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Drinklings in Wilmore has undergone quite a metamorphosis since its beginnings as a mug company six years ago.

The coffee shop located at 100 Rice St., initially offered mugs – sans coffee – when it was started by Randy Hardman and his wife, and later started selling morning brew wholesale online. After an initial foray into the cafe world in 2019 at a local ice cream shop, Drinklings  moved into a location of its own during the last year.

Two things distinguish Drinklings as a place worth spending time with a cup of joe.

“We surround ourselves with two concepts that we feel embody what we want to be in our place, but also what we think coffee can do for folks when people allow it, and that’s helping people unlock imaginations and being a catalyst for fellowships,” Hardman said.

Hardman said that he wants Drinklings to foster fellowship and community, and to do so he publishes content on Drinklings’ social media pages about programs and workshops designed to help others understand each other.

One such program to look for in the future is Intentional Father, which will help men and fathers lay out how they want to raise their children. Another future program is Hero On a Mission, a program about how to develop a meaningful life.

“When you have fellowship with people, it’s always small, intimate, meaningful, and the goal of that is to be understood and to understand others,” Hardman said.

The coffee shop’s website has a blog that is full posts featuring discussions, lessons, and questions designed to stimulate the imagination and mind; past topics include culture, community, imagination, and, of course, coffee.

“Imagination is very concerned with the questions of meaning, purpose, identity, some of the big deep questions. We see people every day come into our coffee shop and have those conversations where they’re asking questions about who I am and about the world and so forth. And so we want to foster that,” Hardman said.

The future of Drinklings is one of endless possibilities.

“We’re looking to be able to partner with more businesses, cafes, restaurants, churches, really anybody that does coffee. We run some programs where we’ll give back to the community, and people can partner with that. They’ll get good coffee but they’ll also be able to say that what they’re spending on wholesale wise, is also giving back to the community.”

Drinklings still offers wholesale coffee and mugs, as well as a coffee church program, and for more information about its products, programs, and future events visit its website at www.drinklings.coffee.