Quills + Heitzman's Bakery= Local Traditions

At Quills, our love of originality and quality is the driving force behind every one of our decisions. It has led us down many paths. Most recently, it was behind the development of our own line of baked goods. For the past six months our baristas have been baking our muffins and scones in-house every day and the positive feedback from our customers has been truly rewarding.

We are, however, entering a new chapter in the story of Quills and it is one of expansion.  For this reason we have decided to hand the baking over to a Louisville landmark, Heitzman Bakery. Heitzman’s has been baking for this city for over 100 years and is committed to excellence in a way that makes us proud to sell their products. We are also excited to be working with a family run business that reminds us of our own.

In our new location at 137 Market Street in New Albany, we are creating a sort of Quills lab where we can focus our creative energies on the development of products that are as unique as the baristas who craft them. We will be creating our own selection of desserts with the help of local bakers and roasting an evolving range of expertly selected coffees.

We appreciate your support and are so proud to be a part of Louisville’s dynamic coffee culture. Stay tuned for the opening dates of our new locations in Downtown New Albany and in the UofL Cardinal Towne Center!

To find out more about Heitzman's Bakery:

http://www.heitzmanbakery.net

Books, Music, Crafts, they all go well with Coffee

Summer may be easy living for most, but here at Quills we like to keep things jumping. To keep Louisville on its toes we are hosting two exciting events this weekend. Friday July 8^th we will see our friends at Typecast Publishing again for a release of their latest publication Barking Mad by Jamieson Ridenhour.

A reading from the novel and signings will start off the event, followed by some acoustic sounds by The Foxery. The night of books, music and tom foolery begins at 7pm.

The Irish Hill Arts Bazaar Saturday July 9^th promises to be craftastic as Quills turns our tables over to the local crafters we know and love. Just a few of these fine folks are the Female Art Collective, Laura Fauna, Fly Away Fox, Kiann Adornments, Posies & Plume, Pixels to Paper, DRTY AWSM, Baubles by Jill, and our very own Brittany Anne Jarboe Jennings.

We will be serenading them and our lovely patrons with the tunes of Sapat, Justin Lewis and the American Freedom Machine. This shindig is going down from 5-9pm, finishing up just in time for a night on the town.

Come help Quills in keeping this summer rowdy. 

Barista of the Week: Emily Sill

Quills has the pleasure of employing some of the best baristas in town. Coming from different walks of life, their unifying factor is … love for coffee. Shocking, we know. But in this day and age, the undying, passionate, obsessive love for coffee that we tend to lean toward at Quills is what we look for in a barista.

Emily Sill, one of our newest members to Team Quills has that undying love. A love she developed through the growing coffee community in Louisville. Her husband Lee Sill is also in the coffee biz at Prima Coffee. We like to keep our coffee family tight.

Coffee was actually something that the couple shared as a mutual passion in the development of their budding marriage. Starting with a Chemex and an Ario grinder, the Sills were in business. But Emily has been a fan of coffee since college, making her own French presses and hanging at her local coffee houses, getting deeper into coffee was a natural process.

But perfecting the flavor of coffee as a barista at Quills is not Emily’s only foray into the professional coffee world. Quills is her second barista gig, preceded by promotions for Alliance World Coffees. Add that to her work ethic and winning personality, we think we lucked out on this one.

Emily is also now in charge of the delicious baked goods we make at Quills. As an artist, photographer and people person, being a barista and baker puts all of Emily’s skills and passions together. Emily loves the craft of making beautiful and tasty beverages and goodies that customers enjoy, as well as interacting and educating customers on the ins and outs of coffee.

Emily’s more quirky passions are her serious love for her dog Davey, a poofy Papillion with a lot of personality; Bluegrass festivals, stationary for handwritten letters; and the delightful family hobby of bird watching. Oh and Emily is the sibling of former barista Allie Sailor, also a bird watcher.

A barista profile would not be complete with out the favorite coffee drink.

For Emily it is: The Cottonwood Espresso as a Cappuccino or Americano. Nice choice Em. 

www.emilysillphotography.com

Quills Roasts Coffee

Word on the street is Quills is in the roasting biz. It’s all true. Roasting coffee has been part of our vision from the beginning, but now it's a reality. Once we landed our little roaster that could and a place to do its the thang, we have been full speed ahead.

The question of the day is who is behind this magical experience. The answer is our very own John Letoto. Hired on for his expert coffee knowledge and home roasting skills, John has taken on all parts of becoming a barista in addition to spearheading our roasting endeavors.

Spying on John as he roasts at our future New Albany location, it’s easy to see how much John loves coffee. With scribbled notes on paper, iPad documents and timers, John has it all down to an art. The complexity and the challenge is what John loves about roasting coffee.

