Delaney Vogelien, 17, of Orford takes an order for a hot coffee and a cold-brewed coffee from Ross McFate, 16, of Fairlee, at AK Chix Coffee in Fairlee, Vt., Friday, July 20, 2018. Vogelien and her mother opened the coffee cart in the second week of July, and McFate has become a regular customer. (Valley News - James M. Patterson) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com.
Delaney Vogelien, 17, of Orford takes an order for a hot coffee and a cold-brewed coffee from Ross McFate, 16, of Fairlee, at AK Chix Coffee in Fairlee, Vt., Friday, July 20, 2018. Vogelien and her mother opened the coffee cart in the second week of July, and McFate has become a regular customer. (Valley News - James M. Patterson) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com. Credit: Valley News photographs — James M. Patterson

Growing up in Alaska, Jolene Vogelien became well acquainted with the state’s many coffee huts. The small shacks are a fixture in the 49th state, and a 2017 marketing study found that Juneau, and Vogelien’s native Anchorage, have more coffee shops per capita than any other U.S. cities.

Many of them are little more than small, colorful huts or trailers with a drive-through window. Often located in the parking lots of other businesses, they are convenient spots to pull in for a hot drink and a quick bite to eat when the weather is bad or the sunlight is short. They are to Alaska as diners and Dunkin Donuts are to New England.

Vogelien developed a feel and a fondness for coffee huts when she worked in one in high school, and this month she introduced one to the Upper Valley. AK Chix Coffee Co., which she runs with her daughters Delaney, 17, and Allie, 10, is a 9-foot by 14-foot refurbished pop-up trailer, currently parked in the lot of DD Country Supply, on Main Street in Fairlee.

“We were missing coffee up here,” Vogelien, 37, said in a conversation at the coffee hut. “We’d drive to Bradford for specialty coffee. I wanted my own thing, to create and execute a good product, something new in the community.”

The hut seems to have tapped a thirsty market and business has been good: Since opening on July 10, AK Chix has been pulling in 50 to 70 customers a day, drawn to a modestly priced menu of coffee, espresso drinks and bagels in a novel format.

Starting a coffee hut was a logical step, Vogelien said, based on her sense of self-reliance and the desire to contribute to her new home area. The location is a good balance of success and quality of life.

“We considered Lebanon or Littleton because we could make more money there,” she said. “But we were looking to stay in our community and not be too busy and hate the life. I feel like, the more little businesses like this, the better for the community.”

Michael Miller, of Fairlee, ordered an iced latte from Vogelien’s daughter Delaney. “It’s nice to see something in Fairlee,” he said. He noticed the hut while buying eggs at DD, giving credence to Vogelien’s hopes that local businesses can drive traffic for one another and create a thriving and varied town, much as coffee huts do in Anchorage.

Vogelien’s practical ethics also include green practices and loyalty to the local economy. AK Chix Coffee Co., sources locally, with bagels delivered daily from Goose & Willie’s in Orford, dairy from Hatchland Farm in North Haverill, and coffee beans roasted and delivered weekly by Upper Valley Coffee Roasters in Newbury, Vt. Vogelien composts whatever she can from the hut’s refuse in her home heap.

Vogelien moved to the Upper Valley three years ago with her four children and her partner, Cord Farmer. Vogelien and Farmer both work at Dartmouth College, she in the college’s Center for Social Impact, he as an assistant women’s soccer coach.

Farmer built the hut in his off hours, with help from Vogelien and the children. Its exterior is made of lumber from 60 pallets and metal salvaged from a local junkyard. Vogelien jokes that the hut, under construction in her driveway in Orford, generated attention for months before she opened for business.

“People will come in and say, ‘I saw you building this! I thought it was a tiny house or an ice-fishing shack!’” Overhearing her, one customer called out as she headed off, “I thought it was a chicken coop!”

Vogelien cracked open a tub of the custom espresso blend of beans from Brazil and Cameroon to brew me a breve. This delectable espresso with steamed half-and-half is not on the menu, but, in addition to items such as homemade iced chai ($3) and the Red Bull Special ($4.75 ) — a concoction of soda, seltzer and flavored syrup that Delaney brought back from Alaska — Vogelien will pull hot drinks to order.

Vogelien envisions taking the hut on the road. The mid-September Grand Point North music festival, in Burlington is a potential destination.

“We would love to just listen to Grace Potter and make coffee all day,” Vogelien said.

She also sees potential in a store-front shop. Further expansion could include products from Green Mountain CBD, a hemp oil that’s added to salves, edible capsules and even coffee drinks. “It’s part of the wellness idea: feel good, get good coffee,” she said.

Vogelien said she sees her base in Fairlee — a sweet spot of potential consumer demand and her own Upper Valley community loyalty. She’s already looking into a new drive-though structure for the winter months.

During a brief lull, Vogelien drew up a shopping list: almond milk, coconut milk, half-and-half. “We need a new refrigerator at home. Mine right now is all milk, shelves of milk and cream.” She glanced around, assessing the hut, its neat shelves of supplies, rags, sugar and cinnamon shakers.

“I joke that if this doesn’t work out, we’ll put it in the woods as a hideaway from the kids,” she said.

For now, it looks like she doesn’t need a Plan B.

Kate Oden is a writer and translator who lives in Hanover. Contact her at odenk06@gmail.com.