Consuming Louisville » Louisville is a coffee town

Mint Julep Mocha? Yes Please

Michelle — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 13:25:47 +0000

Just in time for Derby week Red Hot Roasters has announced a couple new beverages to add a little Derby festiveness to your morning routine.

The new drinks are the Bourbon Ball and the Mint Julep Mocha. They are a combination of Red Hot Roasters espresso and special dark chocolate coffee bombs with a bourbon creme filling from Cellar Door Chocolates.

Sounds delicious right? I haven’t been by to try one yet but it’s on my agenda for next week.

Prima Coffee Barista Bash 002 Tonight June 25, 2010

Michelle — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 12:01:20 +0000

Sorry for the late notice on this but if you love coffee, like I know you do, and you’re interested in checking out the new Sunergos you should held out to the Prima Coffee Barista Bash 002

There will be a latte art competition (and can I just say how I love that we’re having latte art competitions on town now!), home brewing demos and free coffee. What’s not to love?

Friday June 25, 2010 8PM

Sunergos (new location)
306 West Woodlawn Ave.
Louisville, KY

Thanks for the tip Lee!

Are You Fueling Louisville’s Coffee Economy?

Michelle — Fri, 28 May 2010 11:33:13 +0000

This cool infographic from Mint.com shows that spending in coffee shops is up of late. Is this a sign of an improving economy? I don’t know. What I do know though is that I was pleased to see Kentucky is in one of the higher categories when it comes to coffee shop spending. Why does this please me? For some reason it just pleases me to have validation of what I have said for years: “Louisville is a coffee town.” The funny thing is that just two days ago I declared “I am on a budget and I’m a cutting back my coffee shop spending considerably. No more coffee shop meetings unless someone else is buying or I have a stack of Highland Coffee or Heine Brothers gift cards to work with.” Yeah, we’ll see how good I am with staying on a limited coffee shop budget. Despite the best of intentions I am weak when it comes to resisting coffee and coffee shops.

So are you fueling Louisville’s coffee economy? I know what my favorite coffee shops are but I’m curious to know which ones you love and why. Got a favorite? Drop it on us in the comments.

Found via @JulesIndy

Red Hot Roasters on Spalding Campus

Michelle — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 13:05:51 +0000

There’s a new coffee and wifi option downtown. Red Hot Roasters opened a new location in the Egan Leadership Center on the Spalding University campus yesterday. This new location is in addition to the Red Hot Roasters drive-thru only shop on Payne Street.

While it’s on Spalding’s campus and is sure to be a hit with students the shop is open to the public and has free wifi. According to the press release I got it seats 60 patrons and in addition to usual coffee drinks the menu will include teas, muffins, homemade organic ice cream and a rotating selection of baked-fresh muffins and baked goods from Stellar Sweets.

OK that’s the first time I’ve heard of Stellar Sweets but let me tell you I’m intrigued. Since they don’t have a shop if anyone wants to order some of their cupcakes or other items for me to try I’m up to the challenge!

The winter hours for Red Hot Roasters Spalding edition are weekdays 8:30AM-6:30PM.

Red Hot Roasters
901 S. Fourth Street
Louisville, KY

10% Off Pumpkin Pie Latte at Heine Brothers

Michelle — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:36:16 +0000

I had occasion to stop by the Heine Brothers at Douglass Loop yesterday. Well ok that’s not quite true. The truth is Heine Brothers posted the picture at right of their Pumpkin Pie Latte and it looked so delicious I stopped by there in the afternoon to get one even though I already had a meeting scheduled at Heine Brothers for later in the evening. So yes, I was at Heine Brothers Douglass Loop twice in one day.

I got my pumpkin pie latte to go so it didn’t look quite as beautiful as the one in the photo but it tasted very good. Pumpkin pie lattes are 10% off at Heine Brothers until November 9, 2009 so if you’ve ever been curious about one now is your time to try it. If I’m honest though I’ve got to tell you that the winter beverage I’m most excited about is the return of egg nog lattes. I only allow myself two or three per season because they are so decadent but good gracious are they wonderful.

Dear Highland Coffee: I Love You and Your Honey Latte

Michelle — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 15:37:12 +0000

Yes I am publicly declaring my love for Highland Coffee for 4 reasons.

1. They were incredibly supportive of the bake sale for the library last week. They donated a great big bunch of delicious treats for us to sell including some vegan treats(!). I appreciate their generosity so very much. Thank you for supporting the library Highland Coffee!

2. I dig what Highland Coffee is doing with social media. They have an active Twitter stream and an active presence on Facebook. It’s actually their social media activity that leads me to the primary reason for my rekindled love affair with Highland coffee: the Honey Latte.

3. I’d never heard of a honey latte until the owner of The Makery Twittered about loving Highland Coffee’s honey latte. I was intrigued by the notion of honey in coffee.

Then Gabe Bullard asked Highland Coffee about how they make the honey latte and I became even more interested. Naturally, because they are paying attention to their customers on Twitter Highland Coffee responded.

That description had me sold. So I headed to Highland Coffee yesterday afternoon to give the honey latte a try for myself and I found it to be delightful. I’m declaring it my drink of fall.

4. Sometimes when I’m hanging out or working from a coffee shop I’m there for a while but I can only drink one latte in a day. If I’m not in the mood for regular drip coffee then I want a latte and something else tasty to drink a bit later. Highland Coffee has Coke Zero in a can. You know how much I love Coke Zero in a can! So if I’m at Highland Coffee for more than an hour I can buy a Coke Zero and not be a bum soaking up wifi and a power outlet when I only bought one latte. Granted a Coke Zero is not a big ticket item but it’s better than nothing right?

