Kimmswick’s newest coffee shop wants you to come in and stay a while.
Behold Coffee, located at 105 Market St., opened in April. The owner Rachael Steudeman built the store on passion, community and her Christian faith.
Steudeman prides Behold Coffee on being an essential specialty coffee shop in Jefferson County. Think house-made syrups, freshly baked pastries and small-batch roasted beans. The drink menu has all the classics: americanos, lattes and cold brews, along with recipes crafted based on the seasons and Steudeman’s passions.
In addition to traditional coffee shop flavors, the menu always features the milk and honey latte with honey fig syrup and the garden latte, flavored with a floral orange blossom vanilla syrup. Behold recently rolled out its first ever seasonal menu with three summer flavors: black cherry, key lime and coconut.
“I really truly believe that good coffee is meant to be tasted,” Steudeman said. The drinks are not overly sweet, even the ones with multiple syrups, like the day break cold brew, featuring housemade black cherry syrup and key lime cold foam. The flavors are subtle and complement the coffee instead of masking it.
The menu also features a rotating selection of fresh pastries. The current lineup includes chocolate chip cookies, cheddar chive scones, blackberry lemon coffee cake and a gluten free trail mix bite.
All the specialty drink names, along with the name “Behold” itself, are nods to biblical scripture. Steudeman’s Christian faith led her on the journey to start her own business and brought her into the community that has made it possible.
Steudeman has long held the dream of opening a coffee shop, so much so that she worked at Teleo in Kirkwood for three years to learn the ropes of drink making and management.
“I wasn’t planning on starting this at all,” she said, at least not at the time.
This past October, she found herself in Kimmswick for the annual Apple Butter Festival. She knew the owners of the local coffee shop — and they wanted to sell.
She and her husband sat down with the owners, and in February, she got the keys.
Behold only kept the old shop’s equipment. The space has been transformed, and the menu is unique to Behold. Steudeman brought in her friend Jon Goldstein as part-owner and exclusive roaster.
“I love the craft of coffee and the community aspect,” Steudeman said. “I want this to be a place that people feel very welcome to come and just be and to take up space and to stay a while. I feel like, so many coffee shops, it doesn’t always feel that way.”
The space has been designed with community in mind, with warm, terracotta-inspired walls and stoneware for drinks intended to be enjoyed at a table with others. Games and toys are available for families or groups.
Steudeman rents out the space and hosts house-sponsored events, not with the intention of selling more coffee, but to encourage groups to gather. In fact, groups of five or more receive 10% off their drinks.
In addition to custom merch and bags of coffee beans, Behold also sells books, a curated selection that Steudeman hopes fills in the gaps left by Christian bookstores that have gone out of business. The options are always rotating with choices for everyone from kids to adults.
Behold Coffee is open from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday.