COMMUNITY, COFFEE & CAFFEINE: Meet Ally, Bri, and Pete
By Seth Stutman | Photos by Hillary Lynn Photography
Published in Longmeadow Neighbors | October 2025
Longmeadow seems to be built around coffee and connection. We meet up on the tennis courts, at the country clubs, and at the shops to catch up, gossip. We enjoy neighborly chats around beverages, cookout camaraderie, and so much more. Now, thanks to the entrepreneurial efforts of two of your Longmeadow Neighbors, there’s a new place for caffeine cravings and connections.
“We moved here in 2021 in the middle of COVID-19. We left our community and jobs on Long Island and were unsure what we were going to do here. There was a lot of unknown during that time,” said Pete and his wife, Brianna. “We love serving the community we live in. There’s a new sense of purpose and belonging for us working and living in the same town. We have also made so many new wonderful friends because of Pour Things, and we had never expected that aspect of owning a business.”
Bri and Pete live in Longmeadow with their 3-year-old daughter, Olive, and their two cats, Stormy and Kit Kat. When they're not working, all three owners enjoy great food, creating and viewing art, live music, and spending time with family.
“We love going to ‘Potato Head Park’ with our daughter. We’ve met so many people with kids this way. We often eat at Posto or Royal Spice for a night out. After dinner, we often walk to Center School to play on the playground. It feels like a huge privilege to have so many amenities within walking distance from us,” said Brianna.
While the move from Long Island to Longmeadow could be a culture shock, the pair seems to enjoy their new, quieter lifestyle.
“We’ve started our family here. We have great neighbors. When we moved into our house, every surrounding neighbor brought us a meal or a bottle of wine, or a gift for our baby. Olive was born 6 weeks after we moved into our house. It made a huge difference to feel so welcomed during such a strange time in the world. We also have a bunch of family in town and surrounding towns. Our daughter gets to grow up here, just streets away from her cousins,” said Brianna.
While Ally lives outside of Longmeadow, she might as well be a resident, as she’s always in town. Longtime friend of Pete and Brianna, Ally brings the business and marketing mindset and divides her time between Pour Things and teaching marketing as a vocation at Putnam Vocational Academy in Springfield.
Like a good Shark Tank business, Pour Things Coffee was conceived while the trio was musing about the lack of quality coffee in the area. Longmeadow (and some surrounding towns) offered chain-restaurant coffee, but not the quality product that larger cities had to offer. From there, Brianna, Pete, and Ally began work on bringing coffee to town.
“When our business started in 2023, we planned to operate in Springfield, East Longmeadow, and Longmeadow, and became certified in each of those towns,” said Ally. “However, after spending time at Bliss Park and a few other locations in Longmeadow, we felt like this was the home for our business. Longmeadow didn't have an artisan coffee option, which is what we were looking for when we decided to start this business.”
The trio debated a “brick and mortar” coffee shop, but decided against it as they considered rent costs and the lack of a proven concept—it felt too big of a risk to take. However, fate intervened.
“Right around that time [we were doubting the viability of our idea], we noticed a truck for sale from a coffee shop in upstate New York, and we jumped at the opportunity,” said Pete.
The remodeled 1966 Chevy step van–turned–full espresso bar provides a one-of-a-kind experience for coffee enthusiasts and is able to be mobile, appearing often at Bliss Park and at other pop-up locations like the Brewer-Young Mansion in colder months.
The response has been overwhelmingly positive.
“I have lived in Longmeadow for 30 years, and the one word that comes to mind when I think of this town is community. [Brianna, Pete, and Ally] Pour Things coffee is the epitome of what a community is,” said Longmeadow resident Emily Nacco. “They bring this town together to enjoy their coffees and tasty treats, so parents can gather at the park with their kids.”
“We've been absolutely blown away with the reception from the community and how much support we've received,” said Brianna. “We are the first ever food truck in Longmeadow, and we're so excited to continue to grow our business in this town and continue making connections and meeting our neighbors.”
“It felt amazing to be back at Bliss. T-ball and baseball were happening, kids playing at the park with parents and people walking their dogs—it felt like the park was buzzing, and we're so happy to be a part of it. Everyone seems so happy to see us, and we're so grateful we get to share our product with them and make their day a little better,” said Ally.
“Having the truck for the last two years has been such a dream come true for us, but has also felt like a blur! We've been able to grow enough to have Pete working full-time for us, but Bri and I still have part-time jobs, so we're still always trying to find balance between work, family, and growth,” said Ally. “Right now, we all agree we want to continue showing up and building this community in Longmeadow, so we're scaling back our out-of-town events and now operating five days per week. For now, we're taking it year by year and seeing where it goes.”
For now, this truck is headed to a park near you, bringing the community together, one cup at a time.
“The response from town has been AMAZING. We have met so many awesome people in town by starting this business—many now we consider good friends. We wanted to start this business to create a sense of community around our shared love of coffee and it's been so cool to see that play out beyond our expectations,” said Ally.
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