We have recently made some changes to our hours at our New Albany store. We will now be open later on the weekend nights, closing earlier on Sunday and Monday. This is always subject to change according to the ever-changing interest and traffic in downtown New Albany. We apologize for any inconvenience this causes and hope we'll see more of you for an after-dinner treat on Friday and Saturday nights!

New hours- for New Albany only- are as follows:  

Tue-Thur  7AM-8PM

Fri-Sat      7AM-9PM  

Sunday     8AM-4PM

Monday    7AM-4PM

Imagine sorting through literally thousands of different batches of Ethiopian coffees, just to find a relatively small handful of coffees that stand out. Then, of those outstanding batches, imagine tasting them over and over again, combining different batches together to find, finally, one particular combination that tastes like everything a classic Yirgacheffe coffee ought to taste like: A delicate but intoxicating combination of floral and citrus notes backed by a honeyed sweetness. If you think this sounds like a treat, then you ought to come in to Quills soon, because we certainly have a treat for you!

The fact that we have this coffee from Ethiopia is no mistake, but it's certainly not because we did anything to deserve it. You see, Café Imports, the kind folks who do the importing of the raw, unroasted coffees -- or, as we say in the roasting business, "greens" -- we roast at Quills, gave us a heads-up on this small but special "lot" of coffee they had a hand in creating. They were really, really excited about it, and were kind enough to hold a few bags of it for us while we roasted and cupped a couple sample batches. Needless to say, as our roaster, I'm thrilled to be roasting this for Quills, but I'm even more thrilled to be able to offer you, our wonderful customers, this delightful coffee.

As of right now, the Yirgacheffe is being brewed only on our manual pour-over devices, the V60 and the Chemex. A part of this is because we really want to be able to preserve the freshness and pop of those floral and citrus notes, but also because we feel that there's a certain level of customization that can come when we manually tweak the brewing parameters. If brewed one way, the sweet honey notes come forth and intermingle with a brown sugar-like warmth. If brewed another way, the citrus and floral notes dominate the senses aromatically, becoming a creamy-but-zesty lemon delight.

Still, we haven't "arrived" with regard to roasting or brewing this coffee, and we're excited to see how it evolves over the coming weeks. If you've not yet given the Ethiopia Yirgacheffe ECX Top Lot a try, please do yourself a favor and grab a cup or a bag -- or, better yet, both. We like to say at Quills that there's a story in each cup, and in the case of this tasty treat, it's a pretty neat story.

The author doin' his thang

"The barista has, for quite some time now, been an elusive creature. So much so that the title itself has recently been questioned with much skepticism. Is not 'Barista' just a glorified title for someone who provides various caffeinated elixirs to masses of tired professionals, all the while waiting in queue to enter the revolving door of productive citizenship?

It seems the barista has garnered a bad wrap for being a student of the arts or theatre or humanities or- for that matter- some poor shlub simply waiting for their big break. There is an assumed Point B: Some place in the distance. Meanwhile -Point A is the mile marker hesitantly referred to in a hazy passing recollection.

Whether it be graduate school or a "real job", there are most certainly baristas who are slinging coffee while waiting for that acceptance letter; or anxiously twiddling their thumbs by the phone, hoping to hear back from the big wigs at the nine-to-five they applied for. Some of us have no idea what we want to do next. A lot of us (myself included) are not seeking -or just waiting for- a ticket out of some over-caffeinated purgatory.

As for me- in high school I knew I wanted to work in the coffee industry. I thought I wanted to own a shop. However, due to a ton of pressure from family and friends to follow a path that would lead to what they labeled as "a real career", I went to college...or should I say-colleges. I spent nearly eight years in three different schools and changed my major four times. I finally graduated with a degree in English a little less than a year ago. I worked my way through school as a barista for a well-known international siren of skinny-latte-drinking consumers. It was less than ideal, but it provided for my family and, for what it's worth, they take good care of even their part-time baristas with things like health care plans, 401Ks and stock options. 

As I neared the completion of my degree, I was always on the look-out for the next big thing and for a chance to get out of the latte factory. I was taking a class with a friend of mine who happened to work at a local specialty coffee shop when he informed me they were hoping to fill a vacant position. I applied and got the job. It was worlds different from the drive-thru convenience coffee game. 

After four years of working with coffee, I was finally loving what I did for a living. The longer I worked in that shop the more I realized that I had lost sight of my dream. I knew what I wanted to do in high school and yet I was chasing the pot of gold at the end of some diploma. 

What I have learned now though, in my more than five years in the coffee industry, is that a barista can be many things. But mostly we are people looking for meaning in life just like everyone else and we have the privilege of serving other people in the process. It may be just a great cup of coffee that we are providing, but more often than not, we are simply living out life with other people who are passionate about coffee...or not.

So, what exactly is a barista? Well, it looks different for each of us, but this barista is a former English major turned coffee professional with a wife of six years and two daughters. I love my job and I love serving people. Yes, I love me a great cup of coffee, but I love serving that cup more and I love the interactions that are exchanged in the midst of transactions of money exchanged for goods."

Matt, Jim, and I enjoyed an impromptu tasting session a few days ago. Matt first noticed earthy, grassy notes while I was stuck on the tanginess. Jim used the word "mellow". 

