For more than 30 years, Lakota Coffee Company has been keeping Columbia caffeinated by providing the freshest tasting coffee possible. So it’s no wonder the business was recognized with the silver award for Best Coffee in this year’s Best of Columbia. “We strive to provide the best coffee, atmosphere and customer service in town,” says Andrew DuCharme, general manager.

Lakota began serving the Columbia community in 1992, when Skip DuCharme opened the business and started roasting. As Andrew DuCharme points out, this was before “the big coffee wave of the late ‘90s and early 2000s.”

Lakota now has locations on Green Meadows Road and University Hospital in addition to the downtown shop on 9th Street, where staff continue to roast coffee in-house nearly six days per week. “Our small batch coffee roasting techniques are the key to our great coffee,” Andrew DuCharme says. It’s why perfection is how he would describe the business at Lakota. “We strive for perfection in each coffee roast, in each beverage we serve, in every bagel sandwich we make,” he says. “Our goal is to have an amazing product and experience for the customer.”

DuCharme knows that Lakota would not be able to provide that standard of service without the team in place at each location. Their hard work and loving nature is what helps keep Lakota successful and helps provide important connections for customers. After all, the Columbia community always turns out to support small, family-owned shops like Lakota.

“We would like to thank all of Columbia who voted for us, and our staff,” Ducharme says. “With the great staff and the amazing customers, we would not be who we are today. Thanks for 30 plus years. Let’s keep brewing Columbia!”

Lakota Coffee Company: 24 S. 9th St. • 573-874-2852 • Lakotacoffee.com