Back in 2004, this Maize High graduate moved away from home and found her passion in an unlikely place. Today she owns the “Best Coffee Shop in Kansas.”

Leslie’s Coffee just received the title of “best coffee shop in Kansas” (Food and Wine Magazine). Located in downtown Wichita, Sarah Leslie set up her shop in a vintage shop built in 1910 that was originally a bank.

Before her coffee shop, Leslie was a student at Maize High School, she graduated in 2004 and moved to New York to complete her undergraduate degree and later completed her Masters degree in cinema studies at NYU. While in college, she picked up a job as a barista that led to her coffee obsession.

“Nobody wanted to hire someone with no New York City experience,” said Leslie.

Leslie found her passion working with coffee and volunteered with the barista guild, a global trade guild dedicated to the craft and art of coffee. She moved back to Kansas in 2016 to be home with her family and opened up her coffee shop in 2018. After receiving the award of “Best Coffee Shop in Kansas,” business picked up fast for the shop.

“It was spring break so people had the time to just go out and try a new place,” Leslie said. “It was actually our busiest week ever.”

Leslie’s has a variety of drink options and makes all of the syrups in house so everything is 100% fresh. The shop also has many different staff-created drinks as well as seasonal flavors. The March flavor is honey lavender, which is popular with Leslie’s regular customers.

With no plans to branch out the business at the moment, Leslie focuses most of her time on maintaining a healthy intimate community of coffee lovers.

“I think here in Kansas, it’s easy to open a small business,” Leslie said. “A lot of people are excited to support a local business.”