Talking to a real Human Bean is part of the new coffee experience in St. Joseph.

The Human Bean is a drive-thru franchise based out of Oregon, founded in 1998, that serves coffee beverages and other drinks, such as smoothies and teas. They also serve a variety of snack options.

The St. Joseph location off Highway 169 at 4414 Commons Drive is one of the few Human Bean locations beyond the west coast.

Owner of the Human Bean of St. Joseph Erin Albright-Milek said she first heard about Human Bean while vacationing in Oregon.

“There are coffee chains all over, about one every block, and we tried the Human Bean,” Milek said. “I just fell in love with it. I fell in love with the customer service. So while we were on vacation, we just kept going back there and then about a year later we looked up the Human Bean franchise on their website. We contacted them and got a site approved and a couple years later, here we are.” 

Milek, a St. Joseph native, said there’s nothing similar to the Human Bean in the area and she wanted to bring the experience to St. Joseph.  She said what makes the Human Bean unique from other coffee places is the customer service. 

“We don’t have a speaker system or anything like that,” Milek said. “The customer service is one-on-one, face-to-face. There’s little room for error when you’re communicating face-to-face. We really believe in customer service and building relationships with our clients.” 

The baristas completed an extensive three-week training before the soft launch on June 20th. Milek said a grand opening will be held later this year. 

Milek said her favorite Human Bean beverage is the Granita. 

“You can get them just about any way possible,” Milek said. “I like mine with some DaVinci chocolate syrup in it and real DaVinci caramel, blended in with our Granita, which is basically frozen espresso.” 

The Human Bean of St. Joseph is open from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.