Fresh take on a local favorite

As a vendor to Kenzie’s Koffee, Jeremy Burt supplied innovations to the business like credit card terminals and point-of-sale systems.

What he observed in his more than a decade as a vendor impressed him so much that he and his wife, Nancy Burt, purchased Kenzie’s Koffee from its founder, Kenzie Nelson, a little more than a year ago.

The Burts have invested in the business’s two locations, replacing the downtown Clarkston Kenzie’s with an entirely new building, and remodeled and expanded the one in Clarkston Heights.

They’re also growing, with the acquisition of the former Snake River Grounds in Asotin. That location is expected to open in early January. It will serve the same energy and espresso drinks as the other Kenzie’s locations, and have food such as parfaits, biscuits and gravy, and breakfast and lunch sandwiches.

They’ve changed the name, but only a little, by dropping the word Koffee from the end.

“The volume of drinks Kenzie was able to serve out of the old huts was amazing,” Jeremy Burt said. “We wanted to keep the name and build on the success Kenzie had.”

Burt brings dozens of years of experience in the back-end systems to Kenzie’s. His business that supplied Kenzie’s the credit card reader and other point-of-sale technology is Complete Merchant Solutions. It continues to operate in the region.

A portion of that business developed a complementary software product called Click2Pay that spun off into its own company and had customers nationwide before being acquired by a publicly-traded company, Burt said.

At Kenzie’s, the Burts are retaining what made the business popular, like Kenzie’s Blasts and espresso drinks made with beans from Landgrove Coffee in Troy, Idaho. The Blasts are a combination of energy drinks, lemonade and fruit syrups.

New items have joined the menu, including Lotus, a plant-based brand of energy drink; cold brew; nitro cold brew; and drip coffee.

“A coffee drink centers around a combination of quality beans, consistent grind and good water,” Burt said. “We improved our water filtration, updated coffee grinders, and had experts dial in the equipment and regularly check it to keep it in tip-top shape.”

The staff includes individuals who worked for Nelson for many years and new faces. Among the latter are the Burts’ two daughters, Ali Burt, a manager; and Mikayla Burt, a barista; Demitri Morales, another barista and a mixed martial arts fighter, who is Ali Burt’s fiance; and Rob Berger, operations manager.

In recent weeks, they’ve been hiring employees for the Kenzie’s in Asotin and developing the menu. That work included a trip last week to a food laboratory in Spokane to explore options.

Kenzie’s downtown Clarkston location is at 1252 Bridge Street in the parking lot of Lancer Lanes and Casino. Its hours are 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.

The Clarkston Heights location is at 2336 Appleside Blvd. Its hours are 6 a.m. to noon seven days a week.

Williams may be contacted at ewilliam@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2261.