Next time you take to the tarmac from Indy to warmer weather, our friends at Tinker Coffee will be there to send you off to caffeinated skies.

On Wednesday, April 21, the Tinker Crew hosted a grand opening celebration for their very first café in Concourse B at Indianapolis International Airport (IND). The event showed off Tinker’s focus on exceptional quality with free samples, the official debut of their signature 5 Spice Latte (with syrup from local, woman-owned Newfangled Confections), goodies, and live music from amazing local artist Allison Victoria (@allisonvictoriaaa).

Your Caffeinated Carry On

Right after you pass through TSA (yes, plane ticket required), Tinker Coffee’s aroma (and logo) is one of the first to greet you. The café rounds the first corner on the way to the flight gates and is truly a welcome sight to see. The Tinker logo smiles down from an inviting wood facade and playful coffee-inspired murals from our friends at Flatland Kitchen dance along the walls.

Fresh Tinker coffee is brewed using the latest and greatest methods and equipment, which is no surprise. Also available are plenty of breakfast options and snacks that are perfect for snacking while waiting to board or for stashing in your bag and munching mid-flight.

The new café in Concourse B highlights an invigorated effort by IND and its hospitality partners to introduce travelers to amazing local food & beverage staples. Tinker joins a list of iconic Indy eateries and drinkeries that includes Sun King Brewery, Shapiro’s, Harry & Izzy’s, Just Pop In!, and a handful of other local favorites that are still in the works.

How Tinker Coffee Landed at the Airport

Back in 2017-2018, IND put out a call to local businesses who might be interested in partnering to bring new flavors of Hoosier Hospitality™ to the airport, and (lucky for us) Tinker was one of the companies to answer. The Tinker café was publicly announced in 2019, and of course, the pandemic caused unexpected turbulence for everyone. Finally, the Concourse B café is open, AND they are already working on a second airport location in Concourse A. (Between you and me, I heard the word ‘Bistro’ is involved.)

Because of the way airports work, Tinker isn’t running the show entirely themselves—the airport works with select hospitality groups to run the day-to-day operations for all food, beverage, and retail spaces. All that is to say, Tinker technically has a co-pilot behind the scenes, but they’re still running the show. So we can always count on the first-class coffee that makes us frequent Tinker flyers.

Grab Your Baggage and your Boarding Pass

Next time you head out on a skyward adventure from IND, pop into Tinker’s café in Concourse B for a delicious cup of local coffee before your flight and definitely grab a bag of freshly roasted beans to remind you of home wherever you’re going. And when you do come home, Tinker will be there waiting for you when you land.

I’m obviously excited for our friends at Tinker as their footprint continues to grow into cafés, and I’m also really, really excited about what this means for local specialty coffee. My main goal for the Coffee Guide has only ever been to get everyone to love local coffee as much as I do, and giving the nearly 10 million passengers that come through IND every year exposure to Indy coffee is a pretty big win for all of us.

Another big win for all of us? Tinker is also opening their SECOND location at The Amp at 16 Tech THIS FRIDAY, and this time you won’t need a plane ticket to check it out.

Huge thanks to the Tinker crew and the team at Indianapolis International Airport for hosting an awesome grand opening. It was amazing to safely see so many familiar faces while getting a first look at all the changes coming to IND. No wonder you were just voted Best Airport in North America for the 10th time.

Tinker Coffee is located in Concourse B at the Indianapolis International Airport. As of April 2021, their hours are daily from 5 am – 12:30 pm.