How Maury County Built One of Tennessee’s Best Local Coffee Scenes
From innovative entrepreneurs to homegrown coffee bros to a new wave of coffee connoisseurs, Maury County has you covered for a daily dose of caffeine.
At the center of the coffee scene is Muletown Coffee Roasters, which channels Columbia’s heritage and embodies a “Muletown” spirit of grit and tenacity. The shop prioritizes tradition over trends, offering a sense of home in every cup.
Meanwhile, Towne Café provides a similar experience, blending specialty espresso with locally inspired gourmet plates.
Bean There a Long Time
But this thriving culture didn’t appear overnight; it was built on the risks taken by early pioneers like Tarri Bye. When Bye moved from Spokane, Washington, to Maury County nearly a quarter-century ago, she left the coffee culture of the Pacific Northwest – and its plethora of drive-through coffee stands – behind.
So, when Bye and her husband decided to launch the Tennessee Coffee and Smoothie Co. in 2002, she says, “It was the craziest thing we’ve ever done.”
After 24 years, the double drive-through serving cold brew, mochas, lattes and Coffee Coolers – a fan-favorite slushie-fied frozen coffee drink – is one of the oldest coffee shops in Columbia and still going strong.
Bye believes the coffee stand’s business model is a huge part of its success. “When somebody tells me, ‘I want to open up a coffee shop,’ I say you better put in a drive-through,” she says.
She cites quick customer service and lower real estate and overhead costs as key advantages. Alongside those logistical benefits, she also credits her staff with helping the business flourish.
“We have really, really nice people who work for us,” Bye says. “We live in a society where people live on their phones and don’t make eye contact, and our staff has made the difference.”
And for those wanting to take a little more time over their daily dose of caffeine, Bye also has a sit-down outpost in the lobby of Destiny Church in downtown Columbia.
Full Steam Ahead
Community is also a driving force for Joshua Merrill, owner of Columbia’s Legacy Coffee Co.
“When you’re at a coffee shop specifically, you watch groups of people of different backgrounds, different religions, different races – things that would separate people in their daily lives – interact, and the walls come down,” Merrill says. “People get along.”
Legacy started small, opening inside a hand-built coffee trailer in Spring Hill in 2016 that took Merrill an entire summer to build. But the ultimate objective was always a traditional coffee shop.
“It’s hard to have a meeting or first date around a food truck, so the goal for us was always to have a space,” Merrill says.
Since then, Legacy has experienced continual growth, relocating multiple times before settling in its current forever home.
Merrill initially obtained roasted coffee beans from local outfit Muletown Coffee Roasters but quickly began sourcing and airroasting his own beans. He also uses local milk from Flowers Creamery in nearby Ethridge, Tennessee, which, he says, is especially delicious in Legacy’s bestselling Hillbilly Hipster, a cinnamon, bourbon caramel and honey latte.
The results have paid dividends in loyal customers. “We’ve had some of the best community and people around to support a business that’s moved four times,” Merrill says
The Daily Grind
Relative newcomers to Maury County’s coffee scene, Savannah Starr and Joshua James, owners of Hank’s Coffee Station, started brewing out of a trailer in Leiper’s Fork in 2023 before expanding to Franklin in 2024 and Columbia in 2025. “We’ve always been drawn to the full coffee experience, from the agricultural side to the final cup,” Starr says. “It’s how we start our days and how we wind them down.”
Hank’s (named after the pair’s charismatic rescue pit bull) offers “intentional hospitality,” Starr says.
“From our baked goods made from scratch to our house-made syrups to our professionally trained baristas, we care deeply about every detail,” she says. “Our spaces are designed to feel warm and familiar, blending French countryside charm with the feeling of being in your grandmother’s home.”
Hank’s top seller is the salted whipped honey latte.
Together, these businesses illustrate the heart of the local coffee culture.
Get to Know Maury County, TN
Want to learn more about living and working in Maury County? Check out the latest edition of Livability: Maury County Business.