The bees of Mount Washington couldn’t be happier with a recently opened shop.

Honey Depot & Coffee House has opened its first of five planned shops, starting here in Mount Washington. 

Co-owner, Craig Bishop, explains how a local honey farm found itself in the coffee industry. Honey Depot & Coffee House elucidates their goals, and why they are targeting small towns. Bishop is optimistic about the future of Honey Depot & Coffee House. 

Honeybear Farms  was once a small, local, honey farm. However, it decided to make a bigger name for itself. “So in 2021, the guy who owned Honeybear Farms [Joel Gonia] came to my cafe, which I had downtown and we kind of hit it off. We thought you know, it’d be a great thing to blend these two things together; a coffee shop and a honey store. And so here we are.” Craig Bishop said, who was the owner of Christmas Morning Cafe before partnering with Gonia. 

“We brought these two businesses together, kind of as an experiment to see, you know, will people come in and buy coffee and not honey, or are people going to come in to buy honey and not coffee? And who knew right? And it’s working.” Bishop said. Even though the store opened a mere two months ago, the shop constantly has customers coming in and out of the doors. Whether it’s honey or coffee, people who walk in typically leave with something in their hands. 

Honey Depot & Coffee House is known for having a less than typical selection of honey. “We have cinnamon vanilla, a lavender, elderberry, we even have the spicy bee venom, which is a spicy bourbon honey.” Bishop said. While all of the flavors are appealing, cinnamon vanilla and spicy bee venom stand out as the store’s best sellers in the honey department. If you’re looking for a bit of pep in your step, the bourbon caramel latte is the big seller in the coffee part of the store. “If you’re trying something for the first time and you don’t like it, we’re gonna make something you do.” Bishop said. 

These products are sold in the hopes of making revenue, the shop has a bigger goal in mind. “Our goal is to sell more honey, get people knowing about the honey, and then understand that you can do things like we do.” Bishop said. While business is the execution, teaching people is the idea of the store. 

Lessons on bees were a commodity for Honeybear Farms before changing to Honey Depot & Coffee House , and that is expected to carry over. “We still have those classes where people can come in and learn. Next year it’ll be quarterly. That’s one of the differences. And Joel will monitor those classes.” Bishop said. Before the store expanded, classes were given weekly. However, with the new edition of coffee, lessons have taken a step back, but will still be readily available. 

“Small towns get left out. We want to be a part of those small towns and be a part of the community and do things with the school.” Bishop said. Honey Depot & Coffee House is expanding in hopes of making a large impact, and what better place than in small communities.

 Honey Depot & Coffee House is taking its first steps in business terms, and is looking to expand over the course of the next 6 months. “The insurance office is moving and so we’re going to expand into that because we are essentially out of room.” Bishop said. Besides that, there will be more shops opening up in Jeffersontown, Middletown, Prospect, and Simpsonville. Jeffersontown will likely be the second to open. 

 “We’re glad to be a part of it.” Bishop said. The people of Mount Washington have been mouth watering at the idea of a coffee shop for years, and here it finally is.