Your tastebuds will have their own proud opinion and choice of descriptive words, but you can count on a smooth and medium body with a brightness typical of neighboring Central American coffees

Cheers!

Be sure to check it out here! Then stick around and read some more of their findings, reviews and insights. They got style, they got class. Thanks for coming by boys!

Read on and learn future coffee geniuses...

 (and be sure to check out the links at the bottom for even more information and resources on finding products to help you achieve that perfect cup) 

                                {The author and his beard}

As you know- we at Quills are serious about coffee quality. For us, coffee and espresso preparation is a culinary pursuit, and we consider each drink a craft. We sample roast quality micro-lot coffees and select the ones that impress us most in the cupping process.  Then we roast the coffees we select with the goal of highlighting the origin characteristics of the bean and letting the coffee speak for itself. But all that we try to do would be in vain if we failed to brew our coffee and espresso properly. That is why we daily “dial in” our coffees and our espresso in an effort to bring out the best that we can in the cup we serve to you.

Many of our customers buy our coffee for brewing at home during the week. We'd like to provide some tips for brewing your own at home, the office or wherever you choose to enjoy a cup.

Brewing Essentials

• Dose: The coffee-to-water ratio is extremely important and even a slight variation by a few grams can have have a tremendous effect on the cup. Eyeballing your dose leads to inconsistency so we recommend a scale for weighing both coffee and water. We generally recommend a 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio. For instance (if you are using grams): 30g of coffee and 450g (grams = milliliters!) of water. Or if you prefer ounces, 1oz of coffee for 15oz of water. Some folks find it easier to determine what size drink they desire first and then multiplying by two to get the grams of coffee needed. For example, if you want to brew 12oz of water, use 24g of beans.
• Grind: Choosing a correct grind is also crucial to proper extraction. Choosing a grind too fine may result in very bitter, over-extracted coffee while choosing a grind too coarse may result in sour, under-extracted coffee. Also- generally, with a finer grind, more surface area is exposed, and you will want a quicker brew time. (Think of espresso. A very fine grind plus pressure equals a very fast <30-second brew time.) The coarser the grind, the less surface area, therefore you will want a longer brew time for full extraction (think french press). If you'd like to know our recommended grind settings for various brew methods, just ask us in the shop and we’d be glad to show you! We also recommend purchasing a good burr grinder for grind consistency as blade grinders provide a very uneven cut causing over and under extraction of different sized coffee particles.
• Time, Temperature, and Turbulence: We’ve touched on time already but generally speaking- 2 ½ to 4 minutes is a good brewing range, depending on method, dose, and grind. In regards to temperature-around 200 degrees is a good brewing temperature for most coffees. For coffees roasted by Quills, we generally recommend a bit hotter temp- around 206 degrees. A thermometer is helpful but if you don’t have one you can bring the water in your kettle to boil and then wait about 1-1 ½ minutes. Concerning turbulence, there will be some agitation in every brewing method: the speed of your pour in a pour-over, the amount of stirring in a french press. Just be aware that agitation adds to extraction, and when you find a recipe that works - Stick to it!

Brew Methods

• Auto-drip: Unfortunately, most home coffee makers just don’t brew hot or consistently enough. Generally, coffees brew best at temperatures of at least 200 degrees. A typical home maker usually doesn’t get above 185-190 degrees and usually this fluctuates as low as 170 during the brewing process. If you are looking for a good automatic home brewer, we recommend the new Bonavita as it brews consistently over 200 degrees during the entirety of the brewing cycle and will provide a significantly better cup than other makers at its price.
• Pour-over: A pour-over is a great way to have full control over the brewing of your coffee and promotes a sweet and clean cup, highlighting brighter notes. We use and sell both the Chemex and V60 brewing systems and we’d be glad to give you tips on great brewing at home. We recommend a good pouring kettle for a precise pour.
• French press: The french press is a familiar classic and an easy brew method to master. This method delivers a cup with a heavier mouth feel and brings out some of the deeper notes in the coffee. A coarse grind and around 4 minutes steep is good for this method.

Other Essentials

• Roast date: We recommend using coffee within 2-3 weeks from the roast date. After this time, the coffee suffers a loss in quality at a rapid pace. Keep the coffee sealed well in our one-way valve bags as oxygen is an enemy to the beans.
• Water: Water makes up around 98% of the total percentage of a cup of coffee so it’s very important that you use good water- filtered when possible.

Helpful Resources:
- Prima Coffee Equipment has some helpful tips on pour-over and immersion brewing
- BrewMethods.com is a great resource for videos and recipes of various brew methods
- A comparison of the Skerton and Mini Mill manual burr grinders
- Our recommendation for an excellent electric burr grinder: the Baratza Encore
- Coffee grind chart 

We've got some new beans in for you folks - both for sale and on tap. 

Here's what you'll be enjoying...

Burundi Kayanza Gacokwe  Lemon, Floral, Orange, Juicy, Clean

Colombia Popoyan Tierrandentro  Tropical, Savory, Sweet, Balanced

Ethiopia Washed Sidamo  Floral, Citric, Sweet