Nov. 18, 2021

Earlier this year, Jarren Saxon was working in a Tesla factory in Reno, Nevada, as a third-party health care provider.

These days, you can find him and his brother, Devin, starting the day before the sun rises as the new owners of Maple Drip, a food truck bringing coffee and breakfast options to Lennox.

The trailer sits on a lot at 608 S. Main St.

“It’s a growing town south of Sioux Falls … and they needed it,” Saxon said. “They were looking for a while, and so were we, so it was perfect.”

He spent time growing up in Lennox, graduated from Harrisburg High School and ended up on the West Coast for his first jobs out of college. That included time supporting Tesla in areas such as ergonomics.

While there, he experienced food trucks that came to serve workers outside at breaks “because they can’t support all the workers with the cafeteria, so they bring in local restaurants, which is an awesome model, so I got a taste of that,” he said, adding he saw a truck specializing in coffee become so popular it was moved inside.

Maple Drip uses beans imported from Costa Rica and serves hot and cold coffee drinks, including cappuccino, latte, espresso and Americano.

“I’m a learner,” said Saxon, who largely taught himself about roasting and brewing. “Coffee interested me, and I tried in college. I would mess around with popcorn poppers doing stuff, but I wanted the real deal. So I invested in a roaster, and it took a month or two to get batches where people were saying this is pretty good stuff.”

The star of the menu is his brother’s recipe for smoked maple pork, which is rolled into a loaf with eggs, cheese and bacon and smoked for two hours. It can be sliced for breakfast sandwiches or chopped up for a breakfast burrito.

“They’re pretty danged good, but it’s really time-consuming,” Saxon said.

The menu also includes baked goods such as cinnamon rolls and Scotcheroos and will be evolving.

Hours are 5:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. weekdays, 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday.

“I’m exhausted, but I still have energy because the people we have met have been so supportive,” Saxon said. “We’re going full-on.”

Editor’s note: Weekday closing hour was updated Nov. 24.