck. They first started out in Onslow County at Camp Lejeune for about a year and in 2023, they relocated and took a chance at trying the “mountain life” in Colorado.
“Yeah, this is on wheels, so we took it with us. He got a job at the airport, I just started working, we picked up there, and we did that for a year, and then we turned around and came back. We found some property we’ve always wanted, and we liked Colorado but not enough to sacrifice the expense and financial burden. We wanted a little bit of land, there it’s different, a lot more expensive for a smaller amount of property, so we found something here and ended up in Wallace,” says Sarah. The moving had become routine for them every few years, but with their son getting older, the transitions started being a little harder for him to move around because he’s into football and making friends, plus, they just wanted somewhere simple to lay roots, have some space, be able to hunt, raise their rabbits and have a place to permanently call home.
“I’m loving having this to be able to travel and meet new people, it’s nice to be able to offer coffee, give back to active duty and service members. I just like the camaraderie. I was in the beauty industry for 15 plus years and I love communicating so it’s fun to be out and meeting new people all the time,” states Sarah.
This coffee trailer is the first and only business the Yourell’s have together. They both decided to take a leap of faith and do something fun, pertaining to what’s behind their company’s mascot, the sloth, which is slow, and for James, transitioning out of the Marine Corps, although there is nothing slow about driving around in a coffee trailer because they are always on the go, James said, “As a family we came up with the name Frothy Sloth Coffee Hut.”
James was trying not to have a boss after spending 13 years in the Marine Corps with multiple bosses who already had their own different attitudes and personalities, therefore, he figured that after retiring, he would just get out here and work for himself, not having to answer to anyone. By doing so, he and Sarah give back to the military and Marines when they can by going on base as often as they can to leave food and coffee because the Marines may not have enough time to leave work. Some compounds that they have frequented are Camp Lejeune Second Maintenance Battalion and MCAS New River. They do this to lift the soldiers’ spirits.
They also serve hot chocolates, chocolate milk, cheese, breakfast snacks, muffins, decaf, and when they do events such as Trunk-or-Treats in October for Halloween, weddings, birthdays, school events, and more.
“We get to work together, which is fun, interesting, being your own boss, making your own schedule, showing other people that you can do anything you want to do, you don’t have to answer to corporate America, you can do your own thing if you want to, it’s not that hard, you just got to have a mindset and ambition and figure it out,” says James.
Sarah says she enjoys the flexibility of serving and meeting new people and that this opportunity allows them to do something different all the time.
The coffee grinds they use are from Hatchet Coffee Roasters and Ax Head Coffee. “We use these companies because we have found that their coffee beans are smoother and easier on the stomach of people with acid issues. Me and James both drink our own coffee. We would not dare serve something to our customers that we ourselves do not try. We love coffee, but we’re trying to watch our caffeine intake” says Sarah.
Asking a bystander named Justin Dunton how he’d rate their coffee on a scale of one to ten, he stated nine, and quoted, “My coffee has just the right amount of everything when most places add too much. This drink is smooth and very good.”
Christina Barrena said, “The coffee I ordered is very good. It’s my first time here and I ordered an Iced Mocha Latte with Vanilla. I will be visiting again.”
On Wednesdays of every week, you can find James and Sarah in Kenansville, North Carolina in the parking lot across from the Pizza Corner from 7:00 AM-10:30 AM serving coffee. James has served at stations: 29 Palms California (2009-2014), Hawaii (2014-2017), Illinois (2017-2020), Bahrain (2020-2021) and Camp Lejeune (2021-2022). He medically retired from Camp Lejeune at Second Maintenance Battalion on May 30, 2022. He and Sarah share a 13-year-old son named Derek Yourell. James, thank you for your service, and now coffee!
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