Your Morning Joe, Coming Soon to an Intersection Near You

When accounting firm McGovern, Planesi and Walters at the corner of Elk Grove Florin Road and Elk Grove Blvd, neighborhood gossip centered around the long-abandoned coffee kiosk in the building's parking lot.

Could a local entrepreneur take it over and once again bring drive-through java to the commuting masses?

Well, coffee junkies, get ready. Sacramento-based Wild Hawk Coffee is moving in this month and will be serving specialty drinks made with locally-roasted beans, along with pastries from Bella Bru Cafe.

Jennifer and Derrick Mullin, the husband-and-wife team behind Wild Hawk, say they hope to provide an artisan alternative in a town dominated by Starbucks and Peet's.

"We don't rush the roasting process," said Derrick Mullin, the company's roaster-in-chief. "We use a European technique that allows for better flavors because we take it a little slower."

That includes roasting each variety of bean—some of which are organic- and fair-trade certified—separately before combining them in blends.

The stand will also sell tea and hot chocolate and will open by the first week of January at the latest, said the Mullins. Canadians who live near the border, the two also market their coffee wholesale to restaurants and operate a mobile cart currently offering holiday goodies like peppermint mochas.

The kiosk's opening could be moved up as soon as next week if time allows, said Jennifer Mullin, who added she was bowled over by the number of inquiries she got at the accounting firm's recent ribbon cutting, where Wild Hawk served drinks.

"To see that such a tiny little place could be of such interest to so many people is really refreshing," she said.