New Hours for Remodeled New Albany Café

Anyone who has been into our New Albany café this summer has no doubt been inconvenienced by the sound of power drills and maybe even the lingering smell of sawdust. Although we hate to cause our customers any discomfort, these projects were carried out for the greater good of improving our café environment for your enjoyment. Now that our summer build out is complete we're excited to announce our New Albany café has extended hours. 

Monday-Friday: 6:30-7:00

Saturday: 7:00-7:00

Sunday: 8:00-5:00

Over the last four years we've been excited to be a part of the revitalization of Downtown New Albany. New businesses are opening, more people are walking the sidewalks, and thanks to the recent success of local rockers Houndmouth, we've never seen so much local pride. We're happy that our shop will be available whether you need a quick pick-me-up after work or a space to meet with an old friend. 

The Kentucky Cuban is our Latest Seasonal Drink

It may already be August, but temperatures are still soaring and show no signs of letting up. Lucky for you, we have a new seasonal drink to take the edge off that Kentuckiana summer. The Kentucky Cuban is a riff on a Cuban Café con Leche. Like the classic Caribbean beverage, the Kentucky Cuban features espresso and sweetened condensed milk. The Kentucky twist comes from two ingredients made by Louisville's own, Bourbon Barrel Foods.  The Madagascar Vanilla Extract and Bourbon Smoked Simple Syrup are treated with used bourbon barrels, which lends a unique smoky taste. The result is a beverage that is sweet, complex, and surprisingly refreshing. Our baristas have already grown to love this drink and we're sure you will too. 

If you're interested in making this drink at home we recently shared a DIY recipe with the Courier-Journal. 

The Kentucky Cuban (DIY version)

Stop the Presses! Quills in Courier-Journal, WDRB

It's been a big week for Quills in the media. It started Sunday with this feature on WDRB's Morning program. Reporter Kate Springer came by our U of L café to interview our America's Best Coffeehouse winning team, learn how to make our Orange Blossom Shakerato, and try her hand at latte art. 

We also had the honor of sharing a special DIY recipe of our newest signature drunk, The Kentucky Cuban, with the Courier-Journal's Baily Loosemore. Loosemore's feature ran in Wednesday's paper and even got a front page, above the fold mention! The Kentucky Cuban is a collaboration with Louisville's Bourbon Barrel Foods, and features their barrel-treated simple syrup and vanilla extract. It's going to be available in all of our cafés really soon, but in the meantime you can make it at home using cold brew coffee! 

Now Serving Mexico, El Porvenir

For the past two years our Mexico, El Eden has been a crowd favorite. This natural process coffee from Guerrero is a fruit bomb with supporting floral and chocolate notes. Our newest coffee from Mexico couldn't be more different, but we think it will be just as popular. El Porvenir comes to us from the Siltepec municipality of Chiapas. It's part of Cafe Imports Regional Select program which highlights the best coffees in Mexico. 

El Porvenir is the work of assorted small farms that make up the GRAPOS co-op. Like the farmers of El Eden, Grapos grow Bourbon and Typica varieties, but unlike El Eden this coffee is fully washed. In the cup we encounter lovely notes of vanilla, cashew, and wildflower honey. The acidity is more subdued than many of our coffees, which makes this coffee an excellent option for people that prefer sweeter, less acidic coffees. El Porvenir hits our webstore just in time to catch the tail end of our free shipping promotion. The promotion expires at the end of June, so don't wait to try this wonderful coffee. 

Quills U of L Gets A New Espresso Machine

When people think of Quills, our Baxter Ave café comes to mind. It's our oldest shop and it houses our offices. The fact that it's situated in Louisville's historic Highlands neighborhood means that it's both a local favorite and a destination for people from all over the city. But on any given finals week our busiest location is actually our café next to the University of Louisville. Whether it's students, professors, or residents of Old Louisville- anyone who's ever been in during the morning or post-lunch rush knows things can get a little hectic! 

It became clear shortly after our first finals week rush we needed more than a two-group espresso machine. With an extra group head we can increase our output by 50%, meaning that you get that hand-crafted espresso beverage sooner. When you have a midterm to take or a class to teach, waiting simply isn't an option. 

