Holy steaming espresso Batman, it’s Latte Lady.

She’s not a super villian ready to terrorize the unsuspecting residents of Oak Harbor. She just wants them to enjoy a piping hot cup of coffee.

Latte Lady is Tammy Rodriguez and she serves mochas, lattes, espressos and a plethora of other coffee drinks out of her fully-restored, red Volkswagen bus complete with a checkered floor. That allows her to bring coffee to the customers door step.

“I deliver to businesses during the day,” Rodriguez said.

Since starting her route earlier in the summer, she has seen business double.

She uses Fidalgo Bay Coffee in her drinks. In addition to coffee, she also offers smoothies, Italian sodas, bagels and pastries that she picks up from a bakery in Anacortes.

Prior to becoming the Latte Lady, she worked at an espresso stand in Anacortes and decided to strike out on her own.

She got the inspiration for the portable espresso stand by seeing the local ice cream man make his rounds throughout the neighborhoods.

“I could picture housewives running out of their homes for a latte,” Rodriguez said.

She originally wanted to buy an ice cream truck and convert it for coffee. However she couldn’t find a suitable one anywhere on the West Coast so she settled on buying the Volkswagen bus.

Acquiring a vehicle proved to be a bit of an ordeal but several charitable people helped her along the way.

Rodriguez bought the vehicle Feb. 2 on eBay and flew to Los Angeles the same day to pick it up and drive it back to Whidbey Island.

During the drive home, she broke down in Redding, Calif. Several people helped her get the bus running and accompanied her to the Oregon-California border. She eventually made it to her dad’s home in Eugene. Her dad gave her $40 during her visit, which helped on the next step of her journey.

When she was north of Vancouver, she pulled into a restaurant around midnight after hearing a rattle coming from the front of the bus.

Several people eating in the restaurant were familiar with VW buses, examined the bus and recommended she spend the night in a hotel. That morning, they brought a mechanic who spent two-and-a-half hours replacing the wheel bearings, Rodriguez said.

“I just thought it was really neat that I got so much help along the way,” she said.

After making it back to Whidbey Island, Rodriguez, and her husband, Richard, spent the next several months restoring the vehicle and installing an espresso machine. It was ready for the road about six weeks ago. She can be seen on the road four times a week during the summer.

In addition to driving around local businesses and neighborhoods, she is becoming a fixture at the Oak Harbor farmer’s market that takes place every Thursday beginning at 4 p.m.

Currently, she works Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Thursday afternoons so she can be found at the market.

She is planning to expand to five days a week when her children, Preston, Lydia and Alizabeth, start school in the fall.

While the Latte Lady only operates one vehicle, she won’t be alone for long.

She is planning to buy another bus. That vehicle, which will be known as Mocha Man, should be ready sometime next year and it will be available for special events. She is also planning to buy a trailer that will be named Baby Bug.

For more information about the Latte Lady, contact Rodriguez at 929-0092.