Sunlight filters through hanging stained glass, casting colored patterns across thrifted furniture and walls crowded with locally made art and small trinkets. 

Behind the counter, mason jars line the shelves as herbs soak in house-made blends crafted alongside nature-inspired coffee.

In a downtown storefront along North Nevada Avenue, Misty Mountain Collective replaces disposable cups with reusable glass and pairs uniquely flavored coffee with herbal teas, building a mystical-themed space rooted in sustainability.

Co-owners Stormy and Dakota Wilkinson believe “the more common sustainability becomes, the more attainable it will be.”

“We dreamed of this for years,” Dakota Wilkinson said. “We were sort of combining ideas of a sustainable and health-focused space with art and music. So many of our friends helped us turn nothing into something, and it’s just a really magical part of our business that stays close to our hearts.”

The magic doesn’t stop there.

Misty Mountain Collective opened on Dec. 7, 2025 — a nod to the to the 7th: The longtime couple met, were engaged and married on different July 7s. 

That same intention appears in features across the shop, including the café’s now-signature refundable mason jar system. 

To-go drinks are served in reusable glass jars with a $1 deposit, allowing customers to return them for their dollar back or keep the jar for their next visit.

“I don’t know the last time I touched a plastic cup, and that feels awesome,” Dakota Wilkinson said. “I don’t think that would have been possible if we weren’t taking the angle that we are. I was really worried people wouldn’t get it or care, but it’s 99 out of 100 people that just love it.”

For the Wilkinsons, sustainability efforts extend far beyond what customers hold in their hands. They also prioritize local suppliers, including sourcing their coffee beans from Humble Coffee.

“Everything we go through is either recyclable or reusable,” Stormy Wilkinson said. “Sometimes we see hundreds of people a day, and all of those cups add up so quickly. A plastic cup that is disposable lasts forever, but our reusable cups will degrade. I don’t want to open a business that’s going to make me feel bad about the environment. I want good ingredients, and I want to have things that are healthy for people.”

Before opening, the couple invited Colorado Springs Utilities to evaluate the building’s energy and water use, and installed lower-flow faucets and a smart thermostat to reduce their footprint. 

“Our main goal is to show people how easy it is to make little changes,” Dakota Wilkinson said. “We don’t expect to save the world. There are a lot of steps to that, but there are so many changes you can make that really add up. Not sending plastic to the landfill is one of them, and supporting somewhere local is another.”

Along with coffee, herbal concoctions and loose-leaf tea, Stormy Wilkinson created a menu that includes original “potions,” blending terpenes, antioxidants and other plant compounds designed to highlight the natural benefits of each ingredient.

Among their best-selling drinks is Forest Floor, a nature-inspired coffee made with pine needles and rosemary that’s cold-steeped in sugar overnight to create a herbaceous syrup. Another crowd favorite is the Sugar Cookie latte, which features a slightly salted brown sugar syrup that tastes closer to sugar cookie dough than a traditional sweet latte.

Yet somehow, the drinks aren’t always the star of the show.

The walls of Misty Mountain Collective are lined with local artwork, and it’s more than just decoration. Every piece is for sale, with artists receiving 100% commission on their featured work. 

From handcrafted trinkets and stained glass to nature-themed paintings, the locally-made pieces “never stay on the shelves for long because it sells out immediately,” Dakota Wilkinson said.

“The word collective in our name sounds cool and means something,” he said. “It means that we are a place for art, community and performers. We have music nights, art nights and open mic poetry nights, and one of our employees leads stand-up comedy every month. The building has just been packed after hours, and it’s really incredible to see the community showing up for art in the way that they are.”

Beyond the art-covered walls and herbal-infused drinks, the real heartbeat of Misty Mountain Collective is the people who gather there, he said.

“One of our proudest accomplishments with Misty Mountain is that it has immediately facilitated an incredible community,” he said. “There are so many marginalized folks who feel safe and welcome here. There are so many people who come for the art, the sustainability and the community, and the fact that we’ve established such an incredible group just a few months in is one of the most inspiring things that we’ve ever done.”

DETAILS 

Misty Mountain Collective, 705 N. Nevada Ave., 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily