If Cherrybomb Coffee already feels like it belongs on West Chimes, that’s exactly the point.

Long before the retro Airstream became a daily coffee stop near LSU, Cherrybomb was an idea being built by a 19-year-old college freshman with a coffee cart and a serious interest in making craft coffee more approachable.

Cherrybomb owner Noah, now 26, was born and raised in Covington and discovered his passion for craft coffee at 18. By his freshman year at Southeastern Louisiana University, he had built his first coffee cart and started turning that interest into a business.

Not long after, he took things a step further and began roasting his own coffee beans in his parents’ garage.

What started small didn’t stay that way for long.

Over the next six years, Cherrybomb grew throughout Southeast Louisiana, building a loyal following through its mobile coffee bars and catering hundreds of private events each year. LSU’s campus became especially familiar territory, with Cherrybomb regularly serving Greek life events and introducing more and more Baton Rouge customers to the brand.

Eventually, putting down roots near campus just made sense.

Cherrybomb’s West Chimes location gives the people who had been finding them at events a place to get their favorite drinks every day. The shop itself is hard to miss: a roughly 50-year-old Airstream that Noah personally built out with a timeless, retro look.

The goal was for it to feel less like something that had just arrived and more like a place that had always been part of LSU.

And then, of course, there’s the coffee.

Cherrybomb roasts its own beans and has built a reputation for signature drinks that go far beyond the standard coffee shop menu. The team isn’t afraid to experiment with unexpected flavors, especially when it comes to its rotating seasonal offerings.

There’s Mike’s Matcha, made with honey, lavender and ube; the Maple Bourbon Latte; and the Banana Mocha. The Banana Pudding Matcha was originally introduced as a seasonal drink when the Baton Rouge location opened last summer, but customers loved it so much that it earned a permanent spot on the menu.

Seasonal creations continue to be a major part of the fun, too. The Carrot Cake Latte, featuring housemade carrot cake syrup topped with cream cheese cold foam, is exactly the kind of drink that shows what Cherrybomb does differently.

But behind the colorful drinks and retro Airstream is a much bigger story.

Noah bootstrapped Cherrybomb while going through college, graduating in 2022 while continuing to grow the company. Today, what began with one coffee cart and beans roasting in his parents’ garage has become a full-scale roastery, three locations and a catering operation serving private events across the Gulf South.

He didn’t build it alone, either. Team members like John, Cherrybomb’s event manager and sales lead, have been there since the early days. John and Noah became friends after making music together in 2018, and John has since helped execute hundreds of Cherrybomb events. Inventory manager Emily joined the story after walking into Cherrybomb’s first Mandeville shop in 2021 and has become an integral part of keeping the growing operation moving.

Through all of that growth, the idea behind Cherrybomb has stayed surprisingly simple: serve up excitement.

It’s not just about handing someone a cup of coffee. The team wants a visit to Cherrybomb to feel like something. Whether that comes from trying a Banana Pudding Matcha for the first time, stopping at the Airstream between classes or grabbing a latte from one of their mobile bars at an event, the goal is to create a little excitement with every interaction.

For a business that started with a college freshman building a coffee cart, opening a permanent pit stop beside another college campus feels pretty full circle.

And if you haven’t stopped by the Cherrybomb Airstream on West Chimes yet, consider this your sign to go see what they’re brewing.