Classical Pairings Gets Caffeinated With Quills Coffee

Nick Johnson (00:06):

All right. Hello everybody. And welcome back to an exciting episode of classical pairings. I am your host, Nick Johnson. And in this show, I get to meet some fantastic people all around Indianapolis at various breweries and restaurants and wineries and distilleries. And today for the first time, I’m very happy to be in a coffee shop. I’m here at Quill’s coffee with Justin Denny, the store manager, uh, Quill’s Coffee is currently on ninth and something. Justin what’s

Justin Duenne (00:33):

Ninth and Senate.

Nick Johnson (00:34):

Thank you

Justin Duenne (00:34):

By the canal

Nick Johnson (00:36):

Uh, but Maybe because I just, uh, said that they’re gonna be moving and probably by the time you hear this episode, you’ll be able to find Quill’s Coffee on ninth and Meridian, correct?

Justin Duenne (00:43):

Yeah

Nick Johnson (00:44):

Uh, when did you say that’s gonna open?

Justin Duenne (00:46):

For, I think it’s tentatively July 8th

Nick Johnson (00:50):

Okay, okay. Very good. So by the time people hear this, it will be open, go to ninth and Meridian. I hear there’s gonna be good parking and you’re gonna, uh, on this episode, get to hear all about their coffee. Um, apparently they’ve been in Indianapolis, uh, for seven years. Um, I am, um, maybe I’m sad to see, I’ve never been to this location before, but I’m very excited. So Justin, thank you so much.

Justin Duenne (01:09):

Yeah.

Nick Johnson (01:09):

For having us thank you for agreeing to sitting down and doing this weird thing of talking about coffee and music simultaneously. Uh, but Justin, uh, tell us, how did you get in this game?

Justin Duenne (01:19):

Um, I got into this game kind of on accident, I think as a lot of people in coffee and tend to do. Um, but I was at a job, I grew up in Cincinnati area, had a job that brought me to Indianapolis in 2015. Um, ended up leaving that line of work that I was doing in 2018. Um, and honestly at the time I just needed somewhere to work and I knew someone that worked here. I never worked in coffee. Um, I’d worked in like, like my first job was like subway, you know, in high school. So I’d worked in, like

Nick Johnson (01:49):

I worked at Blimpes

Justin Duenne (01:51):

Yeah. The same thing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, same idea. We were also connected to a gas station as many Blimpes are.

Nick Johnson (01:56):

Yeah [laughter]

Justin Duenne (01:57):

Um, but that was my first job. So I knew like the service, you know, industry a little bit, I had just never done anything like this, um, and this is a little, you know, adjacent to the service industry. I think in some ways, um, we’re not, you know, serving, um, we’re just making drinks for people and we make it and walk away. Um, and that’s kind of, that’s kind of the deal, but I got into it. Yeah. Back in 20, yeah. 2018. So I’ve been doing this for four years now. Uh, worked as barista for two and then started managing, um, the shop back in fall of 2020.

Nick Johnson (02:30):

Okay

Justin Duenne (02:30):

And things were real chaotic.

Nick Johnson (02:31):

Okay. Okay. Yeah, An easy time, I’m sure to take over a business where people have to come in person like physically. Yeah.

Justin Duenne (02:37):

It was interesting, but well,

Nick Johnson (02:38):

Luckily you have a lot of space in here. Maybe people could space out. Yeah.

Justin Duenne (02:41):

It was, it was nice for that. Um, we have so much space that it was, you know, when people were coming in for COVID stuff they were able to stay away from each other. And we were able to, we never closed during all that time. So, um, we maintained and we’re still standing.

Nick Johnson (02:56):

Okay, Fantastic, just great. And so this is a very broad question

Justin Duenne (03:01):

Yeah

Nick Johnson (03:01):

I’m just asking for the plug, uh, why Quills, like what makes Quills different than the other coffee places?

Justin Duenne (03:06):

I mean, for Indianapolis, Quills is probably, and I don’t want to speak out of step here cause I’ve only lived here for seven years now. But, um, Quills is one of the first specialty coffee shops in Indianapolis.

Nick Johnson (03:17):

Okay.

Justin Duenne (03:18):

Um, and what I mean by like specialty coffee is sometimes people call it Third-wave Coffee. Um, but like specialty coffee, there’s an entire like association, the SCA, um, Specialty Coffee Association that actually like gives you that, you know, to be able to claim that that you’re a specialty coffee, uh, shop. So we, you know, all of our beans are, uh, fair trade. They’re all, you know, ethically sourced. Um, you know, I’ve been, it’s been described to me as like where we get our beans, um, is almost like a pyramid. And at the top of that pyramid, there’s a, just a few roasters throughout the country. Um, that are actually getting from that crop.

Nick Johnson (03:55):

Okay

Justin Duenne (03:55):

Um, and it’s all really high quality stuff.

Nick Johnson (03:57):

Okay

Justin Duenne (03:57):

Um, so, you know, at the base level of coffee is, is really good.

Nick Johnson (04:00):

Okay. And so it’s called Third-wave Coffee?

Justin Duenne (04:03):

Yeah,Yeah.

Nick Johnson (04:04):

Okay

Justin Duenne (04:04):

Um, I Don’t

Nick Johnson (04:05):

Do you have a drink called like Third Wave Ska? Because that’s all every time, I’m just thinking third waves coming. Anyway.

Justin Duenne (04:10):

No, for sure.

Nick Johnson (04:11):

Maybe I’m showing my age, but thinking of Third Wave Ska there.

Justin Duenne (04:14):

Yeah, I think that’s is that the last wave of Ska?

Nick Johnson (04:16):

It was, but it’s been a while, like the fourth wave is coming, the fourth wave any minute now

Justin Duenne (04:20):

It’s on its way

Nick Johnson (04:21):

Like I just keep looking around the corner seeing if that fourth wave of Ska is coming. Yeah. Anyway, I’m sorry. This is a classical music show. Not a Ska show.

Justin Duenne (04:27):

No, you’re all right.

Nick Johnson (04:27):

But every show should ultimately be a Ska. I’m a saxophonist. So yeah. Um, I haven’t played in a lot of Ska bands, but you can’t really get through high school and college without getting asked.

Justin Duenne (04:38):

Right

Nick Johnson (04:38):

Like, Hey, could you step in with my Ska band?

Justin Duenne (04:40):

Yeah. Yeah, for sure.

Nick Johnson (04:40):

Sure. I can anyway. Anyway, I’m sorry, but that derailed it. Okay. But so Quills is based in, uh, Louisville, correct?

Justin Duenne (04:47):

Yeah, Yeah.

Nick Johnson (04:47):

Yeah. Okay. And when did it open there? You said you’ve been Indy about seven years.

Justin Duenne (04:50):

2007. Um, is when it opened down there and then yeah, we, I think they brought it up here, I guess it would’ve been, I mean, maybe it might be more than seven years. Uh, I think at least 2014 is when we started here.

Nick Johnson (05:01):

Oh, okay

Justin Duenne (05:03):

Um, when they brought it up.

Nick Johnson (05:04):

It’s impossible to count time before

Justin Duenne (05:06):

I mean it’s hard

Nick Johnson (05:06):

The pandemic for sure.

Justin Duenne (05:07):

Yeah. It’s it was back then.

Nick Johnson (05:09):

Yeah, It was in the olden days.

Justin Duenne (05:11):

In the olden days. Okay. Um, but yeah, so they’ve been doing it for a while. Um, our owner started it and it’s still, you know, um, owner led, he’s still like, got the final say in all of this. So, um, and you know, we obviously all know him really well. Um, it’s not, that’s not like a, Because,

Nick Johnson (05:30):

So he still comes up here sometimes?

Justin Duenne (05:31):

Yeah, yeah. He’s very involved and it’s not, you know, like a franchise or anything like that, where, you know, they’re just popping things up. We just happen to have a shop in Indy right now. Um, cuz it worked out, you know, years ago. Um, but we all, like, I just saw people from Louisville today, you know, we met and we’re talking about our new space and stuff, so we’re all very much involved with each other.

