Hello, Kovella.

If you’ve followed us since the cart days, you know this place as Mercury: named, with love, for the statue that watches Rochester from the top of the Aqueduct Building. Even our green came from his oxidized copper.

This spring, we received a cease and desist from a much larger coffee company with a very similar name and a federal trademark. As a single location mom and pop with 10 employees and a two year old, we picked our battle, and it wasn’t this one.

So: after chatting with our trademark attorney (still feels like an odd to say), we had two options. We could either spend an indeterminate amount of money in a years long uphill legal battle, or, spend a fraction of that to hire a brand designer and forge a new path forward. The decision was pretty clear, and thus, Kovella was born. The name comes from the three of us, and so does the mark: a robin for renewal, growth, and family, perched on an olive branch, with three small dots beside it, one each for Kyle, Izzy, and Oliver. After the year we had, the olive branch felt right. The lettering is drawn by hand, because everything here is. (The whole mark, explained →)

Nothing else changes. Kyle still dials in the espresso like it’s a cocktail. Izzy still runs the creative, top to bottom. The Upstate and Breakfast in Vermont are still on the menu, and your usual is still your usual.

Thanks for a year in the shop, two on the cart, and whatever comes next.

Kyle, Izzy & Oliver