A Look at the new Quills

Michelle — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 19:41:07 +0000

Quills opened quietly last weekend. They’re still planning a grand opening party for after Derby but they are officially open for business in their new location at 930 Baxter Avenue in the Highlands. Long time readers of Consuming Louisville know that I was a fan of the original Quills and that we’ve had some good conversations about Quills, religion and all sorts of exciting topics. I’ve been to the new Quills twice since they opened already. Once with B, once alone with my head down trying to plow through some work. I took a few shots, drank some coffee and came back to report to you on it. From the crowds that were present both times I went I think it’s safe to say that a whole lot of people have been waiting for Quills to reopen. The verdict? It was worth the wait.

As much as I loved the atmosphere and vibe of the original Quills I
love this one even more with one exception. They’ve given up the “book”
part of Quills Coffee and Book so gone are the walls of bookshelves.
That makes me a little sad but that’s just cause I’m a gigantic book
nerd. Other than that the new Quills is a coffee shop lovers paradise.
Good music, good (rotating) art on the walls, beautifully decorated,
plenty of seating, strong wifi and lots of electrical outlets to
satisfy your computer’s power needs. It seems like they took just about
everything good from the old Quills and turned it up to 11.

The coffee at Quills 2.0 is just as tasty as the coffee at Quills 1.0. They have their daily Quills blend drip coffee, French press and of course all the espresso drinks you can shake a stick at. In a couple areas though the folks at Quills have seriously stepped up their game. The first area is their tea service. This was high on B’s list of things I’m supposed to tell you about the new Quills. Their selection of teas as well as the serving of those teas has seriously improved. You can order just a cup or you can order the tea service which will find you getting a gorgeous tray full of all the tea…stuff you need (your own pot and mug, timer to prevent you from steeping it too long, a little dish to dispose of the used tea bag, etc.). B is in love with the tea service and can’t wait to go back for more. She recommends the second flush darjeeling (at least I think that’s what it was, you know I’m not a tea person so you can’t blame me if I got this part wrong).

The second area Quills has much improved in is food. They’ve added more muffins, scones, cookies and other sweets. Though they don’t have the full menu in place yet Nathan Quillo tells me that panini sandwiches, yogurt, granola and hummus will be added to their food menu as well quite soon. They are also selling chocolates from Cellar Door Chocolates. I’ve yet to try any of these but they look outstanding. Buy me a truffle next time you see me hanging out at Quills ok?

Another area they’ve really improved in? Latte art. I know that’s kind of superficial but come on how can you not just smile and be impressed with latte art?

The new location is significantly larger than the old Quills, so much so that they have a dedicated meeting room on the second floor. I would have taken a picture for you but it was overrun with people both times I’ve been in. It will cost you $25 to reserve the meeting room for four hours and $50 for the day (meaning it will be $50 for five hours or ten hours). They have a signup sheet at the register for the meeting space.

I’ve got to tell you I’m kind of in love with the new Quills and B is too. It’s not often that we’re in love with the same hangout place. Most of the time she really loves a place while I like it ok or vice versa. We’ll go together and have a good time but places are normally categorized as her place or my place and I think that Quills is going to “our place.” That’s saying something.

Hours at the new Quills:
Sunday-Thursday 6AM-11PM
Friday & Saturday 6AM-Midnight

Quills Coffee
930 Baxter Avenue
Louisvillle, KY

Sunergos Coffee

Michelle — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 17:15:56 +0000

I had the chance to very briefly check out Sunergos Coffee recently. It’s not on any of the routes I normally travel so I’d only been there once before. You know it’s close to though? Nord’s Bakery. It’s my new tradition to have Nord’s doughnuts during the first weekend of the new year. What goes better with doughnuts than coffee? Nothing. So I stopped by Sunergos for some girly coffee drinks. The drinks were tasty (I tried some of B’s, so sue me). I was kind of
sad to take them home for breakfast though because Sunergos seemed like
a very good place to hang out and lounge for a bit.

As you can see from the very poor quality iPhone photo it’s a very laid back, comfortable kind of place. What you can’t see from the photo is a) the roasting area and b) that they were playing Death Cab for Cutie. Music by Death Cab for Cutie and tasty coffee make me quite happy.

I imagine I would have very much enjoyed sipping my coffee, eating a doughnut and listening to Death Cab at Sunergos. I also imagine that if this place had been in existance during my time at UofL it would most definitely have been my study/hangout place of choice.

Sunergos Coffee
2122 S. Preston
Louisville, KY

It’s Official: Quills Relocating to Baxter Avenue

Michelle — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 17:03:15 +0000

Louisville has been down a coffee shop since Quills shut down on Kentucky Street back in July. The caffeine to human ratio is about to bounce back up though since Quills has let out word that they’ll be reopening in a new location on Baxter Avenue.

The new location is at 930 Baxter Avenue next door to Flannigan’s. No word on a firm opening date yet but about a month or so is the soft estimate.

Heine Brothers Locations With Drive-Thrus Now Open Earlier

Michelle — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 17:12:54 +0000

In the hopes of turning Consuming Louisville into the all coffee, all the time channel let me tell you that Heine Brothers locations with drive thrus (Gardiner Lane, Shelbyville Road, Chenoweth Lane) are now opening at 5:30AM on weekdays and 6:30AM on Saturdays. I haven’t been in need of coffee before 6AM in a while but I’m very glad to know that if I did Heine Brothers would be there to take care of me.