A new coffee shop aims to stir up the drink scene in downtown Kalispell. 

Mad Can Coffee Company unveiled a permanent location in the foyer of the historic Kalispell Mercantile building in December. In some ways, the brick-and-mortar location is a novel venture for mother-daughter duo Nicole and Samantha Waters, who started the Mad Can brand in May 2025 from a traveling coffee trailer. In others, the storefront is simply the most recent expression of the family’s passion for espresso.

“We’re just espresso people,” said Nicole. “We have espresso machines in our houses, in our campers. It’s just an important part of the day to us.”   

Nicole spent her childhood steeped in the coffee culture of Seattle, Washington, where her parents ran an espresso stand. She got her first job in a coffee shop and worked her way to a management position. Years after leaving the job, Nicole said she often found herself scrolling social media feeds of far-flung coffee shops. 

In late 2024, Nicole saw something new popping up in the feeds. Several shops in Australia and Japan had started using seaming machines to craft shelf-stable custom drinks. Workers popped the prepared drink into a slot on the device and pressed a single button. A few moments later, the cup was sealed with an airtight aluminum lid similar to a soda can. 

Nicole was intrigued. An idea started brewing. 

“I ordered this,” Nicole texted her eldest daughter, Samantha. “I need you to find a trailer.” 

Samantha wasn’t fazed by the sudden request. The family had always functioned with a full-steam-ahead mentality, and owning a traveling coffee shop sounded like an entertaining venture. She began prowling online forums for a secondhand trailer and sketching the outlines of the business.  

“It had to be a brand,” said Samantha. “It had to be something beyond an espresso stand.” 

The sealed coffee cups provided a unique foundation for the burgeoning business and served as the inspiration for the name and logo, but Samantha said she also wanted customers to associate the Mad Can brand with quality and flavor. 

Like her mother, Samantha had worked as a barista for several years. She knew how picky customers could be about their coffee orders, and she also understood how intimidating a traditional coffee menu could be for less experienced cafegoers. The antidote to both problems, she decided, was an abundance of options. 

“We’re two people with two flavor profiles, so we really tried to expand and include something for everyone,” said Samantha. “Our goal with our menu was to make coffee, matcha and chai more approachable.”   

Over the course of several months, Samantha and Nicole contrived eight signature drinks, each of which would be run through the seaming machine and served in a plastic cup with a pop-tab lid.    

The evening experimentations continued, even after the business officially opened in May 2025. Friends and family acted as taste-testers, giving the final approval to the variable concoctions. 

Mad Can Coffee Company currently offers a full range of traditional coffee beverages like lattes and americanos and 17 signature concoctions that range from the slightly bitter Coco-Cano (espresso with coconut water and vanilla cold foam) to the indulgently saccharine Bananas Foster Chai (chai with banana, caramel and vanilla cold foam). 

In just eight months, Mad Can Coffee Company developed a solid base of regular customers. A truck was added to the fleet to help manage the growing demand, but Samantha said she had no plans to open a storefront until another local business owner offered an enticing proposition. 

Since she first opened for business, Samantha had been parking the trailer outside the historic KM building in downtown Kalispell every Thursday morning. It was one of the few constants in Samantha’s otherwise tumultuous work schedule, but the building's owner wanted a more permanent and convenient way for lessees to get their coffee fix. He offered Samantha a deal: if he renovated a storage closet in the building’s foyer, would she open up a storefront? 

A few months later, in December 2025, the first permanent Mad Can Coffee Company location opened to the public. With the new space, more opportunities for expansion came. Beyond the regular coffee and tea menu, the storefront now offers bags of whole bean coffee, slushies infused with protein and a selection of “dirty sodas” that combine carbonated soda with various creams, syrups and purees. 

More importantly, Samantha said the permanent location gives her the opportunity to spend more time getting to know a growing number of regular customers. 

“That’s my favorite part,” she said. “Coffee is personal. I want to know what you drink. I want to know about your personal life, and I want everyone who comes in here to have that interaction.” 

Mad Can Coffee Company is open Monday-Friday, from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 35 Third Street East in downtown Kalispell. Schedules for the truck and trailer are posted to Mad Can Coffee Company’s Facebook. 

Reporter Hailey Smalley can be reached at 758-4433 or [email protected].

    A strawberry pistachio matcha from The Mad Can Coffee Co. at the KM Building in Kalispell on Wednesday, Feb. 18. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
 Casey Kreider