For years Quills has been avid supporters of La Marzocco espresso machines. There are a lot of companies out there, but these Florence, Italy-built machines have the perfect combination of design and functionality, aesthetics and reliability. 

Historically, the craft coffee movement has eschewed automation in favor of manual methods. For espresso machines, this means manual paddles, where the barista is in complete control over the espresso in real time. We continue to believe that each shot of espresso is a work of art- the culmination of a collaborative effort between farmer, importer, roaster, barista, and customer to create a single moment of transcendent beauty. In a high-volume situation, however, the blessing can become a curse, as it can become difficult to maintain consistency from barista-to-barista or shot-to-shot. We want each beverage that passes over our counter to meet a certain standard.

Enter the Linea PB. The Linea PB is La Marzocco's flagship espresso machine. It utilizes state-of-the-art flow meter technology and an unprecedented amount of user programability. This allows the barista to have the same level of control as with a manual paddle machine while offering the repeatability only possible through automation. With the Linea PB our baristas can focus on dosing, tamping, and taking care of you. Two weeks with the new machine and our trademark Blacksmith Espresso blend has never been tasting better. But don't just take our word for it, come visit 327 Cardinal BLVD and taste it for yourself! 



Check Out These Pictures of our Best Coffeehouse Winning Team!

It's been over a week since our team won the America's Best Coffeehouse Competition in Chicago, but we're still on a caffeine-induced high. Our friend and former head roaster John Letoto sent us these snapshots from Chicago and we thought they were too good not to share. Our celebratory free shipping promotion for orders of $15 or more runs until the end of the month. You can try the Sulawesi, Tana Torja, the Burundi, Bubezi, or one of our other freshly roasted, seasonal coffees. 

Quills Wins America's Best Coffeehouse

Americas Best Coffee House Champs! So proud of these dudes! #coffeefamily #vivalaquills #quillscoffee #kyproud #Chicago #coffeefest #VSCOcam

"Americas Best Coffee House Champs! So proud of these dudes! #coffeefamily #vivalaquills #quillscoffee #kyproud #Chicago #coffeefest #VSCOcam"

We're thrilled to announce that Quills won the America's Best Coffeehouse competition at CoffeeFest Chicago. Our team - Kansas Andrade, Joanna Miller, and Cameron Mulvey - served a special curated menu on an on-site café for a panel of judges and trade show goers alike. They were evaluated for beverage quality, customer service, speed, teamwork, and communication.  Their menu included pour-overs of single origin coffees from Burundi and Sulawesi, espresso drinks featuring Quills's Blacksmith Espresso blend, and a special Orange Blossom Shakerato ( a chilled, espresso-based beverage infused with cherry and orange blossom syrup). Topeka, Kansas's PT's Coffee came in second place and Louisville's Vint took third. 

To celebrate, we're offering free shipping on all webstore orders over $15. Just use the code COFFEECHAMPS2K15 when checking out. 


Quills to Compete in America's Best Coffeehouse Competition

At Quills, we are constantly pursuing better coffee and better service. Of course, there's no greater indicator of either goal than the happiness of our regular customers. But one of the best ways to push ourselves to grow and improve is by competing in national coffee competitions. Over the last couple of years we've competed in the US Barista Championship, Cup Tasters, Latte Art, and  Brewers Cup. Next week in Chicago we're taking on a new challenge: America's Best Coffeehouse. 

In this competition, teams of three baristas take turns running a pop-up café on the tradeshow floor of CoffeeFesh Chicago. While the teams serve the conference goers they are judged by both secret shoppers and technical judges. Each team is evaluated on their teamwork, customer service, and beverage quality.

At Quills we're proud of the hard work and dedication that each one of our baristas puts into their job, so picking a team for the competition was challenging.  In the end, we picked 3 baristas that regularly work at our U of L café, due to the high volume and high pressure of the location during the college semester. Anyone who has been in during the weeks leading up to finals knows it can be a hectic work environment! 

Our team is being helmed by our U of L manager Kansas Andrade.  Joanna Miller will be brewing filter coffee with Hario V60s and Cameron Mulvey will be running the espresso machine. As a sort of dress rehearsal, our team is taking over Quills Baxter on Saturday to serve our customers a special menu that includes two new signature drinks. Be sure to swing by, try something new, and wish our team luck!