October 18, 2014 – Ames Tribune (front page)

Coffee truck ready to percolate in Ames
By Anthony Capps, Staff Writer

Coffee from a truck is just around the corner for Ames.

Andrew Burgason, operations manager of Burgie’s Coffee, is branching out the family business with a coffee truck that will hit the streets in early November.

The coffee truck will be like a typical espresso bar with pastries and some deli food options.

The truck is a 1958 Grumman Olson truck that Steve Myers, owner of Skunk River Restorations, brought in from Martha’s Vineyard. The vehicle has been a work in progress for about 10 months. With nearly all the work done, the final product will soon hit the streets.

Burgason said once everything is worked out, the Iowa State University campus will be a stop for the truck, as well as hotspots in popular areas — locations still are being determined.

Burgason said prices might be a little more expensive for the coffee truck experience but they will remain competitive with other places. The truck is different from other food trucks because it is run entirely on battery power. Batteries will provide the power for the coffee process, eliminating the need for a generator.

“It definitely looks a lot classier,” Myers said. “It turned out to be better than I expected.”

After about two year’s of discussing it, Burgie’s Coffee was ready for the project.

“The initial pitch was a real cool truck to serve their product,” said Myers, who has been working on cars for about 14 years. “I made a diagram of all the different vehicles in the mid 1950s, and we chose which one was the preferred one.”

There is another look-alike vehicle, too. It was purchased at the same time as the updated one, but it remains in a state of disrepair and hasn’t been worked on. For now, it stays in the garage. If the first truck is a success, it may someday be restored and be a second vehicle for the venture.

The new truck also will have a spot for wine and beer so the vehicle can go to parties and special events. The first event it will be at is in early December at Prairie Moon Winery.

“We’re all feeling excited,” said Burgason, who works with his brother, Jordan, in the family business, too. “This is new territory for us.”

The coffee will be made in front of customers with plenty of empty counter space and equipment not necessary to coffee making kept under counters.

“The space of the truck is limiting,” Burgason said. “But we still want to bring people in on the process of making it. It gives us an opportunity to do something different and take it to people.”

Front-page photo caption: “Andrew Burgason, left, Steve Myers and Jordan Burgason stand in front of the almost-completed Burgie’s coffee truck.” Photo by Anthony Capps/Ames Tribune.