Whether it is a slow Tuesday afternoon or a busy Saturday morning, Doppio Bunny is the perfect place to study quietly, catch up with an old friend, or even just meet new people. With unique specialties, such as the Royal Fog (a twist on the traditional London Fog tea), combined with an array of homemade trinkets from a variety of vendors, Doppio Bunny creates a quirky and cozy environment for the community of Purcellville.
Originally known as Happy Creek, Doppio Bunny was created on the basis of a plan: to provide a communal area for the people of Purcellville. An original employee from Doppio’s earlier Happy Creek era, Treasure Millhouse is one of Doppio’s many baristas, and has had years of experience in making drinks, baking treats, and interacting with customers. Millhouse was first inspired to work at Doppio by her brother, one of Doppio’s original bakers, and has continued to work at the cafe since. During her time at Doppio, Millhouse has created countless different drinks. She shared, “I wrote out all of the drinks at one point when I was memorizing them. But once you end up making 200 lattes a day it’s pretty easy after a few shifts.” During her time at Doppio, Millhouse has been able to talk to many different people, which is her favorite part of her job. Millhouse expressed, “I love when I get to close at night, because it’s slower, and I get to have really intentional conversations with people. One of my favorite things is getting to hear people’s stories and talk to them.”
Similarly to Millhouse, Jeff Kelso’s favorite part about working as a barista at Doppio is his ability to interact with the customers on a daily basis. However, what drew Kelso to Doppio was not a family relation like Millhouse, but a personal inclination. Kelso explained, “I’ve always worked in coffee shops, so instead of working for a corporate coffee shop, like Starbucks, I wanted to work for something locally owned.” As a latte artist in his spare time, Kelso is surrounded day in and day out by an assortment of drinks. However, he and Millhouse often circle back to their joint favorite: a maple cinnamon latte.
While Doppio Bunny may not be as well known to the community as other establishments, its warmth and authenticity is what draws in regular customers, such as Anna Verhey, a junior at Woodgrove High School. “It feels very cozy and the baristas are very down to earth. While it gets busy it’s never stressed like a Starbucks is,” Verhey expressed. “I would say that it’s very authentic, and it feels very representative of our town.” In addition to Doppio’s atmosphere, Verhey enjoys its layout and unique variety of homemade trinkets. Verhey stated, “It just kind of wraps around, and there’s these nooks and leather chairs and plants. They have cool stuff in there too, like jewelry and a little thrift shop.”
As a regular visitor of Doppio for the past two years, Ve
rhey has tried every single drink on the menu, but always ends up circling back to her favorite: the Valencian, a sweet mocha latte infused with orange zest. However, in addition to a variety of drink possibilities, Doppio has a unique “pay it forward” feature: a bulletin board featuring different coffee sleeves labelled for different types of recipients. Customers can purchase a coffee sleeve and customize it for any type of person of their choosing. “We let people tailor to specific customers that they want, like someone who might be a new mother,” Kelso explained. “They can have a coffee because it’s a stressful time.”
In addition to Verhey, senior Charlotte Gesell is a regular Doppio customer, so much so that some of the baristas even recognize her by name. Normally, Gesell visits Doppio about twice a week to complete school work or just hang out with her friends, and she enjoys sitting in the back room of Doppio, as it provides her with the perfect environment to complete her work. She stated, “The back room is my favorite place to sit because there are usually people all around talking, but it is still quiet enough to lock in and do work for several hours. It also just feels very peaceful and the workers there are so incredibly kind.” Although Gesell always gets her usual order, a maple latte, to drink while she does her work, she feels that Doppio is appealing not only due to its drinks, but also due to its environment. Gesell expressed, “Sometimes, I don’t even need the coffee. I just want to be in the environment because the combination of people talking all around me and the noise cancelling airpods stimulates my brain in just the right way for me to lock in and get work done.”
As a perfect blend of sweet treats, good vibes, and friendly faces, Doppio Bunny provides a communal third-space for the people of Purcellville. While Doppio’s strong variety of drinks and baked goods are what draws in customers, what makes them stay is the community and environment of Doppio. As expressed by Kelso, “A coffee shop is only as strong as its community and as strong as the people that come in here.”