Nick Johnson (05:52):

Nice. Yeah. Okay. So is, is the coffee all roasted?

Justin Duenne (05:54):

Yeah. All, all the coffee is roasted in Louisville. We get a delivery, uh, from them, uh, once a week, every Friday. And so we’re constantly going through, uh, new coffees, like even the stuff that we have on drip, uh, like filter coffee is always changing.

Nick Johnson (06:07):

Okay

Justin Duenne (06:07):

You know, not necessarily sure what you’re gonna walk in and see, we kind of got like the docket up here. Um, sitting on a shelf, all the coffees that we’ll go through during the week and stuff.

Nick Johnson (06:16):

It’s good to just say here vaguely on an audio podcast. Yeah.

Justin Duenne (06:19):

I was like, you know, they can’t, they can’t see it, but there’s, I can assure you there’s a bunch of bags of coffee.

Nick Johnson (06:24):

There are I, I looking at that, I, I agree with you. Looking at coffee. Is there maybe I, so we’re gonna talk coffee in a like, cause I know very little about coffee. What I do know about is whiskey. And so therefore because of the Louisville connection.

Justin Duenne (06:38):

Yeah

Nick Johnson (06:38):

Are there sometimes interplays between the coffee? Yeah. And some of the, the bourbons that come out to Kentucky.

Justin Duenne (06:42):

Sure, um, a lot of, so we have like a latte that we use bourbon in.

Nick Johnson (06:47):

Okay

Justin Duenne (06:48):

Um, and like our caramel syrup, we cook some bourbon with it. Um, it gives, you know, a nice little tang to it. Um, nice flavor, a little bit of smokiness, but not, you know, not too much. Um, but they’ve done, It’s been a while, but I think a couple years ago for like the Derby we did like a, um, like a version of like the mint Julep, but with coffee and stuff. So it was like a coffee and mint.

Nick Johnson (07:10):

Oh, That sounds fun. Okay

Justin Duenne (07:11):

It was like a cold brew drink with some cream and mint and stuff. And that was really fun. Um, I think that, I’m trying to think if there’s any other drinks, um, that we have that are kind of like bourbon inspired. Um, but one of our guys too in Louisville, um, who is like our head roaster, uh, is super into whiskey stuff as well. And I mean coffee, you know, if you’re drink, especially like espresso, if you just drink straight espresso, it’s a very similar experience to drinking whiskey. You know, it’s for someone that’s never had it, it’s probably not gonna love it, love it taste of it immediately. Yeah. Same thing with like whiskey or anything like that.

Nick Johnson (07:44):

Okay

Justin Duenne (07:45):

Um, it’s obviously like a, you know, something that you learn to enjoy.

Nick Johnson (07:48):

Yeah

Justin Duenne (07:48):

And then once you get to that point, you can notice all the subtleties.

Nick Johnson (07:51):

Yeah

Justin Duenne (07:52):

And how different coffees taste different.

Nick Johnson (07:54):

Okay

Justin Duenne (07:54):

So, it’s yeah, similar to whiskey in that sense. For sure.

Nick Johnson (07:57):

So, okay. I’m trying to think of a way to word this question. The broad question is convince me. Okay. So you can, that’s where I’m heading. Yeah. But I’m trying to think of a way to word this because I, um, when we were, you know, chatting earlier, I mentioned in general coffee to me is a thing I have in the morning as a utilitarian thing.

Justin Duenne (08:14):

Yeah

Nick Johnson (08:14):

So that when I go to teach, I don’t yell at my students.

Justin Duenne (08:17):

Uhhh, yeah, yeah

Nick Johnson (08:18):

That’s that’s ultimately it is a way to be pleasant to the people I work around.

Justin Duenne (08:21):

For sure

Nick Johnson (08:22):

Now it’s not to say I don’t like a good coffee and I’ve had coffee, but I’m like, Ooh, this is really good. Um, I have no idea what they did to make it that way. I just know that it was really good.

Justin Duenne (08:30):

Yeah

Nick Johnson (08:31):

Um, so, but there’s certainly other craft things where, I mean, I’m obsessed with like the care that goes into a perfectly made cocktail or like a perfectly made dessert or a brewer with, with beer and things like that.

Justin Duenne (08:42):

Right

Nick Johnson (08:43):

And I know just as much work goes into making good coffee. So, um, I don’t know if there’s a question there, but if I tell you just convince me, do you have some things you can riff on?

Justin Duenne (08:52):

I mean, so coffee, I mean, you know, some people look at, at alcohol in a utilitarian way, uh, in the same way.

Nick Johnson (08:57):

Yeah, That’s true, Absolutely. In fact, probably most.

Justin Duenne (09:00):

Yeah. Look at, you know, alcohol, the same thing, but you know, when you get to, you know, we see like the, the rise of like craft breweries and like micro distilleries and stuff obviously here in Indianapolis. Um, they’ve popped up so much over the last five or 10 years. And it’s the same, very similar thing with coffee. Yes. You know, some people I think, come in here and treat coffee, like it’s a utility. I think it’s probably got, uh, it’s just, that’s just how it’s been in our country for so long. You know, it’s like, you need your morning coffee, um, to get going. But I think with, with Third-wave coffee, it takes it a step further. And you know, we don’t even necessarily think about, you know, like the, the caffeine content that we’re putting out. Like sometimes folks will ask us, you know, like, well, how much, like, how strong is this? And it’s not necessarily about that. Like, we have a few different ways obviously to consume coffee, whether that’s like a hot, just black, drip coffee, we have like cold brew, that’s brewed for 12 hours overnight, um, and then we have like espresso, which is my favorite. Um, and they kind of like equate, you know, the only way I’ve been able to equate it is like, um, some of our flavored drinks, like our lattes are like a cocktail espresso’s like drinking straight whiskeys. And then like a cold brew or like drip coffee, like a beer, you know, like, I don’t know how else to describe it.

Nick Johnson (10:11):

Yeah

Justin Duenne (10:11):

But the proportions are very similar. Like our espresso is gonna be two ounces. Okay. So about the shot of you, you know, something kind of whisky or something and same thing with like.

Nick Johnson (10:20):

Interesting

Justin Duenne (10:20):

You know, cold brew, coffees, about a pint. So, and then, you know, our, uh, lattes are 12 ounces. Which is probably a little bit more than a cocktail. But, um, when you get to like to, you know, I guess convince you on some of the coffee, um, my favorite way to try it is either, you know, through espresso or through like pour over coffee, which I don’t know if you’ve heard about.

Nick Johnson (10:43):

I’ve heard of, I don’t understand what the difference between that and drip is. That’s how ignorant I am.

Justin Duenne (10:47):

I mean, these days, like with the machine,

Nick Johnson (10:49):

Some people might have just rolled their eyes when they heard me say.

Justin Duenne (10:51):

No, these days, like our machines are doing almost as good of work as like a hand, you know, pour. Um, but with like, uh, with pour overs, you get to try stuff and not have to make an entire batch of coffee. You can just make it quick, 12 ounce, 16 ounce. And so when we do it, um, you know, it’s just to try different stuff. And with a pour over, you know, you’ll get some subtle notes that you might not get in like a, you know, filtered, large batch, 96 ounce filter, coffee kind of thing. Um, but honestly I love like espresso and tasting different things on espresso is a lot of fun because when you pull espresso with a machine like this they’re pressured. And so you get a crema like a Guinness, um, when you drink espresso, um, and it’s super nice and it’s one of those things you have to drink it within, like the first little bit you get it or else. Cause it’s not something you wanna drink, want to go, obviously coffee room temp is not the best thing in the world.

Nick Johnson (11:45):

Yeah, Yeah.

Justin Duenne (11:45):

And espresso, the crema will eventually evaporate, um, and so just, you know, some of my favorite stuff that we have right now, um, is the Summer Sun blend. Um, so we always have like a blend of coffee every season. So, like last for the spring, it was, is a thing that we always do for our spring blend, which is called Poliwag.

