Indiana Coffee Shop

It's going to be nice! Low humidity! Get out there and enjoy the Indiana State Fair--but don't forget to visit us for an iced coffee, fresh-squeezed juice, or just some shennanigans.

You put a lot of beans into your favorite coffee shop. You come here each morning to not only fill your cup with our smooth blends, you also enjoy the counterculture: the quirky regulars, the ever-changing artwork, the friendly baristas, and the self-employed laptop set, with whom you might have even made important business connections (and if you haven't, you should!)

Stand up for your favorite coffee shop. Vote for us as the best coffee shop for The Indy Channel's "A List." We couldn't get the badge thingy to work, so CLICK THE PICTURE to go to the voting page. Thanks! 

Hey all you weather-beaten Hoosiers:
Willy has the weather scoop for you. You can expect at least one day of sunshine in the next few days, but the rest will be muggy and warm--perfect for a Sunshine Smoothie with mango, payapya, pineapple, peach, ginger and carrot. Lots of fresh updates are coming to this favorite Indianapolis coffee shop, including cool new mosaic tables (stay tuned for those).

And did you know that Nuvo rated Monon the favorite Broad Ripple cafe? Thanks to reader votes, it's true. Thanks to everyone who weighed in!

It's Weather Willy Wednesday: Willy gives you the low-down on our chilly summer. Plus, the scoop on parking at the best Indianapolis coffee shop. Don't forget to not leave your car here overnight! You can park behind the MCC or in the lot by the side of Bungalow (those "reserved" signs are for us), but after 5 p.m., only directly behind our building. Weather Willy explains it all.

Anna Witte's mixed media paintings have been attracting a lot of praise and gawking inside the coffee shop. It's hard to pinpoint all the sources of inspiration for these all-at-once African and medieval-inspired paintings. They look sort of like mythology from King Arthur's Court meets "Where the Wild Things Are."

"Themes that I draw from are story telling and performance: circus, dance and music," says Witte, who grew up in Germany and Spain. She also illustrates children's books. Visit her Web site at www.annawitte.com, and come in to see a great array of gorgeous paintings for purchase.

Look at this giant tower of iciness. That's a whole buncha cool, ice-crunchy goodness below that spaceship-like orb that is its plastic cup top. It's coolness all the way around.

The drink shown is our mocha freeze, but this favorite is now available in a new, young, updated version without wrinkles--vanilla malt freeze! That's right, kids (or adults), you get the taste of vanilla and candy-sweet malt, whipped to oblivion so it slides down your throat. You don't even have to swallow!

We're not just the best Broad Ripple cafe or coffee shop, we're the best malt shack in the neighborhood, too!

Sunny and in the '80s, he says! But what about the weekend? You'll have to check his forecast ...

Stay tuned for new summer coffee drinks at the Monon Coffee Shop.

Come in for a coffee, leave with your future spouse. That's what happened with our adorable little Monon-spawned couple, the future Mr. And Mrs. Dan and Jamie Fahrner.

Okay okay, they met at a party held or co-thrown or something by some Monon Coffee Company regulars and/or employees, so it's almost the same thing as them having met here. And they've both been long-time, beloved baristas at our shop. The point is, we love these crazy kids! Here's to a long and love-filled life.

Above our case with the tasty sandwiches and flakey croissants, under our popular salt and pepper kettle chips, lie our bagels. But not just any bagels. Bagel Fair bagels—the best in Indy.

Bagel Fair ‘gels hail from a small shop on 86th street. No, it doesn’t have all the “schmears” and hoopla of Einstein Bros., but then, those guys can’t hold a candle to the texture of these center-less bread circles. They’re crisp on the outside, chewy and soft in the middle, and have just enough bounce in between.

Try the cinnamon raisin flavor slathered with peanut butter, a personal favorite of William. Or the everything bagel with cream cheese.

PS--Did you know that bagels are vegan? Yep. They're made with all dry ingredients. So come and get 'em, animal lovers!

While scouring the universe of Broad Ripple for bits of weather, Weather Willy, owner of Indianapolis's best coffee shop and weatherman extraordinaire, came across a new and wondrous store: Addendum. Not to be confused with its predecessor, Ginko, Addendum has usable art for the home from artists across America. Owner Shane says that when the cast of Wicked was in town, they each picked up a candle from his store.

Speaking of candles, they're getting some new ones in from the oldest candlemakers in the world. that decked out the palace of Versailles. And to prove it, they have a candle that smells like its wooden floors. You won't find that piece of history anywhere else in Indiana.

Weather Willy is back with a reliable forecast from your favorite Broad Ripple smoothie shop. It's soupy out there, but Willy has you covered.

Wondering if you'll be shakin' in your skivvies this Broad Ripple Art Fair weekend? Fear not. The best coffee shop in the 'Village has the scoop on when it will rain or shine--and it certainly will shine.

Deborah Winchester is a fine art and nature photographer based in Indianapolis. Her work has appeared in everything from Cowboys & Indians magazine to the Indianapolis Star.  Her current works on display in Indianapolis coffee shop Monon Coffee company, however, take an urban turn, depicting graffiti culture in South America. 

Winchester recently visited Valparaiso, Chile. The photographer was taken aback by the locals’ acceptance of their proficient graffiti culture. “People actually pay people to decorate garage doors with this stuff,” she says. “It’s a whole different approach.”

