When Brookfield resident Elizabeth Segura last month opened her mobile coffee business, Drip Coffee, she didn’t expect the immediate community response to be as overwhelming as it has been.
“Brookfield, LaGrange, LaGrange Park — I mean, people have been coming from different neighborhoods,” she told the Landmark Thursday. “The community has just been overwhelmingly supportive. I didn’t know what to expect, I really didn’t. I definitely didn’t expect the kind of flow that I’ve been getting, and I’ve only been doing this literally like 16 days, because I don’t operate on Fridays or Saturdays.”
Located inside Beach Avenue BBQ, 3453 Grand Blvd., Drip, which opened March 23, is Brookfield’s newest coffee shop. Segura staffs the cafe herself 7-11 a.m. Monday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. for Sunday brunch. On Fridays and Saturdays, she takes the mobile espresso cart out of the restaurant for whatever events she can book.
She said the menu includes “your lattes, your cappuccinos, macchiatos, cortados, all of the standard espresso- and coffee-based drinks,” as well as custom creations. Online ordering is available through the Eate Digital app.
Segura steams oat milk while her mobile machine drips an espresso shot. Credit: Stella Brown 
Segura first pours the espresso shot into the cup. Credit: Stella Brown 
Then she finishes it with the oat milk. She said she prefers oat milk to other milk alternatives due to its ability to froth. Credit: Stella Brown
Segura, who grew up “on Cicero and Chicago Avenue” in the Austin neighborhood of the city, moved to Brookfield about four years ago and said she was surprised by the lack of coffee options across town.
“It was the earlier stages of the pandemic. At that time, I was working on the corporate side for a bank, and I was entirely remote.” she said. “I started making my way around the neighborhood, trying to get an idea of what’s out there, where I could go to just do my thing, and I found myself kind of floored by the fact that we really don’t have that.”
She added: “There are two coffee shops in Brookfield, both wonderful, women-owned businesses” — Gosia’s Coffee Shop and Loca Mocha Café — “but they’re on the southeast end, so for those of us sitting on the northwest end of Brookfield, it isn’t always feasible, right? Sometimes, we don’t have that kind of time to make the walk over there. I’ve always been used to going into the shops in the city, where you’ve got all of the plugins, and it’s a whole vibe. The music is going, the energy’s flowing, all of that. And I was like, I think I could do that here.”
At first, her idea was to open a joint coffee shop and cocktail lounge, but she wasn’t able to find a brick-and-mortar space in the area that would fit her needs. So, she went back to the drawing board.
“I was born and raised on the West Side of Chicago, and I moved a lot, and the one thing that I can always say is that the sense of community, or family, as you will, was never about the brick-and-mortar, right? It was never about the space; it was always about the people, and I’m like, ‘OK, I can do that,’” she said.
While still conceptualizing her business, Segura worked with her friend Juan Silva, who co-owns Beach Avenue BBQ. He said Drip Coffee felt like a natural fit for what he called a “residency” in the restaurant.
“First, she thought about getting a food truck or a mobile van, and we’re about helping the community, helping other people get to where they need to get in life. So, we were like, ‘Well, we’re closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, and there’s no reason why you can’t operate before we’re open,’” he said. “I thought it was a perfect opportunity, and I wish that more businesses would think likewise.”
The two businesses have collaborated for Sunday brunch service since Drip opened.
“As of her being here, our brunch has increased, I would say, probably about 30%, which is great,” he said.
“Coffee has been a part of my life since I was a little girl. I’m not talking about the elevated kind of coffee, right? My grandmother was a Nescafé decaf coffee drinker,” Segura said. “The one thing my grandmother always taught me was that, when you do things with intention … no matter how simple the recipe is, it’ll taste phenomenal.”
One thing setting Drip apart from its competitors is Segura’s willingness to craft custom coffee creations for her customers.
“Any time someone comes in, and I’m meeting you for the first time, the first thing I ask you is, ‘Let’s talk through this. I’ve got my menu, but we can skip that. Tell me what your vibe is,’” she said. “‘What’s more important to you? Is it the kick, or is it the flavor?’ From there, I either make something that they’re used to, or, if they’re willing to let me play, we play. It’s been fun, and it’s a really great way to connect with people.”
She said some of the ingredients she experiments with include hibiscus, cinnamon, powdered sugar, agave syrup and even homemade cold foam.
“I’m half-African American, half-Mexican, and I have really been playing with the ingredients that are traditional to my Mexican culture, trying to figure out what complements what and what makes what stand out,” she said.
With more than 20 years of experience working in the world of banking, Segura said she was itching for the change of scenery that running Drip has brought. On Jan. 24, she resigned from the company she had been with for 15 years and spent the next two months working to bring Drip to life.
“The first two weeks, I was losing it. I was like, ‘Oh my God, what did I do?’ I didn’t regret quitting my job, but the hard part was getting out of that regimented mindset. When you live that corporate life, you are always accountable to someone, and you’re always scheduled,” she said.
“It was tough from an emotional and mental perspective, but I continued to push through and work on establishing the backside of things … The goal was always to launch in March, and I was stuck to that. I married that timeframe. I’m like, ‘It doesn’t have to be the beginning of the month. It doesn’t have to be the end of the month. It just has to happen in March.’ And it happened.”