Nick Johnson (12:04):

Okay

Justin Duenne (12:05):

Um, and that was a blend of two different Ethiopian coffees.

Nick Johnson (12:08):

Oh wow, Okay.

Justin Duenne (12:08):

And this one is a blend. Uh, the Summer Sun is a blend of Ethiopia and Honduras. Um, and so Ethiopia, a lot of avid coffee drinkers and coffee snob people most of them, not all, um, but will say that Ethiopia is like the, is the best.

Nick Johnson (12:23):

Okay.

Justin Duenne (12:24):

Um, and I that’s what I like the most. Okay. Um, when you get coffee like that and you get to try it just black with nothing else in it, it’s gonna be super fruit forward. Very light. Um, nothing like, um, you would experience from like a cup of Folgers or something like that. It’s so different. You get to, you can smell the fruit, you can taste it. It’s got a great mouth feel, all of those things. Um, and so, you know, with Third-wave coffee, a lot of it is it’s getting away from the utilitarian side of it and actually taking a second to like slow down and taste what it is that you’re, you’re having. Cause coffee is a great thing that we all love and use. Um, and it tastes great. Yeah. And there’s just a few little subtleties that you can do to make it taste really well too.

Nick Johnson (13:07):

I see what you mean, the comparison to alcohol again, for sure. With the Folgers sort of like if, if all you’ve ever had is, and I actually, I actually quite like it. I was gonna say PBR, I actually quite like PBR. We were talking earlier how we both have backgrounds as country or like folk musicians. You have to like PBR to be allowed in those gigs.

Justin Duenne (13:25):

For sure, I mean,

Nick Johnson (13:26):

But if that was your only experience, then if that’s what all alcohol was, it would be like, why would I.

Justin Duenne (13:33):

be very limited

Nick Johnson (13:34):

spend a bunch of money or time on that

Justin Duenne (13:35):

Right, Exactly, For sure.

Nick Johnson (13:37):

Um, so one thing I think is, uh, I just got back from traveling and actually people been listening to the show they actually just heard an episode I did in India, which was super exciting. Um, before that though I was in Italy and in Vienna, uh, was teaching in Vienna, had a nice vacation in Italy. And one of the things that I, I actually really love about culture there, and I’m curious your thoughts on it here, about like a cafe culture yeah. Is in, in Vienna, at least there was a culture that goes back into the early 18 hundreds that people would hang out at the cafe or the coffee shop for three to four hours, something like that.

Justin Duenne (14:14):

Right

Nick Johnson (14:14):

And in a similar way that we might hang out at a bar right that long. Right. Um, but when I come here, people tend, I don’t know if it was like, if it’s the Starbucks-ification of coffee right. That we tend to think of it as, and then like, if it’s the American, like always have to be working, that we’re in and out of the coffee shop, but then eight minutes, it took longer than that, then something’s wrong. Um, but going and just like sitting at a coffee shop and reading the news and talking to people and like for hours. Um, and not to just sit there and write a screenplay or something.

Justin Duenne (14:48):

Right, Right

Nick Johnson (14:48):

It’s like, you know, the common like joke of someone with their laptop, at a coffee shop. I don’t know. Um, I’m looking around at this beautiful room here and I know by the time people hear this, you’ll be in another beautiful room. Right. Right. Are you gonna have a similarly nice space for people to hang out?

Justin Duenne (14:59):

Uh, it’s a big open, um, lots of places to sit. Okay. Uh, that we even probably more places to sit than we have currently.

Nick Johnson (15:07):

Oh, nice. So what do you think about that? Like cultivating, uh, a culture where that you, it’s not just a getting with utilitarian. It’s not just a place you stop in to like, right, grab groceries. It’s a place you go to actually spend some time, enjoy or work or converse or meet people or whatever.

Justin Duenne (15:24):

Uh, we, you know, as a crew here, there’s only me and five other people that run this place. So there’s six of us total, but we all really want, you know, it to be a good community, um, aspect and like a place that you want to be hanging out. Um, not a, yeah, like you said, not a place that just come in and go out, you know, granted, we we’re gonna have folks that come in and go out.

Nick Johnson (15:44):

Yeah. Oh, for sure.

Justin Duenne (15:44):

It’s totally fine. Yeah. Um, but I know that there’s the, you know, this is something that people have been talking about forever because there’s a lot of things in Europe that Americans, you know, love and they’re like, why can’t we do that? Yeah. You know [laughter] and this is just one of the many things I’m sure.

Nick Johnson (15:59):

Yeah.

Justin Duenne (15:59):

Um, but I think it’s something that we’re getting to, and I think, you know, when we move, um, and we have like our own space, cause we have like a sort of a shared space now it’ll be more of that. You know, since I’ve started working here, we built, you know, relationships just with people coming in for coffee. You know, friends and, um, people that are, you know, now close with us. Just because they came in here. And so we get, you know, we have some of our regulars that will come in and we’ll talk for, you know, 25-30 minutes sometimes, you know, in between, you know, making stuff and chatting. And so, I mean, for myself personally, I want this place to be somewhere that they can come in and, you know, feel at home, I guess, you know, um, some of my favorite places to go in are, you know, little cocktail bars, or quiet, um, places to drink, you know, like nothing too crazy. And you know, all of us will love music here too. So we’re always playing.

Nick Johnson (16:52):

Yeah, I see your stacks of vinyl over here.

Justin Duenne (16:54):

Bunch of Vinyl in here.

Nick Johnson (16:54):

There’s a turntable right next to us here.

Justin Duenne (16:56):

Yeah, We, play records and then we’ll play obviously like stuff on, on Spotify a lot. Um, but generally, um, you know, it’s probably stuff that the average person’s not listening to. And we all have such different tastes, um, that there’s always, you know, and then sometimes we’ll just fool around and play like Barbie girl or something in here. Um, every now, or like when I, when the old town road was popular, I would play, I would play that at the, when we were closing.

Nick Johnson (17:22):

[laughter]

Justin Duenne (17:22):

Um, and just like kind of bump it in here, but, uh for the most part, yeah, it’s, it’s all over the place with cool music and yeah, cool folks. I mean, we get people that all over the place, you know, if you take the time to ask, you know, them a question, uh, maybe even just how their day is going or something You get, you know, I’ve met people from all over the world. Uh, a lot of people from all over the country that are just visiting and found us by happenstance, you know, work close to the interstate here right now. And I think a lot of folks when they pass through Indy and just quickly Google coffee shop.

Nick Johnson (17:53):

Yeah

Justin Duenne (17:54):

Yeah. Luckily for us, we’re like one of the first ones to pop Up.

Nick Johnson (17:56):

Okay

Justin Duenne (17:57):

And so we get to just chat with a lot of people. And I think, I think for the most part, people come in here and feel like a, you know, a welcoming environment and the communal space. Um, like I said, with the new, with our new spot, I think that’ll be, uh, even more so, yeah.

Nick Johnson (18:12):

Nice. Well, I certainly, yeah. I don’t think one shop can necessarily change the culture of cafe.

Justin Duenne (18:17):

No, no.

Nick Johnson (18:18):

Um, but it’s, I don’t know. It’s good that other people are thinking about

Justin Duenne (18:21):

It for sure.

Nick Johnson (18:22):

Um, Kind of would like to taste something.

Justin Duenne (18:23):

Yeah

Nick Johnson (18:23):

What do you think you’re talking about? You’re you are working on convincing me here. I’m almost there.

Justin Duenne (18:28):

Yeah. I’ll make you, um, I’ll make you some right now. Okay. Um, so I mentioned earlier, uh, that we have like a, a lot, uh, drink that we use bourbon in, um, it gets cooked out, so there’s nothing, you know, nothing to worry about about

Nick Johnson (18:44):

Okay

Justin Duenne (18:44):

Anyone in, on their morning commute, you know?

Nick Johnson (18:47):

Fair enough. Yeah. Okay.I mean, I’m not worried, but I’m just

Justin Duenne (18:49):

Getting tipsy or something on the way in, but,

Nick Johnson (18:52):

Um, I’m also here at 6:00 PM.

