Thursday Night Throwdown is baaaaack!

When: Thursday March 25 @ 8pm

Where: Ugly Mugs Coffee and Tea

1886 Eastland Avenue

So after a *bit* of a hiatus, we're getting back on track with regular latte art competitions...

To kick it off, we've got a night'o'coffee fun with TNT:3 on March 25th at Ugly Mugs Coffee & Tea. Entry fees and proceeds from the evening will be donated to support recovery efforts in Haiti!

For the evening, we've got milk coming from local vendor, Hatcher Family Dairy, and coffee from Bongo Java Roasting Company - and it's not just the competitors that will be enjoying the bounty! beve mobile coffee will be out with a 2nd espresso machine setup to serve a select menu of espresso beverages to attendees!

Additionally, we'll be be having a little coffee trivia challenge going on through-out the night with some coffee-schwag for the winner (thanks to CREMA, dose., and Humphreys Street Coffee). Aaaand, finally, there will be some guest coffees brewed up on a free "Tasting Bar."

Competitor details after the jump:

Competitors: $5 entry fee to compete. Competition will go down head-to-head, with the espresso being prepared for you. Winner of each pairing will advance to the next round. 3rd place will be determined by an additional round. Prizes for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd; and there'll be some goodies for everyone who signs up... :)

Questions? nashvillecoffeesociety@gmail.com

It's My Way or the Norway: Coffees from the Land of the Midnight Sun

WHEN: Saturday October 3rd, 3pm
WHERE: MST Coffee Roasters
3 Cannery Row, Suite 103
(1st floor below Mercy Lounge)
Nashville, TN

A little bit of late notice, I know, but I just got back from Oslo last night.

This tasting will feature coffees roasted in Norway - and maybe one from Iceland as well. I smuggled them in a shoulder bag specifically for this purpose...

The interesting thing here is to see how roast profiles and tastes are different in other regions of the world. Generally speaking, Scandinavian roasters keep their coffees lighter than their American counterparts - something that the "3rd Wave" of coffee in the US has begun to emulate more and more in the past 5 years or so. The result? Well, come find out! (And come see MST Coffee Roasters awesome diggs! They even have a REAL cupping table!!)

As always, I aim to keep it informal: anyone is welcome, you don't have to stay for the whole things, and it's completely free.

--Heath

CUP Tasting Series Lineup

Our next cupping is coming up soon! Join us Sunday August 23rd at Ugly Mugs Coffee & Tea in East Nashville to taste coffees from three Tennessee roasters. We've know that there will be coffee there from Vienna Coffee Company in Maryville, TN as well as Stone Cup Roasting Co. in Chattanooga.

Those two companies alone are enough reason to come out! I've met the respective owners/roastmasters from both companies at industry events and can tell you they are both very quality focused companies with an attention to detail.

As always, the cupping is free, no experience is necessary, and if we have beans left over you're welcome to take some home to share with the family...or dog...or kids... well, maybe not the kids. I've tried that and while it was fun for the first twenty minutes or so, experiencing a 2 year old go through a caffeine-crash is painful. But I digress.

More info soon on these upcoming events:

October
It's My Way or the Norway: Roasts from the Land of the Midnight Sun
A special event! I'll be bringing coffees back from three Norwegian roasters after my trip to the Nordic Barista Cup in Iceland and a week visiting cafes in Oslo.

November
Multiplicity: One Coffee, Three Profiles.
Taste the same coffee from three different roasters and see what a difference the roast styles have on flavor.

December
High Rollers: The Most Expensive Coffees in the World
Just in time for the holidays...You may never get the urge to drop $150.00 on a pound of coffee, but I bet you'd taste it if it was offered to you! Consider this your opportunity.

Dates/time/location TBA.
Want to host it, think you know the perfect spot, or have a request for a theme? Drop us a line at nashvillecoffeesociety@gmail.com

TNT on Channel 5!

So this post is a little late in coming, but for anyone who didn't catch it the first time around...




"Nashville's Best Barista's Craft Designs on Cafe Lattes"

Announcing July's Thursday Night Throwdown!
Thursday July 16th.
SignUp starts @ 7pm. Throwdown starts @ 8pm.

That's right, it's back and we're using a recently tested change to the format that speeds up the action. Competitors now will be randomly put head-to-head in a bracket system, with the winner from each match progressing to the next round. There is no scoring in this version - judges must decide then and there which one moves on! There will again be prizes for the top three, with the winner taking the cash pot (along with fame and glory).

This month we have been graciously given the use of Edgehill Studio Cafe (which, btw, offers a nice selection of bottled beer...), and the event will coincide with Edgehill Village's "Third Thursday" open house! So come out early, browse through the local merchants, and enjoy some food and beverage!

Edgehill Studios Cafe
1201 Villa Place
Nashville, TN 37212
615.301.8539

Questions, comments, letters of inquiry: nashvillecoffeesociety@gmail.com

June Coffee Tasting!

Our first in a monthly series...

Join us as we explore the differences between the major coffee growing regions of the world through tasting coffees roasted right here in Music City. No experience neccessary! Free, but please RSVP because of limited class size.

5pm Saturday June 27
at CREMA Fine Coffee and Espresso
limited to 20 participants

RSVP nashvillecoffeesociety@gmail.com

May 21st TNT Results!

Congratulations to.....

1st Place: Nathaniel Mehrens!

2nd Place: Courtney DeLozier!

3rd Place: Jackson O'Brian!


Full Score Rundown

For winning Nashville's inaugural Thursday Night Throwdown Latte Art Competition, Nathaniel walked away with the $105.00 in entry fees, in addition to $250.00 donated by Monin Gourmet Syrups!! Not only that, but Everything Coffee and Tea threw in a CUSTOM MADE TAMPER hand crafted by NewTamper.com

Additionally Drew Parks kindly gave a one pound bag of his scrumptious "Drew's Brews" El Salvador Santa Rita Natural to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place, AND 2nd place winner Courtney DeLozier also received a gift certificate to Eastland Cafe, AND 3rd Place winner Jackson O'Brian also received a mug kindly donated by Ugly Mugs!

There were a whopping 21 competitors [EDIT: Full results available here] that stepped up and threw down, and we had a sizable audience as well! Look for photos in the near future, as well as an upcoming spot on WTVF Channel 5. I can't tell you how good it feels to see people of all sorts, from all over the city, get together for some friendly competition and community. Speaking of community: inspired by Coffee and Crema's own Thursday Night Throwdown earlier this month, we "sold" the masterfully crafted latte's being poured at the bar, with 100% of the proceeds going directly to CoffeeKids. Thanks everyone who gave! In the future we hope to incorporate more "give-back's" to the community: both local and abroad.

Whew! So how are we going to live up to THAT next time?! Well, we're already scheming up plans to make the competition even better... so watch out and stay tuned!

Thanks again to....
Judges: EJ Dawson (Bongo Java), Drew Parks (Drew's Brews), & Rob Tuttle (Everything Coffee and Tea); Host: Ugly Mugs Coffee and Tea; Milk Sponsor: Pacific Natural Foods; Coffee Sponsor: Topéca Coffee

...and of course Everything Coffee and Tea for their organizational help/prizes, and the ineffably generous Donald Harrell of Monin Gourmet Syrups!