Her explosively colorful pictures capture it: One depicts a building clad with a giant, expertly rendered hand throwing paper planes. In another picture, a grinning blonde lady in a Stetson breathes what looks like a poker to the neck of the Asian lady who sits in front of her, exhaling a swirling motif that beautifies a wall’s caged window.

Come by the coffee shop to see Winchester's nine photographs from the Valparaiso trip. They are all matted and framed (16 by 20), and go for around $250. The artist will negotiate on other sizes or frames requested.

Broad Ripple is teeming with great Indianapolis music acts, food, and artists, and we do our best to represent that.  Here's a list of the young, up-and-coming Midwestern and Indianapolis artists that will pass through our Indianapolis coffee shop this summer:   

May 8th
Pons

June 27th
Joel Teeple
Teeple is a babyfaced Midwestern musician who has been described as “soul-warming” and “rocking out for Jesus.” Touring coffee shops around the Midwest!

July 12th
Ellen (acoustic)

William's second week of weather predictions for April. So far he (or his doppleganger) have been right at least once ... he's gotta be wrong three more times this month for you to get free drip coffee. Come give him a hard time at the Monon Coffee Shop in Broad Ripple tomorrow if he's wrong.

Travel season came early to this Indianapolis coffee shop. In fact, our surrounding Monon Trail is known for its interesting people and renowned bikers,  hitchhikers and world travelers. Our own barista Carly Cooke is in fact from a far-flung land called Joysey (Jersey). She shares some of her native tongue with us here.

Weather Willy is an accurate weatherman who has neither addiction issues nor is about to go on maternal leave. He's a weatherperson for the people; a role model you can watch with your children. But he does have some foibles, like messing up his days of the week.

As such, WW sets the record straight in this video, asking you to tune in to Weather Willy Wednesdays, your favorite Monon Trail Coffee Shop report, Wednesday of this week (not Tuesday like last).

On that day, we'll also have resident barista Leslie speaking about the health benefits of our coffee shop's tea selection. Until then, stop by and enjoy some iced blueberry rooibos, which is great for its bountiful antioxidants and low levels of caffeine. Oh, and that delicious, fruity smell.

Our first Weather Willy Wednesday forecast! Okay, it's actually for Tuesday, but we'll let you know tomorrow how close Willy was with his predictions for today. If he's wrong more times than not in the course of a month, we'll let you know when you can get a free drip coffee. Of course, if he's always RIGHT, you'll finally have a trusty place to predict your weather--an Indianapolis coffee shop! At least on Tuesdays.

Horror stories about locally owned shops closing flourish in this economy.  So Monon Coffee Company employees in Broad Ripple Village will celebrate extra hard on the shop’s twelfth birthday this Saturday, March 21.

Before Starbucks perched on 62nd Street, MCC was the original Monon Trail cafe. Twelve years later, its walls are the same seafoam green, and two of the original baristas, Leslie and Tatiana, serve the foam-leaf topped lattes they perfected long ago.

One of the original owners, Kathy Williams, had interviewed with Hubbard and Cravens and co-ran Cornerstone Coffee House for its owner, who lived faraway in Portland, Oregon. Then she and a partner decided to open their own shop in the heart of Broad Ripple Village. Williams and her husband literally built the shop from the ground-up.“It went gangbusters,” she says.

Williams was ahead of the curve in terms of her drink menu’s integrity and ingenuity.  MCC offered fresh juicing and wheatgrass shots before anyone else in the area. But their practice of mixing two microroasted beans really differentiated their brand.

MCC's Atlanta microroaster was of Jamaican background and leaned toward European-style smoothness. He thought the "burnt French roast" taste popularized at Starbucks was a bitter bastardization of coffee’s destiny. But Williams couldn’t deny the direction of American palates. So she incorporated a more traditional American microroaster out of Wisconsin, and experimented to find a golden ratio between the two beans.

Current managing-owner William Powell saved the coffee shop from purgatory six years ago when Williams and their partners decided to switch fields. Powell ushered in the next generation of artists, students and self-employed regulars and preserved the original, top-secret (heretofore)  bean blend that separates MCC's espresso and coffee from the bitter status quo.

Long live locally owned Indianapolis coffee shops!

If you see an adorable, towheaded toddler running around the Monon in a tie-dyed shirt and no shoes (or, occasionally, glittery red slippers), mama Michelle Craig is probably nearby.

Son Noah is one of Craig’s greatest muses. The professional artist photographs babies and children extensively. “A tender touch from papa, a nuzzle from mama,” she says, are some of her greatest inspirations for capturing people in their most innocent state with the ones that love them. 

But her “first love” is nature. Her current lineup on display at the coffee shop is a testament: natural scenes take on an abstract, high drama when she amplifies their points of interest.  Rusty colors heighten leaves’ textures, shiny dew drops turn to shiny glass pebbles, and brightly colored petal tips’ super-close-ups give them an unearthly look.

Craig is the Monon Coffee Company’s exhibiting March artist. For more information on her, visit her online portfolio. For pictures of her drool-inducing baby photography, visit her blog.

For information on exhibiting at the coffee shop, stop by the coffee shop and ask for William Powell, leave a comment here or call the café at 317-255-0510.

Upcoming artists include Debbie Winchester, Duncan Alney, Anna Witte, and more. All of our artists’ work is for sale. Our rotating “gallery” is one of Broad Ripple’s treasures.