Justin Duenne (18:53):

For Sure, For sure, Yeah. Um, so we make this, we, all of our syrups that we use for our drinks, um, we make here in house. Um,

Nick Johnson (19:03):

You’re just grinding coffee. That’s just,

Justin Duenne (19:04):

Yeah, just grinding coffee

Nick Johnson (19:07):

Sorry, Continue. Narrating here, play by play guy here for the,

Justin Duenne (19:09):

Yeah. Grind him out. I’m gonna actually sit here and weigh-

Nick Johnson (19:14):

Oh, okay

Justin Duenne (19:14):

Our beans, because this hasn’t been fired up and for like, just like, you know, 30 minutes or so. So it might be a little cold,

Nick Johnson (19:22):

Might be a little what?

Justin Duenne (19:23):

What might be a little cold. Um, sometimes if it sits for a while, it might like seizes up a little bit.

Nick Johnson (19:28):

Oh, I see what you mean. You’re making sure you’re getting enough.

Justin Duenne (19:30):

Yeah. Making sure I’m getting the right amount of coffee.

Nick Johnson (19:32):

What Is the, what are the beans you’re using here?

Justin Duenne (19:33):

So, oh yeah. So these are, um, it’s our house espresso blend, which is called blacksmith.

Nick Johnson (19:39):

Okay, I see a bag of that

Justin Duenne (19:41):

Yeah. We have a bunch of bags of the, so

Nick Johnson (19:43):

People can buy those. They can also just take home beans.

Justin Duenne (19:45):

Yeah. We have, um, bunch of 12 ounce bags that people can buy and take home. Um, and then we have like a bunch of five pound bags that we use for our stuff. So the blacksmith is a blend of the Columbia, Brazil and Peru. Sometimes that changes. Um, but it’s always, uh, south or central American. Um, same thing with our, uh, house blend that we use on drip. It’s always gonna be Central or South American blended Together.

Nick Johnson (20:11):

And so you’re making espresso now is the first step.

Justin Duenne (20:13):

Yeah. So I’m pulling a shot, double shot of espresso. Okay. I’m gonna kind of see how it comes out real quick. Um,

Nick Johnson (20:18):

What are you looking for?

Justin Duenne (20:20):

Looks like its doing all right. Uh, so we have parameters that we’ll set. Um, so like normally it’s roughly, um, we’ll put 19 and a half grams of coffee into the porta filter, which is the thing that I just put up there. Um, and then we’ll expect about 40 grams of coffee to come out and around 30 to 32 seconds or so. Okay. Um, and then that’s how we know that we’re in the, in a ball, in the good ballpark, uh, that it’s gonna taste close to what we’re looking for. Okay. Uh, every,

Nick Johnson (20:51):

So if it doesn’t come out that way, you try it again?

Justin Duenne (20:53):

Yeah. Well, if we usually try it again, um, but it’s been going all day, so it’s been set up well, every morning we will, you know, will

Nick Johnson (21:01):

You have to like tune it?

Justin Duenne (21:02):

Yeah. We call it like dialing in.

Nick Johnson (21:03):

Oh yeah. So like a guitar player with their pedals.

Justin Duenne (21:07):

Okay. Something like that. Okay. So for this drink, um, we add 25 grams of our like salted bourbon, caramel syrup, and then two, you know, 40 grams of espresso. And then the rest is going to be steamed milk.

Nick Johnson (21:20):

Okay. What’s this beverage called again?

Justin Duenne (21:21):

This is the salted bourbon caramel latte.

Nick Johnson (21:24):

Nice

Justin Duenne (21:24):

Are you alright with whole milk or do you?

Nick Johnson (21:26):

I am, yeah.

Justin Duenne (21:27):

Okay, cool. We’ve got all kinds of milk alternatives, but nothing steams as good as whole milk.

Nick Johnson (21:33):

No. So I’m gonna have to come up with some music to go with this. Um, the name alone means I need to pick the most perfect piece of music ever.

Justin Duenne (21:43):

[laughter] Yeah. Same thing with like steam and milk too. Um, all of this stuff is, you know, we have to get trained on how to do it, um, and for most people that start steaming milk is probably the hardest part. Um, cause it’s not as simple as just like throwing the steam wand in milk and hoping for the best. So you’re trying to get like a really good texture, um,

Nick Johnson (22:09):

Interesting

Justin Duenne (22:10):

So that you can, you know, do the latte art and stuff. And so that like you don’t burn the milk, you don’t want too much microfoam, but you need a little bit in there. Um, so that the drink isn’t like just super watery.

Nick Johnson (22:21):

So it sounds like a pretty fascinating mix of kind of art and science would you say?

Justin Duenne (22:25):

Yeah, Yeah. um, you know, or the, the latte arts, you know, you’re limited into what you can do, um, with milk and a and a mug. Um, but there’s a lot of cool things that you can learn.

Nick Johnson (22:37):

Yeah, Okay.

Justin Duenne (22:38):

Along the way that helps.

Nick Johnson (22:40):

And that’s so, okay. The, is that because people taste with their eyes first, is that sort of why or is it,

Justin Duenne (22:48):

I think it’s, I mean, I’m sure

Nick Johnson (22:49):

Barista has just tried to show each other up or what’s the

Justin Duenne (22:51):

It’s a lot of, it’s a lot of that trying to show each other up [laughter] um, and then it’s a lot of fun just trying to figure out what you can do. Um

Nick Johnson (22:59):

Okay

Justin Duenne (22:59):

Which is, you know, it takes a little while to get used to it. Um, but people, same way you try to present like a, any other drink really well.

Nick Johnson (23:08):

That’s beautiful.

Justin Duenne (23:09):

Um, yeah, you, it’s a pretty thing to look at, you know, and it’s not something that’s super complicated, you know, anyone can learn how to do latte art. Um, it’s more about getting the milk texture right. And then, you know, the milk does the job for you usually.

Nick Johnson (23:23):

Yeah. Okay. So it’s um, I’m enjoying the latte art before I, before I dig in here, this is the classic flower

Justin Duenne (23:31):

Tulip. Yeah.

Nick Johnson (23:32):

Tulip, is that what its called?

Justin Duenne (23:32):

You can call it flower. Okay. There’s a few designs that you can do like a Swan.

Nick Johnson (23:36):

I’m gonna prep with a napkin cuz you have a beard too. You’re probably I’m sure. You know, the it’ll my mustache is about to get

Justin Duenne (23:43):

The mustache, for sure.

Nick Johnson (23:47):

I’m just smelling right now. Yeah. Yeah. By the way, that smells divine.

Justin Duenne (23:54):

It’s like a, it’s like a hug in a cup for sure.

Nick Johnson (23:57):

[laughter] Nice. Yeah. The, when you were talking about the caramel syrup, I was worried it was gonna be too sweet. Yeah.

Justin Duenne (24:12):

It’s definitely sweeter for sure.

Nick Johnson (24:14):

Yeah. But it’s not too sweet. So many people, uh, will take a, let’s say if you went to, you know, a major national chain and ordered something called the salted bour-bourbon caramel latte. They probably wouldn’t have the word bourbon in it. If you ordered a salted caramel latte, it would taste like candy. It would not actually taste like coffee. Which way like just eat a candy bar

Justin Duenne (24:38):

And the same with all of our syrups and stuff. Yeah. We’re trying not to drown out the taste of coffee.

Nick Johnson (24:42):

Yeah, exactly. I can actually taste coffee. Yeah. Which is kind of, which is actually very exciting. It’s a very nice mix.

Justin Duenne (24:48):

For Sure.

Nick Johnson (24:52):

That’s very good. Okay. Um, is this like a seasonal one or?

Justin Duenne (24:57):

No, this is one we always have.

Nick Johnson (24:58):

So, and even in the new location, people be to get this?

Justin Duenne (25:01):

Mm-hmm, it’s kind of like, especially when a lot of folks come in that have never been here before. We’ll usually figure out what they like. If they like something like with a little bit of sweetness to it, I usually point ’em in this direction because it’s definitely a crowd favorite and it’s cool. You know, it’s not something that you see all the time that people are making syrups with bourbon for coffee.

