Rise Up: A Delmarvalous Delight

January 21, 2022

 I’m not much of a coffee drinker but I do love hot tea. I don’t know of any great tea shops in the general area, unfortunately (hit me up on Facebook if you know of someplace that serves a large variety of hot tea). And since I don’t usually drink caffeine, all that combines to mean that I don’t often feel like I need to head to coffee shops. 

But there is one place that draws me in because they make something I love, and that’s Rise Up. Rise Up makes a tea that I’ve never managed to replicate at home and though it’s caffeinated, I absolutely love stopping for a hot Jamaican tea in the winter and an iced Jamaican tea in the summer. The Jamaican tea is a wonderful slightly citrusy, slightly sweet tea. I have no idea what’s in it (as evidenced by my inability to make it at home) but it’s something unique to Rise Up!

Rise Up has locations across Delmarva, as well as other parts of Maryland, and has a near-cult following for some of their coffee beans. Established in 2005 in a small trailer in St. Michael’s, MD, Rise Up now has 15+ locations and proudly produce Certified Organic and Certified Fair Trade coffee. 

From their website: 

Rise Up Coffee has been an independent small-batch coffee roaster and retailer since 2005. Rise Up originated from an explosive combination of ambition and circumstance. Tim Cureton had what would prove to be a life changing coffee experience while traveling home from the Peace Corps service. His love affair with great coffee had begun. Utilizing a $16,000 business loan, Cureton along with co-founder Abby West, opened the first Rise Up Coffee. Rise Up began as a coffee trailer, before there were TV shows & movies about food trucks. What started in a parking lot in a town with a population of 1,029 has evolved into thirteen high-volume cafe locations, a very active online store & many new exciting wholesale relationships.

Rise Up is known for its people. Now staffed by over a hundred amazing people, among them is Tim’s lifelong friend & business partner, Noah Kegley who joined the company in 2010 & now serves as Head Roaster.

Though I don’t drink coffee, my family members do, and between us, we’ve sampled a good variety of drinks Rise Up offers, from their coffee smoothies to their fruit smoothies, and their hot chocolate, chai, and even lattes. And over time, we’ve never had a bad drink at any of the Rise Up locations in Salisbury or Ocean City. 

Some of the Rise Up locations also offer food via the “Mad Eggs” business and I love being able to grab a breakfast burrito (one of my favorite breakfast foods) when I swing by for a Jamaican tea. They also serve a refreshing, generous acai bowl. If you love acai bowls, theirs is a delight of granola, berries, honey and acai. 

I also have to give a shout out for the honey sriracha sauce available at locations with a Mad Egg. In fact, in the West OC location, you can buy bottles to take home (and I did!)

But perhaps the most divine food I’ve had from Rise Up is the cinnamon roll. I describe this as a deliciously gooey, cinnamony, perfectly iced treat and if you have any love for cinnamon rolls, I recommend trying one!

With the business philosophy of "deliver the highest quality products, served by the highest quality people", I am pleased to recommend this Delmarvalous Delight!

This business is a Shop Local Delmarvalous Delight and I highly recommend it! 

Business Details:

Rise Up

Locations across Delmarva including Salisbury, OC, Cambridge, Easton, Rehoboth

https://riseupcoffee.com/

Angela James is a resident of Salisbury, MD and active in the Delmarva community through volunteer work for organizations such as National Folk Festival, Humane Society of Wicomico, Salisbury Pride Parade and more. A fiction editor, author career consultant and public speaker, she’s a small business owner who understands the power of word of mouth and customer reviews.

Delmarvalous Delights highlights the best of Delmarva, along with hidden gems, and shines a spotlight on those businesses that stand out consistently as Delmarvalous Delights.

If you’d like to invite Angela to visit your business, or try your products, please email angie@delmarvalousdelights.com