New Filipino coffee shop opening in Des Moines' East Village
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An ube latte, left, and a variety of drinks from Grounded. Photos: Courtesy of Grounded
Seven siblings are opening Grounded, a new coffee shop in the East Village, featuring Filipino flavors they grew up loving.
Why it matters: As brands like Starbucks and Trader Joe's flood the market with Filipino ube flavors, this immigrant-owned shop wants to share their traditions with other Iowans.
- "We can't do anything about large corporations," says Raven Demir, the youngest of the seven. "We're showcasing the right ingredients and letting people know what that actually tastes like."
State of play: Grounded is opening at 316 E. 6th St., including a retail side selling fresh flowers from one of the siblings' backyard farms in Perry.
- Demir says they want the shop to feel like a Filipino home, including pictures that show their upbringing and cozy aesthetics.
How it started: Growing up, Demir says her family was always fond of their parents' Filipino breakfasts and the morning scents of coffee and tea.
- They moved from the Philippines to Des Moines in 2000, and their father worked as a pastor. As they got older, some of the siblings moved, including to Perry, Colorado and New York.
- In 2020, as family TikToks became viral during the shutdown, Demir's siblings wanted to create something similar. A few years after making their own social media accounts, they decided to go a step further and start their own business.
- That resulted in a Filipino pop-up coffee stand that has operated for four years at the Perry and Downtown Des Moines farmers markets.
The menu: When the shop opens this summer, customers can expect many of the pop-up's signature drinks, including an ube latte made with the sweet, nutty purple yam popular in the Philippines.
- Other offerings include a pandan cold foam latte, featuring the subtly sweet Southeast Asian plant, and a champorado latte inspired by the Filipino chocolate rice porridge.
- The shop also plans to serve rice bowls, light bites and desserts.
The bottom line: They're most excited about sharing their culture with other Iowans.
- "We're immigrants, and we do take pride in that," Demir says.