Nick Johnson (25:20):

Yeah, yeah, yeah. No. And I, I can tell the bourbon’s there.

Justin Duenne (25:23):

For Sure. It’s but it’s very, very

Nick Johnson (25:25):

I think someone could have this for sure. On their way to a morning meeting.

Justin Duenne (25:28):

Yeah, yeah, yeah

Nick Johnson (25:28):

Or if you’re doing what I’m suggesting on their way to sit in the cafe for four hours and read a newspaper. If, if newspaper still exists, like printed versions, read it on your phone. That’s what I mean. Um, okay. So now I’m trying to think of, um, some music here. Uh, so what I usually do is I think of some adjectives to describe this and then, sorry, I’m thinking and speaking and writing at the same time it’s going, it’s all great and drinking. It’s going very well [laughter] um, and I’m I’m and then I try to think of some music that kind of fits with that and somehow with the theme. Let me sip some more here. Do you have any, you said hug in a cup, which is fantastic, but do you have any other tasting notes?

Justin Duenne (26:06):

Yeah, I mean, for this one, obviously it’s gonna be a little sweeter. Um, it’s almost a little butterscotchy too.

Nick Johnson (26:12):

Yeah

Justin Duenne (26:12):

Um, this is one of the first, uh, whenever I moved to Indianapolis and I, I wasn’t working here or anything, that was just one of the first things I ever had. Um, and so I kind of always remember that as just being like a perfect blend of like sweet bitter and warm, you know, it’s, uh, it’s kind of got everything going on. Uh, in a good that a good latte should. Um, I really, if I’m gonna drink a latte, I personally prefer like that there be some kind of syrup or some kind of something sweet in there and I think it’s just like the, to do it

Nick Johnson (26:43):

Rather than just the

Justin Duenne (26:44):

Rather than yeah.

Nick Johnson (26:45):

Steamed Milk?

Justin Duenne (26:45):

If I’m gonna drink milk, steam milk. I’m gonna have like a cappuccino, which is gonna be a little less milk than like a latte. But with that amount of milk in the syrup, it’s perfect I think,

Nick Johnson (26:58):

Do most people drink like with two hands? Like I am

Justin Duenne (27:00):

[laughter] yeah.

Nick Johnson (27:00):

I have kind of like I have chubby fingers.

Justin Duenne (27:02):

Yeah, It’s hard to get your finger in the cup thing.

Nick Johnson (27:04):

[laughter] That’s okay. That is, yeah, that is very good.

Justin Duenne (27:11):

Um, and we can all, sometimes this time of year or two people will get that ice, you can get that over ice too, which is, which is cool. Yeah. Um, and on a day, like today, when it’s super hot, you know, um, it could be good for sure.

Nick Johnson (27:21):

And you said it’s it’s Jim beam is the bourbon?

Justin Denny (27:23):

Yeah,We use Jim beam, I think in Louisville they have obviously some more options for like slightly cheaper whiskeys. Yeah. Um, so I think that they, you know, in the past, um, oh shoot. Not old granddad cuz that’s actually a nicer one.

Nick Johnson (27:37):

Yeah

Justin Duenne (27:38):

Um, but it’s some kind of name like that.Um, but yeah, if you go to Louisville, I mean you go look for bourbon. It’s something like that.

Nick Johnson (27:45):

Anyway, Okay. Yeah.

Justin Duenne (27:45):

There’s just so many.

Nick Johnson (27:47):

Cause to at least to my taste, when I drink bean, bean is actually pretty butterscotch. I think compared to, um, some of the other of that similar price area, If you will. Okay. All right. I’m stalling [laughter].I have some ideas and I was thinking earlier about like coffee, culture, music in, in the classical realm and I, I think I might go with one of ’em, but let me take another drink to stall here. Sorry. This makes for good podcast radio [laughter]. Wow, Okay. So I mentioned Vienna and I think I’m choosing this because I was just there and it’s close to my heart and um, I was able to enjoy some of these cafes that have been open for 200 years. Yeah. Um, and there was, excuse me, during the time of, of Franz Schubert, who is the composer I’m gonna be using so early 18 hundreds, like 1820s, that kind of thing. Um, there was a very strong cafe culture that bred, uh, or led to an explosion of popularity and what we now in English call art song, what they would call lieder. You mentioned that you studied some voice, you might have sang a leied at some point in your, in your, in your studies. Um, and a lot of that music was written to be sung at cafes. And was written, um, and cafe meant it was, it was also a broader, like they also serve alcohol and they serve food and capes and stuff. Um, so we would call it a bar and restaurant coffee shop, like it’s, you know, we, we separate a little bit more, some of that just cause like American laws and stuff. But in any case, uh, this was music where people, people would be drinking coffee still at two in the morning or something, um, and would be, and there’d be a piano in there. And so this, this intimate sort of music was kind of, you know, we were talking before we were recording about singer songwriter music. Um, I’ll do a plug right now, by the way, Justin Duenne has some recordings on Spotify as a singer songwriter. Um, which I’m gonna go look up, uh, in, in the folk grounds, did, did a little bit of touring pre COVID. Um, but you know, COVID, COVID did COVID things. In any case. Um, so I’m thinking of one of Franz Schubert’s arts song collections and I, I think this combination of very sweet and, but just a little bit of bitter, um, it’s he had a couple pretty famous collections. One of ’em is called, um, Die schöne Müllerinor, um, the beautiful Miller girl basically. Is this, did you ever happen to sing this one?

Justin Duenne (30:10):

Uh, no. I, the only one I remember singing, especially from back then was say Ben Forde. Okay. Which is, I think a lot of like a lot of young tenors singing that.

Nick Johnson (30:17):

Okay. Um, so in this piece, Die schöne Müllerin, we’re gonna just listen to the first one, which is, Das Wandern, or like hiking basically. So it’s, it’s, it’s just supposed to be picturing walking through a beautiful Brook basically. Yeah. And actually a Brook is sort of like tempting the person like, Hey, follow me. I’m a beautiful babbling Brook. And eventually the Brook ends up showing this person, this beautiful Miller’s daughter. And, and the hiker falls in love. Um, I don’t think it’s a spoiler because it’s over 200 years old, but [laughter], it goes poorly for the guy and he ends up falling in love with this person who basically doesn’t care about him at all. And then he ends up, uh, probably drowning himself in the Brook, but that’s like 20 art songs later. Right. And the first one it’s still hopeful to be perform [laughter]

Justin Duenne (31:04):

Yeah. Yeah.

Nick Johnson (31:05):

Um, and so I think, because it was like sort of music written for this culture. I, I, I think I wanna go with that. It’s very sweet. Um, the, the beginning and actually quite a few of the pieces there’s I think 20 pieces in the whole set. Okay. Um, and they’re meant to be performed kind there’s it tells a narrative.

Justin Duenne (31:22):

Yeah. Yeah.

Nick Johnson (31:22):

Um, and, but there is just that hint of bitterness because if you, if you pay attention, you’re like something doesn’t feel quite right. Um, but it’s very rich. It’s very sweet. This first one. So I think, yeah, let’s go ahead and give a listen to Franz Schubert’s Das Wandern from Die schöne Müllerin.

Music Plays (31:38):

[Das Wandern from Die schöne Müllerin]

Nick Johnson (34:00):

All right. So we’ve been listening to some Franz Schubert, uh, from Die schöne Müllerin. Uh, alright. Justin, what do you think? Does this pair at all well?

Justin Duenne (34:07):

Yeah. I, I mean, especially given a little bit of context from what you said before we listened to it. Um, I could definitely see this being sung in like a cafe setting for sure. Obviously it was, you know, piano and, uh, vocal. And so just hearing that and imagining even like an old cafe and that happening. um, there was an old cafe I used to go to back in the day in Cincinnati that was open until three in the morning.

Nick Johnson (34:27):

Oh, Nice.

Justin Duenne (34:27):

They obviously had beer and like a little liquor, but most people were drinking coffee.