He says it is intriguing to take something raw and make it this delicious thing that opens people’s eyes to the rich flavors coffee can have, much different than what they are brought up thinking coffee should taste like.

It is that moment that motivates John. Once someone tastes a quality roasted coffee, they are hooked, they want to know more and more. Being part of the experience that excites folks about coffee is tops on the list for John.

The support and comradery of being part of a small number of small batch coffee roasters in the country is nice too. Because there is always something to learn to further coffee, the support and info sharing done between them makes roasting better for John, and coffee quality better for everyone.

Being a part of the roasting and the brew process provides a deeper insight to the flavor profile of the coffee. Knowing how the coffee is going to be brewed allows John the chance to adjust the roasting to fit the extraction process. The details are everything.

Sniffing and watching the beans while they roast, John takes in every detail of the process. John is coffee obsessed to say the least, sharing his personal thoughts on coffee on his blog www.hermitudinous.com. This obsession makes him a perfect fit for Team Quills. Thank you John, for all that you do.

Quills' Baristas and their Fun Times

This last week has been an exciting one in the life of a Quills barista. Besides the always new and exciting happenings on the home front, Quills' baristas have been having a blast sharing coffee with the world.

Baristas Sarah Welder, Philip Revell and Ginger Goss were drinking on the job, coffee that is. Taking in the art and fun that the Buy Local First Fair brought around. They said that it was a good day to sling coffee with other local business and were proud to be part of such a vibrant local scene. 

The Speed Museum hosted Quills' baristas John Letoto and Brittany Jarboe Jennings. Team Quills was excited to serve coffee surrounded by such fantastic art. We try to create artwork with each coffee drink we serve, so we felt right at home. 

Team Quills was excited to host the second part of Louisville's Rosettas for Relief, an effort to support those in Japan recovering from crisis.  Organized by Quills barista John Letoto and Sunergos barista Jesse Harriot, we supported the cause by doing what we do best, coffee.

The fundraiser took a fun edge on latte art competitions with bids on "smite" cards to cause a little challenge to competitors. Things were kept lively with Emily Sill as the emcee and all the Quills crew were on hand helping with raffle tickets and prizes, pour overs and picture snapping. All in a day's a work in the life of Quills barista.  

Quills About Town

Coffee goes good with everything. It’s a known fact. Quills will be testing this theory to full capacity this weekend as we go out into the big wide world of Louisville and share some of Quills’ finest. We will be setting up shop at the Buy Local 1st Fair and the Speed Art Museum tomorrow May 22nd.

Quills’ very own baristas will be hocking our wares from pour-overs and iced tea to some tasty goodies and fancy coffee accessories. All with a little love. Don’t worry, we’ll have some over ice, so you will able to savor it any way you please.

The Buy Local 1st fair is becoming a Louisville tradition, with this being the third year running. This is Quills’ first year to have a booth, but Quills was well represented in the Latté Art Competition last year as winners and judges. Quills is excited to be joining some of Louisville’s makers and sellers, bringing some quality coffee to the mix.

The fair will include everything from brewers to farmers to artists to chefs, all with some live music and performers entertaining your eyes and ears. The local biz spirit is one of the things we adore about this town, and a special thanks to the Louisville Visual Art Association for hosting such a great event. 

Quills will also be showing some coffee love to the Speed Art Museum for the closing of Monet and the Impressionists. There will be a hootenanny of folks there to celebrate the final day of such classic artists. We will be there with our friends from Please and Thank You with coffee goodness galore. Thank you to the Speed Museum for inviting us to have coffee with them.

Buy Local 1st Fair

LVAA Historic Water Tower

3005 River Rd.

2-6pm
www.louisvillevisualart.org/buylocal.html

Monet and the Impressionists

Speed Art Museum

2035 South Third Street Louisville

10am-6pm

www.speedmuseum.org

Please & Thank You Opens Up Shop

Our friends from Please & Thank You that make some of the delicious goodies we sell are excited to announce the opening of their own store front today! You will now be able to mingle and munch with Brooke Vaughn and Jason Pierce at their East Market Street location in the heart of the gallery district. They have put their special touch on the things they love especially for Louisville.

One of the things they love is Quills Coffee. PTY will soon be the home of Quills first outside roasting account. When setting up their espresso bar, the PTY crew took advantage of our Mahlkoenig rep status and installed one these fancy grinders for their fine coffee. They are leaving the geek status to us, but be rest assured when sipping their espresso drinks, they know what’s up.

Brooke is heading up the café portion of the biz while Jason is wrangling in the records and all things Analog. The PTY crew aims to give you a retro modern twist on the morsels for your mouth and the tunes for your ears. Setting foot in the shop, the care and attention that has gone into every item is apparent, hand picked just for you, so mind your manners.

