There are many Cork locations that could use a coffee truck.

That’s why, when music teacher and barista Ciara O’Toole was ready to open her own, she decided not to settle for just one spot on the map.

This Christmas, Crúca Coffee will be popping up at a variety of outdoor events, stocked to the hilt with a steady supply of hot Stone Valley Roasters coffee and O’Connail’s hot chocolate.

“Crúca means hook in Irish, which seemed fitting as everyone gets hooked on good coffee! But it’s also a reference to important things in my life – the hook in music, the hook of a hockey stick.” Ciara, who lives in Rochestown, told us.

“I’m a musician and teach third level students in Cork School of Music. I also gig regularly at weddings and events which was part of how I saw this opportunity.

“I also spent almost two years working with Stone Valley Coffee Roasters. The owners John and Tom trained me and taught me everything I know about coffee. They’ve been really supportive and helped me so much setting this up. I can’t thank them enough. It’s quite funny in a way because John was actually my first guitar teacher over 15 years ago so we’ve really gone full circle.”

Like many good business ideas, the Crúca Coffee concept was formulated during COVID times: “When all you could do was get a coffee outside with friends, I saw a lot of people opening up coffee trucks. It was something I had an interest in and then started to realise there were so many locations around Cork where a coffee truck would do well… too many locations, in fact.

The idea developed to create a pop-up cart that was easily transportable: “I had also realised from working in the wedding industry for years that there was a demand for booking a coffee offering with a barista and so the idea was born… coffee that comes to you.”

‘I love how it’s more than just a hot beverage’

The Crúca cart was built from scratch. Ciara is currently posting a series about how it was designed and built on the Crúca Coffee Instagram.

 

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“The business is completely mobile and can be personalised depending on what the customer needs. We can bring speciality coffee anywhere – inside or outside with no compromise on quality. I’m a bit of a perfectionist so I really care about every cup we sell. We have packages available for events where people can hire us and we tailor the offering depending on the ask.

“I love coffee and the whole process of making coffee. I love how it’s more than just a hot beverage, that it can be a social thing and make someone’s day. I find it really fulfilling. People can DM us on Instagram for bookings and further information, availability and pricing on our packages. We also post updates on where we are popping up next.”

It’s about to be a busy few weeks:

“We just put down a big weekend at the Ballymaloe Craft Fair and have the second weekend coming up this Friday, November 22nd until Sunday 24th. After that, we have a lot of private events booked in, people in particular want the coffee, tea and hot chocolate offering at events for the winter months ahead.

“We will also be in Ashton Hockey Club on the Boreenmanna road on Sundays, which is my own hockey club that I’ve played for since I was seven. I’m really thankful that I can give back to the club by bringing in something like this.” added Ciara.