Nick Johnson (34:31):

Yeah

Justin Duenne (34:31):

You know, at that late.

Nick Johnson (34:32):

Yeah

Justin Duenne (34:32):

Um, and it was always like the most peculiar thing to me. Um, until you realize yeah. That’s how people have been doing it in the Western world for a long time.

Nick Johnson (34:41):

Yeah [laughter]

Justin Duenne (34:42):

Um, Yeah. And so even hearing that, like it, you know, that was like the first movement of 20 different things. Um, it makes me the first thing I thought of was like, you know, imagining you starting the coffee drink, like this, um, but if you go start drinking 20 more like the, you know, you’re gonna end up being lost in caffeine.

Nick Johnson (35:01):

That’s true, yeah [laughter].

Justin Duenne (35:02):

You know, like you would in the Brook or whatever. Yeah. So, um, yeah.

Nick Johnson (35:06):

You dunno who you’ll fall in love with.

Justin Duenne (35:07):

Yeah, it does sound, it sounds precious. It sounds sweet. Um, inviting, you know, this is another thing with like this drink too. This is like, if you don’t think you like coffee, this is a great one to try, you know. Cause it’s not gonna smack you in the face.

Nick Johnson (35:20):

Yeah, I agree.

Justin Duenne (35:20):

It’s gonna be gentle and you can ease you into it a little bit.

Nick Johnson (35:23):

So just like the Brook lures the guy, this coffee can lury you, but in a nice way. In a nice way.

Justin Duenne (35:28):

Yeah, Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Nick Johnson (35:29):

Not in a, you’re gonna fall in love and then die kind of way.

Justin Duenne (35:31):

Exactly. Yeah, exactly.

Nick Johnson (35:33):

[laughter] Cause I do like the, that piece, the sort of like the driving motion of it.

Justin Duenne (35:36):

Yeah, yeah.

Nick Johnson (35:37):

Feels very coffee.

Justin Duenne (35:38):

Mm-hmm, yeah

Nick Johnson (35:39):

Um, cause there’s certainly pieces that Schubert did that are a little more contemplated, but this one’s just sort of like always, and in that piece it gets more contemplated later, but the beginning it’s just kind of moving and pulling.

Justin Duenne (35:46):

Mm-hmm, yeah. It’s cool.

Nick Johnson (35:48):

Yeah. All right. What’s the other one we’re trying?

Justin Duenne (35:51):

So the other one I’m gonna have you try is a little different than this last one.

Nick Johnson (35:56):

Okay

Justin Duenne (35:56):

It’s uh, like a coffee soda. Um, so we call it like the mystic coffee soda. Um, but it’s gonna be a drink that has tonic water and cold brew concentrate.

Nick Johnson (36:04):

Okay

Justin Duenne (36:05):

Um, so if that doesn’t, you know.

Nick Johnson (36:06):

That sounds great.

Justin Duenne (36:07):

That sounds good to you.

Nick Johnson (36:08):

Yeah. So tonic water and cold brew concentrate?

Justin Duenne (36:10):

Yeah So a lot of stuff that we do at Quills and I think, um, a lot of like this Third-wave coffee thing, you know, people are always trying to expand and try different things out. Uh, cause you know, it’s nice to, um, this is a cold drink. That’s the ice that I’m making that sound. Yeah.

Nick Johnson (36:28):

[laughter]

Justin Duenne (36:30):

You know, with coffee like this, we’re always trying to try different things. And one of the big things, you know, one of the trends, I guess you could say, um, of the past, you know, few years in coffee are like coffee mocktails or coffee cocktails, if you wanna say it that way. Um, and this is one of those, so it’s kind of

Nick Johnson (36:48):

Interesting

Justin Duenne (36:48):

Not necessarily we have one, one that’s in like a espresso tonic, that’s like a gin and tonic kind of idea.

Nick Johnson (36:52):

Yeah

Justin Duenne (36:52):

Um, this one, I guess, is just a slightly sweeter than that. Um, and so this one gets just like a cocktail gets a couple pumps of simple syrup.

Nick Johnson (37:01):

Okay. So, so it’s cold brew, simple syrup and tonic?

Justin Duenne (37:03):

Yeah. So this is gonna be a cold it’s cold brew concentrate. So when we make cold brew, um, you know, like I said, I think I said earlier, um, it’s something that happens like, uh, overnight. So we’ll brew like a five pounds worth of coffee.

Nick Johnson (37:18):

[laughter] Okay.

Justin Duenne (37:18):

and then I guess it would be 12 liters of water and then that sits overnight together.

Nick Johnson (37:23):

And you guys do that like every day?

Justin Duenne (37:24):

Pretty much, um, in summer it gets almost every day. Yeah. Um, like in the winter time we still make it. Yeah. Um, but you know, it’s not gonna be as often.

Nick Johnson (37:32):

Okay.

Justin Duenne (37:32):

Yeah. But this time of year. Yeah. I mean most people are wanting cold brew. Cause it’s a good quick, easy, in and out kind of thing.

Nick Johnson (37:39):

Yeah

Justin Duenne (37:40):

Um, and cold brew also has like the most caffeine content that we have.

Nick Johnson (37:43):

Oh, okay.

Justin Duenne (37:43):

This one, this particular drink won’t be a whole lot. Nothing more than what you know, you just had.

Nick Johnson (37:49):

Okay, Because of the tonic and stuff? Cuts it a little.

Justin Duenne (37:51):

Yeah, Yeah. And it’s, you know, it’s, we put 60 grams of cold brew in there. So roughly four ounces or so.

Nick Johnson (37:56):

but not all cold brew is concentrated. That’s just

Justin Duenne (37:59):

No, So when you go out and like get a cold brew at a coffee shop um, most of the time it’s gonna be like cut cold brew. Uh, so when you brew cold brew overnight, what you’re left with after you, when you come back the next day is, um, cold brew concentrate. So it’s gonna be nice, uh, thick and uh, pretty strong taste. But with something like this, you know, you, I wouldn’t want to put, cut cold brew in a drink like this when there’s already gonna be tonic water cutting that concentrated cold brew.

Nick Johnson (38:28):

Yeah, I see.

Justin Duenne (38:28):

Um, and so this is like a super refreshing, great like summertime drink.

Nick Johnson (38:32):

Oh, wow. Um, that’s beautiful. Okay.

Justin Duenne (38:34):

It tastes great. Yeah. It’s um, if you like tonic.

Nick Johnson (38:38):

Yeah, I do

Justin Duenne (38:38):

I know it’s wine isn’t everybody’s thing.

Nick Johnson (38:41):

I like tonic.

Justin Duenne (38:41):

But this, when I first started working here, this was one of my favorite drinks.

Nick Johnson (38:44):

Okay

Justin Duenne (38:45):

Um, I ever had,

Nick Johnson (38:47):

Yeah, I know.

Justin Duenne (38:47):

I love it.

Nick Johnson (38:48):

A V and T or a G and T or two of my favorites.

Justin Duenne (38:50):

Yeah, yeah, yeah

Nick Johnson (38:50):

As I said, I was just in India they just drink Gin and Tonic all the time there. So I had quite a few. Ooh, that smells nice. Okay. So yeah, there’s a lemon garnish on this. Um, was it Fever Tree tonic?

Justin Duenne (39:02):

Yeah. Fever tree is, I mean, it’s like the house favorite for any bar you go to.

Nick Johnson (39:06):

Yeah,Yeah.

Justin Duenne (39:07):

Um, it’s obviously a little bit pricier than, you know, getting like a two liter of like Canada Dry or something.

Nick Johnson (39:12):

Exactly.

Justin Duenne (39:12):

Um, but you know, it’s worth it. It tastes great. Um, they have other flavors and stuff.

Nick Johnson (39:17):

Well, anytime I open a two liter, like it’s gotta be, be a pretty good party.

Justin Duenne (39:23):

Yeah, I was gonna say. You’re gonna have to have a lot of people to like go through that tonic.

