Love Life Coffee In Laurel Offers Delectable Drinks, Enticing Eats, Benefit Events

LAUREL, MD — From a creative drink menu to healthy and delicious dishes, a minority woman-owned business in Laurel has set its sights on being a favorite place for people to chill, grab a healthy bite to eat or a tasty beverage, all while helping others at the same time.

When Magdalena Gebrekristos and Adia Cotten decided to start Love Life Coffee, it was during 2020 - the global pandemic when everything in Maryland had shut down.

"This December will be five years we've been in business. Everybody was closing at that time during the pandemic. But we were at home and I just said, let's go ahead and open. It was hard, though, because the construction company's employees got COVID and couldn't keep working. It took almost eight to nine months before we opened," Gebrekristos told Patch. "But at the end, after all that, it's amazing. It was a former Starbucks and we removed everything to give it it's own feel and look."

The founders brought in professional chefs to help create the vegetarian/vegan-forward menu and coffee offerings. They also serve fresh pressed juices, select wine and beer from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., summer frozen drinks, espressos and teas, specials and kids goodies.

"A lot of people talk about our chai latte. We don't use syrup, so that makes ours a little different than others. We use powder and spices, which a lot of people love. But we're also very health conscious here - we always ask people to try our fresh cold-pressed juices. They're healthy and I love seeing the young kids asking for that," Gebrekristos said.

The drink menu changes seasonally at the cafe, but one fun thing that sets them apart is that the employees each develop their own drinks and encourage customers to try them. For example, there's a berry good drink, which is a strawberry, blueberry, rose matcha with lemonade. The dreamsicle is a mandarin, vanilla lychee macha latte.

"The employees spend hours mixing their drinks. They're so creative. Then we have customers vote on the drinks, too. The employees do a lot of research and will request we buy different syrups and come up with amazing drinks," Gebrekristos told Patch.

But the cafe owners also enjoy supporting the community. Their recent Brush & Brew Paint & Sip event held in June was created to bring together community members socially where they were able to paint a picture while enjoying their favorite beverage. But they also brought donations to help support youth in the community who need assistance buying book, clothes and other supplies for school, along with feminine hygiene products for female students.

Led by local artist Angie O’Neal, the guided painting experience welcomed artists of all skill levels. Canvases and paint were provided, along with wine, coffee and fresh juices to enjoy throughout the evening. A live jazz performance added to the evening's ambience.

"It was so much fun and relaxing. We designed this to help out others. We wanted to do something for the community. We consider it a party with a purpose," Gebrekristos said.

The Brush & Brew Paint & Sip events typically are held every three months and the next one will be in August before school starts. Gebrekristos hopes to generate funding to again support students who are heading back to the classroom. Details about the August event can be found on the cafe's Facebook page. Anyone with a donation who would like to drop it off at the coffee shop can do so during open hours

Love Life Coffee is located at 929 Washington Blvd. in the Laurel Shopping Center. Hours are Monday through Saturday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

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