Americano Ammunition and Coffee, located at 1522 W. Ocotillo Road in Queen Creek, is not your average coffee shop.
In addition to serving coffee roasted in house from some of the highest quality organic coffee beans from around the world, they also offer a large array of hard-to-find antique and common modern calibers of ammunition.
Sydney Ballentyne, who co-owns the coffee shop with her husband, Kevin, and father-in-law, James, is aware that this isn't quite the combo that people expect when they stop by for their morning caffeine fix.
"We are constantly getting asked how we got started in such a unique and frankly random business – coffee and ammo," said Ballentyne. "To put it in a few words – we love America, our freedom, the Second Amendment, and coffee, so it just made sense to put it all together."
Americano's brick-and-mortar store opened to the public in August of 2022, but Ballentyne and her husband are no strangers to the coffee business. For the last two years, they have been travelling with Arizona Gun Shows around the state selling coffee and ammo with her father-in-law and co-owner, James, who has been the promoter of the gun shows for the last decade.
"That's where the concept basically started; we would sell ammunition and our amazing locally roasted in-house coffee side-by-side," explained Ballentyne. "A handful of the shows are at the Big Tin Cotton Gin event center, which is catty-corner to our shop now, so when the building opened up, we knew we had to try out the for real drive-thru (and walk-in) coffee and ammo – such a great pair."
Their menu includes signature coffees that customers can get hot or iced, including favorites such as the Red Trip Tracer, a strawberry latte with their homemade strawberry whip and the Desert Eagle, a salted caramel breve. Customers can also choose from a variety of syrup flavors to add to their drinks, with some also available as a sugar-free option. A full espresso coffee bar is also available inside the store, along with bags of their fresh, fine-roasted in-house coffee and cookies from Freedom Cookies, a local company started by a family friend.
For die-hard coffee fans, Americano Ammunition Coffee also offers red, white and blue loyalty stamp cards, with each color denoting a different level that can earn customers either a free drink, a free bag of coffee, free merchandise or $20 off ammunition.
With the coffee shop being such a success, Ballentyne and her family have decided to also offer a mobile coffee trailer. The trailer will be seen at local events, as well as events all around the state to increase awareness of their brand and to see where they should expand to next. Coffee lovers in northern Arizona will also get a chance to taste Americano's coffee, as the mobile trailer will be in attendance up north during the summer for a few events.
Having the chance to open Americano Ammmunition Coffee has been a blessing for Ballentyne and her husband. In addition to getting the opportunity to work with her husband side-by-side every day and to one day be able to share this with 1-year-old daughter, Payson, Ballentyne loves getting to share her love of "calibers, coffee, and country" - the store's motto - with her customers.
"Some people assume we are politically one-sided and might avoid stopping by," Ballentyne said. "However, like we tell every customer, by no means do we fit in one political box. We are America-based, freedom-based, and Second Amendment-based. We love our country and are proud to share that with everyone that drives through."
To learn more about Americano Ammunition Coffee, visit their website at ammoandcoffee.com.