Nick Johnson (39:26):

I think that’s one of the things COVID got rid of is those massive parties. So just a little bottle of tonic. Get for your night.

Justin Duenne (39:32):

For Sure.

Nick Johnson (39:37):

Oh, wow. That is unexpected and very good and crisp and sharp. I gotta be writing these adjectives down.

Justin Duenne (39:48):

[Laughter]

Nick Johnson (39:48):

Um, and um, what’s it unexpected crisp. We, uh, the, I don’t think I’ve ever had a lemon peel with a coffee drink before.

Justin Duenne (39:57):

Yeah

Nick Johnson (39:57):

That’s so nice

Justin Duenne (39:58):

For sure. We only with like some of the iced stuff we’ll do it. Um, we’ll put like, you know, garnishes in there. We’re starting actually just tomorrow. We’re starting like another coffee mocktail.

Nick Johnson (40:08):

Nice

Justin Duenne (40:08):

Play on a whiskey sour

Nick Johnson (40:10):

Oh, okay. Fantastic.

Justin Duenne (40:11):

There won’t be any egg whites in this one. Which is, you know, traditional for a whiskey sour. Um, but it’ll be like an espresso sour, so it’ll be like espresso with grenadine and uh, lime juice, maple syrup and stuff. It’ll be cool.

Nick Johnson (40:23):

So you guys have a few of these options?

Justin Duenne (40:24):

Yeah.

Nick Johnson (40:24):

For people to come in and try.

Justin Duenne (40:25):

We were doing, we did like an espresso old fashion for a while too. Um, which was, you know, just a double shot of rice simple little syrup and orange bitters. Just like a normal, um, old fashion would be, but with espresso instead. So if you can like imagine that yeah. Same kind of deal with this though, too.

Nick Johnson (40:40):

Yeah, that is fascinating. It does. It doesn’t taste like a gin and tonic cuz there’s no gin in it, but there’s

Justin Duenne (40:47):

You get a similar vibe you get a similar feel.

Nick Johnson (40:49):

Yeah. But I’m trying to figure out, like the coffee just rounds it in a very different way. In some ways we were talking about, it sounds almost taste like a bourbon and tonic, which is not a very popular drink or ever as far as I know. But this is much better than that would be. Because it, uh, like the, the, the way that the dark notes and the bright citrus notes, um, play together is really quite nice.

Justin Duenne (41:12):

For sure

Nick Johnson (41:13):

And so I’m assuming like people could just get this to-go also, Right?

Justin Duenne (41:16):

Yeah, yeah. Yeah. We normally will serve that one to go. Um, we don’t have a whole lot of glassware. Um, but yeah, we’ll serve that one to like a 12 ounce drink, um, with more or less like, uh, yeah, 60 grams, I guess it equates to about four ounces of cold brew concentrate.

Nick Johnson (41:31):

Okay

Justin Duenne (41:31):

And then, you know, the little nine ounce, uh, fever tree and a little bit of simple syrup and an orange peel and call it a day.

Nick Johnson (41:37):

Wow. Okay.

Justin Duenne (41:37):

But I think what makes it, you know, unique is obviously our coffee. So, uh, for the last one I showed you, you know, we use blacksmith um, our espresso house, espresso blend this one, um, has, is cold brew. So we, we use different beans for this. Um, and so we have like the beans that we use for like our cold brew is we call it Southern Gothic. Um, it’s a blend of Brazil and Columbia. So this, uh, roast is gonna be just slightly on the darker side um, compared to like a lot of our other stuff. Um, I don’t have any bags.

Nick Johnson (42:07):

So this is, so you, you guys, but you sell bags of the Southern graphic and it’s specifically for making cold brew.

Justin Duenne (42:12):

Yeah, I mean, you can use it for anything just, you know, with like any coffee mm um, it’s gonna, you know, it’s gonna translate the best on cold brew. You know, a lot of folks will just take this bag, you just grind the whole thing and you can make a big batch of cold brew for yourself at home.

Nick Johnson (42:24):

Yeah. Okay.

Justin Duenne (42:25):

Obviously not gonna be as much as like, you know, the gallons drum that we have.

Nick Johnson (42:29):

[laughter]

Justin Duenne (42:29):

Yeah. Um, but it’ll, you know, it’ll definitely last you a couple weeks probably. You make a whole bag, whole batch of cold brew with this. Um, and like some of the notes, you know, that our roasters put on this one is like chocolate and caramel. Yeah. Might be a little hard to notice that in with a tonic. Um, but especially.

Nick Johnson (42:45):

I get the caramel.

Justin Duenne (42:46):

Yeah, Yeah.

Nick Johnson (42:46):

I don’t know if I get, oh wait, maybe I’m just making stuff up. I feel like I can kind of get some of the chocolate in the back of my tongue.

Justin Duenne (42:55):

If you starting thinking about chocolate,

Nick Johnson (42:56):

If I think about chocolate, I can notice it then it. Like a chocolate chip cookie or something thinking about it, but uh, okay. So this is one more time, this is called, so Southern Gothic are the beans. What was the name of the drink again? Sorry

Justin Duenne (43:06):

Uh, the mystic coffee soda,

Nick Johnson (43:08):

Mystic coffee soda. Okay, Write that down

Justin Duenne (43:11):

Um, or just, you know, it’s coffee soda that works too. But, um, yeah, this, these beans are great, uh, super consistent, you know, we’re always, it’s one of the things I like about doing, uh, this is like, you know, our roaster is their top notch and the product that we get is consistent week to week. So, um, you know, this drink that you are drinking now, if you were to come back couple weeks and get the same thing, ideally it tastes almost exactly the same um, which I like same thing with the, the caramel latte. Um, you’re gonna get the same thing, you know, same experience every time you order it.

Nick Johnson (43:46):

Yeah, Now that you said that, you know, those like orange chocolate slices, except that this is lemon, so it tastes like a lemon chocolate slice. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, really quite nice. Hmm. Trying to decide which I would, I like more.

Justin Duenne (44:04):

They’re very different.

Nick Johnson (44:05):

They are very different. I think, I guess I don’t really have to choose do I.

Justin Duenne (44:10):

[laughter]

Nick Johnson (44:10):

I mean, and to be honest, if I, you know, or when I come back, I would, this one I would do when it’s 90 degrees outside.

Justin Duenne (44:15):

For sure. Yeah, yeah.

Nick Johnson (44:16):

Like it is right now. This one I would do when it’s a little bit cooler.

Justin Duenne (44:19):

Yeah. That’s a good,

Nick Johnson (44:20):

Or if I was gonna hang out here for a couple hours.

Justin Duenne (44:22):

For sure

Nick Johnson (44:22):

I’d probably do the nice warm one.

Justin Duenne (44:23):

Something you can sip on.

Nick Johnson (44:24):

Yeah. If I had to, uh, if I was swinging by would probably do something more like this when, when it’s nice and hot,

Justin Duenne (44:29):

For sure

Nick Johnson (44:29):

Um, yeah. Well, I love that you guys are thinking of coffee mocktails and I, I, I mean the, really the whole, we-we’ve been talking, um, a fair amount about cocktails and stuff like that, but I think it’s fantastic that the alcohol industry is also looking a lot at mocktails and looking at a lot of options and ways, because I know like bar culture can be very exclusionary, um, for, for people who can’t drink for any number of reasons. And, um, and this is, it’s sort of a fun way to think of these coffee drinks. Um, yeah, okay.

Justin Duenne (45:05):

There’s just a lot you can do with coffee. Yeah. Um, you know, that even, even the baking and cooking and stuff like that, obviously we’re not doing any of that here ourselves. But yeah, there’s a lot of things that you can do with coffee. Um, there’s a lot of ways to drink it, you know, uh, in different ways with milk, without milk with you know, cut with water, cut with soda water, tonic, um, anything like that. Yeah. There’s a lot of different things you could, you could pair with it, for sure.

Nick Johnson (45:31):

So I think, yes. I think I have a piece of music in mind.

Justin Duenne (45:35):

Okay, cool.

