Build-Outs season rolls out, and we’re kicking off this weekend with an incredibly exciting opening from Elixr Coffee. Long synonymous with the city of Philadelphia, Elixr are stepping out of the comfort zone with a new opening in a new cafe in a new city: Nashville, home to a thriving coffee scene, not to mention world-class destinations for cocktails, food, and of course live music. Elixr’s new Nashville cafe is chic and welcoming, offering a broad range of coffee expressions from hand-brewed filter coffee by some of the world’s premier coffee producers to this summer’s seasonal Butterscotch Pink Peppercorn Latte, which frankly sounds incredible. Read on!
The 2021 season of Build-Outs is presented by Fellow. The series is sponsored by La Marzocco, Pacific Barista Series, Marco Beverage Systems, Dona, and Sustainable Harvest.
As told to Sprudge by Christine Hughes.
For those who aren’t familiar, will you tell us about your company?
Elixr Coffee started in Philadelphia 10 years ago with a focus on brewing great coffee. Over time, Elixr grew to be a coffee roaster that has been a finalist in the US Roasters competition for the last few years. We are always searching for great coffees and have over time developed relationships with some producers whom we work with year after year.
Can you tell us a bit about the new space?
This is our first space outside of Philadelphia and we are so excited to share it with Nashville. We feature natural elements such as repurposed wood fixtures, plants, leathered stones, Shou Sugi Ban (charred cedar board) to create a feeling of peace and calmness. A lot of the inspiration behind this cafe is from our owner, Evan Inatome’s love for wabi sabi aspects of design. Over time he has dived deeper and deeper into his Japanese roots and this cafe is a product of that. Behind the bar is the same coffees that we have in Philly. We feature single origin coffees on Chemex such as the favorites, Las Brumas from El Salvador, La Palma y el Tucan from Colombia, or El Injerto from Guatemala.
What’s your approach to coffee?
At Elixr, we try to help the customer find something that they want and will enjoy. We offer hand-poured coffees from our carefully crafted single origin offerings for the person who loves black coffee. We consider these the pinnacle of Elixr, but understand that it is not for everyone. We also create seasonal crafted drinks that may appeal to someone who is more accustomed to a sweetened latte. Our current seasonal line up has a Butterscotch Pink Peppercorn Latte and a Strawberry Oat Milk Latte (or matcha!). Our baristas are happy to guide our guests to finding something that they will enjoy.
Any machines, coffees, special equipment lined up?
For espresso, we are using two Nuova Simonelli Mythos Two Gravimetric grinders (one brewing our Beekeeper espresso blend, the other a single origin coffee) on a Victoria Arduino Black Eagle in a custom pink. Our bulk grinder is a Mahlkönig EK43. Our drip brewer is a Marco. We brew our hand-poured coffees on Chemex, just like in Philly.
How is your project considering sustainability?
In terms of design, a good portion of the custom wood fixtures were made from reclaimed oak. At all of our cafes, we also do not charge extra for alternative milks (Oatly only!).
What’s your hopeful target opening date/month?
We opened on March 4th, 2021.
Are you working with craftspeople, architects, and/or creatives that you’d like to mention?
Design by Boxwood Architects, Woodwork by David Wing Design, Pink Metal by Blaise Metalworks
Thank you!
:)
The 2021 season of Build-Outs is presented by Fellow. The series is sponsored by La Marzocco, Pacific Barista Series, Marco Beverage Systems, Dona, and Sustainable Harvest.