Everything from the hand made tables and the Analog Mixed Tapes, to the vintage Pop Shoppe bottles that hold the iced coffee, the PTY crew are keeping quality and aesthetic in mind at all times. There is even a listening booth where you can preview the records and snack on their fresh baked cookies. The shop is more than a store, it’s a place to be.

We are so excited for our friends as they make their dreams come true. Going right in line with Quills’ vision of sharing what you love with the lovelies of Louisville, Quills coffee is a perfect fit for Please and Thank You. But don’t forget you can still get their tasty goodies at Quills when you are in our 'hood. Good luck Brooke and Jason! Save us a spin on the turn table.

www.pleaseandthankyoulouisville.com

Quills Events: More Literary Action from Typecast Publishing

Quills is excited to put the literary umph in the shop with our next event hosted by Typecast Publishing. To keep you from getting the post-Derby blues, Wednesday, May 11th, will be a curtain call for three poets that keep it classy but are unbuttoning their collars for the laid back crowd at Quills.

Catching up with Jen Woods, the head honcho of Typecast, she expressed her excitement for hosting another event at Quills. She says that Quills is an excellent fit for her events because Quills customers are quality listeners, loving the poetry just as much as the poets love to share. And of course they all hang out here anyway, so might as well make it formal.

The vision and products of Typecast are also a good fit with Quills. Going the extra mile to pursue the dream of making beautiful, quality books that are engaging to all people, Typecast and Quills have a lot in common. Jen Woods has the love of books that we at Quills have for coffee. Good thing coffee and books go together like PB&J.  

The three poets featured this Wednesday are Matt Hart, Peter Davis, and Michael Schiavo who will all be reading lovely words from their latest books. Schiavo will be joining us from Vermont, Hart from Cincinnati and Davis is a Hoosier, crossing the river just for us. Their will be songs for your ears by Kirby Gann and fine espresso by Brittany Jarboe Jennings.

Join us this Wednesday, May 11^th at 7:00pm for flow of words and coffee, like wild horses kept at bay.

For more on the poets:

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=125726347502140

For more on Jen Woods and Typecast Publishing:

http://www.typecastpublishing.com/

http://louisville.metromix.com/events/article/the-book-on-jen/2544935/content

Quills News: Coffee Quality Up and so is the Cost

Dear loyal Quills customers,

As the cost of coffee and distribution continues to rise, Quills will soon be raising prices. On the bright side, we will be taking this opportunity to refresh a few menu items to prepare for the legendary Kentucky summer (whew).

Thank you so much for all of your support and for allowing us to stay a part of this great city's coffee culture.

Your opinion is important to us! If you have any comments or suggestions please don't hesitate to let us know.

Contact: Ginger Goss, General Manager, ginger@quillscoffee.com

Quills FTW: Thoughts from the Quills Crew

Team Quills is still riding high on being named one of the top 100 places in the South to sip by Imbibe Magazine. The selection means a lot to us and we want to share our thoughts with our loyal customers and our gratitude for their appreciation and patronage. Every player in Team Quills has a vital role in achieving our vision, so the overseers of that vision have had a lot to say about such an esteemed inclusion.

Being a reader of Imbibe Magazine for about six years, Nathan Quillo (Owner/Operator) is quite familiar with the standards of the publication that concerns all things in ‘liquid culture’. An obvious fan of liquid consumption, the national magazine is an essential read for those with a passion for coffee. To be included in this magazine is an honor, not just for Quills, but for the standard of coffee we are trying achieve. Including coffee among hand-crafted beverages like quality bourbon and hops is the standard of concoction we aim for at Quills.

It is part of our vision at Quills to serve coffee that is seen as the same caliber of hand-crafted beverages, hence the attention to quality roasted coffee and standard of drink making. This dedication has included a lot of risk taking, not taking the cheap and easy route, while aiming for that standard. But from the beginning that is what Quills has been about, serving quality beverages with quality service in a beautiful environment. This selection by Imbibe tells us that the hard-work and attention to detail in all parts of Quills is paying off.

That is the most rewarding part of the selection echoed by all parties involved, especially the detail oriented managers Ginger Goss (General Manager) and Philip Revell (Coffee Quality Manager). Ginger and Philip are always nose-to-the-grind about the details of bean quality, espresso extraction, pastry tastes and profit margins. They said it was a refreshing reminder that all the hard-work is paying off. Seeing this mention as a pat on the back to keep going with the vision and work we are committed to.

We are even more excited now to continue our hard work, knowing that it is being appreciated by our loyal customers and those in our industry. Next thing you know you’ll see us riding down the street on a pack of wild horses, red cup of coffee in hand.