Nick Johnson (45:36):

Um, for this one I was thinking earlier, and I think I’m gonna go with one of these cause sometimes I just come up on the fly. Sometimes I kind of have a general idea where I might wanna go. And this one, I think, um, I, I wanted to do some american minimalism, um, a more recent composition, cause I’m trying to think of like music that pairs well, which is sort of like the energy and the drive of coffee. And I think this one in particular with the bright notes um, and sort of inter layered. What’s fun about this drink if you handed this to me and didn’t tell me what was in it, like how, how many guess, it would’ve taken me a while.

Justin Duenne (46:12):

Yeah.

Nick Johnson (46:12):

Like to figure out what this is.

Justin Duenne (46:14):

Yeah. Cause you, I mean the Quine and stuff, you don’t notice it really that much with, you know, with the cold brew. Um, and it’s nice bubbly.

Nick Johnson (46:22):

Yeah.

Justin Duenne (46:22):

Super refreshing. It’s like one of my favorite things to drink in summertime.

Nick Johnson (46:25):

Yeah, No, that’s very, very refreshing. So for the music, I think I wanna do Steve Reich, uh, American Minimalist composer and I think I wanna do, um, Electric Counterpoint number three. Um, and so, uh, I don’t know if you know much about Steve Reich.

Justin Duenne (46:44):

I don’t think so.

Nick Johnson (46:45):

Minimalist composer, um, did a lot of percussion music as well, did a lot of, um, so minimalist music. In the sense of like a small musical idea that just keeps repeating over and over and usually gets inter layered with other ideas.

Justin Duenne (46:58):

Yeah, Yeah.

Nick Johnson (46:58):

And, and grows in complexity. um, as you’re listening. Yeah. And so I think that it works well for this drink cause the at first I was like, wow, this is great. But then like we’ve been breaking it down and I could continue to do so. Like I’m still noticing things and like the drink is growing in complexity as I’m enjoying it, but I can also just sort of like drink it and not care and it tastes good. Which a lot of minimalist music you could do that with. Um, and so this is a piece, uh, for electric guitar and tape.

Justin Duenne (47:22):

Cool

Nick Johnson (47:23):

Um, and so yeah, let’s give a listen to Steve Reichs electric counterpoint number three.

Music Plays (47:28):

[Steve Reich’s Electric Counterpoint No. 3]

Nick Johnson (51:56):

All right, Justin. So we had some heads bobbing while we were listening to that one. I think I might have, uh, done a little better with this choice. So what do you think about Electric Counterpoint three by Steve Reich to pair with mystic coffee soda?

Justin Duenne (52:05):

I mean, I, I mean, I, I don’t know a whole lot about classical music. Um, but you know, I think that was probably the perfect pick for a drink like that. Like, especially, you know, even like you mentioned, you know, when you first drink it, you notice a few things and the more you drink it, you start to notice some more flavors. And obviously with the, you know, a piece like that there’s just constantly new things added, um, and new things to keep looking for. And then you forget what you heard at the beginning. So you’re kind of going back to that too. Um, it, yeah, it was absolutely wonderful. It was a beautiful song. Um, and like, you know, obviously head bobbing too, too.

Nick Johnson (52:40):

[laughter]

Justin Duenne (52:40):

Um, but that kind of, that song kind of feels like starting to drink coffee.

Unison (52:44):

[laughter]

Justin Duenne (52:44):

you know like.

Nick Johnson (52:45):

It does a little bit, gotta get you moving a little bit.

Justin Duenne (52:46):

Yeah A little bit for sure. Um, that was great. Yeah, I love that.

Nick Johnson (52:50):

Well, thank you. Good. I’m glad what, what I like about that piece, um, especially in a classical music show is it shows how, especially if you compare it to the Franz Schubert, how much variety there can be in classical music. and, you know, cuz there’s obviously a lot of comparisons with that piece with, with rock music, with jazz. Um, but it’s still very much considered a classical work, uh, or in the art music tradition and it shows innovation and new ideas and that, that work, I mean it’s in the classical world, relatively new. It’s from the eighties. Uh, it’s still 40 years old or something, but in the classical music world that’s like brand new. Right. Um, but, uh, unfortunately as I wish there was more interest on 21st century music, but any case, um, I think the, the work shows how much innovation and new ideas and things can happen and it doesn’t always have to be the same thing. And I think that this drink, I did not know that I could walk into a coffee shop and order a drink like this.

Justin Duenne (53:41):

Yeah. Most people don’t

Nick Johnson (53:42):

I have never had anything like this, um, at a coffee shop, I’ve had somewhat similar things in a bar that are, that are, uh, a cocktail not a coffee drink, but if I wanted something that tasted like this, but had coffee in it instead of alcohol, um, it’s very good to know for that this sort of thing exists. And so I think, yeah, just like Steve Reich kind of pushing the envelope. I think you guys are kind of doing that here. Um, and yeah. And so did you say that this meant the, the mocktail menu rotates a little or you’re always kinda experimenting and trying new things.

Justin Duenne (54:12):

We had this, like I had mentioned, we had like this espresso old fashion on for a while, but just tomorrow we’re switching that out and doing like the espresso sour.

Nick Johnson (54:19):

Okay, That’s great!

Justin Duenne (54:20):

Um, just trying out new things

Nick Johnson (54:21):

So, You’re always gonna have one or two of these kind of mocktail things

Justin Duenne (54:23):

Yeah. We have have something like this. We have, I, we, we’re pretty invested in like tonic drinks now, too. Um, and so like, I, you know, even if you want something closer, like one of those cocktails, like our espresso tonic is really good. Yeah. It’s not gonna be, uh, it’s less sweet than that one. um, and it’s that one is actually just espresso on top of tonic water and then we’ll put like, you know, citrus peel, some fruit or some orange, something on there too. Um, just to give a little splash of extra flavor, but I mean, even that, like, it’s really fun to taste, you know, it’s gonna be, you’ll taste little, slightly more coffee and that one’s gonna be different cause espresso and cold brew to me taste so wildly different. Very different ways to experience coffee but both, you know, with tonic and stuff too. So cool.

Nick Johnson (55:05):

Well that’s fantastic. Well, uh, Justin, thank you so much for, uh, taking the time to speak with me probably the next time I see you is I’m gonna come by and check out your new location.

Justin Duenne (55:13):

Yeah, for sure.

Nick Johnson (55:14):

Uh, when you guys open up on ninth and Meridian, uh, and yeah, you said you’re gonna have another beautiful venue so people can come in. Yeah. Hang out, try all sorts of wonderful coffees or we’ve been trying some of the, the fancier creations, coming in and just have a shot of espresso. Um, but make sure to stop by Quill’s coffee in their new location at Ninth and Meridian, or, uh, if you happen to be traveling you’re down at Louisville in one of their many locations down there, uh, grab one of these drinks we’ve been talking about today, the mystic coffee soda, or the salted bourbon caramel latte, or grab a bag of coffee, um, or just ask, uh, the barista to, to give you an espresso shot of whatever they feel lucky with. Right, That’s the thing you can do, like.

Justin Duenne (55:49):

For sure

Nick Johnson (55:50):

Okay. Okay. Sign me up. So anyway, uh, so uh, Justin Duenne, Thank you so much. Yeah.

Justin Duenne (55:55):

Thank you guys

Nick Johnson (55:55):

Cheers.

Justin Denny (55:56):

Thank You.

Nick Johnson (55:58):

There we go.

Nick Johnson (56:02):

Classical pairings, as a listener supported podcast, please support us by texting the word pair P A I R to 2 0 2 8 5 8 1 2 3 3, to help us keep bringing you the best craft food and beverage makers paired with classical music. Classical Pairings is a production of Classical Music Indy and our producer is Daniel Porter. I hope you’ll join me for Classical Pairings Live, an event series presented by the National Bank of Indianapolis. Beginning in August each Classical Pairings Live is hosted by a local food and beverage partner where you’ll sample great food and beverage paired with live music by talented local artists. You can find out more about our next classical pairings live event at classicalmusicindy.org. Cheers and I’ll see you next time!