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In the past year, Nashville has welcomed at least a dozen new coffee jointsyou'll find six new shops in our October issueadding to the slew that were already in existence. Living in a city with so many spots serving up quality specialty coffee, says Barista Parlor owner Andy Mumma, is nothing but awesome.
'Everyone here has their own niche, so there's plenty of room for everyone to live harmoniously,” he says. 'The more people that are drinking specialty coffee, the better for everyone, because that's less people drinking really bad commodity coffee. And that means farmers are making more money, which means better coffee, better living wages, better situations for everyone.”
Though he wasn't the first to bring an elevated experience to town, Mumma did bring national attention to Music City's coffee culture when he opened the original Barista Parlor in East Nashville in 2012. The relaxed vibe inside the renovated garage coupled with an extensive selection of coffees and brew methodsas well as an interactive art exhibit within the spaceset java fans on fire. Following the success of the flagship outpost, he launched Barista Parlor Golden Sound in The Gulch in 2014. His third installment, opening in Germantown later this month, has beenlike his previous projectsa top-secret operation. While customers know they'll be getting the same high-quality roasts and brew methods, what they won't know until the doors open is what they'll encounter inside.
'I never want to give too much away,” Mumma says with a smile.
Here's what he will reveal: Once a drum supply house and, before that, a sign shop, the building 'kind of found me, actually,” says Mumma. 'I'd admired it for years before opening the first Barista, and I'd always fantasized about putting a coffee bar in here.” Three and a half years later, he got the opportunity to take over the space and immediately dug in. Massive glassed-in garage doors flood the space with light; from inside, large trees are visible through the windows, making it feel sort of like you're sitting in a tree house. Mumma used that inspiration to craft a 'land” theme to the spacecompleting the land, sea (East Nashville), air (Golden Sound) motif he started with the other two locations
Mumma once again enlisted artist Bryce McCloud of Isle of Printing to design the logo and art installation, and he tapped a handful of local artisans to outfit the space: furniture maker Holler Design, lighting designer Adam Gatchel of Southern Lights Electric, and Luke Stockdale of Sideshow Sign Company.
But he is perhaps most excited about the long-awaited release of a retail line of roasted coffees, which he's been quietly preparing for since Golden Sound's debut. The line will be available about a month after the Germantown opening, and Mumma is keeping mum on the details of its design and packaging (also designed by McCloud).
'It's not going to be just a sticker on a bag,” he says.
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Barista's coffees will be made from small-batch and seasonal beans from growers around the world, which in and of itself has been a learning curve for Mumma and his teamthey've spent years getting to know the seasonality of certain growing regions, working with producers to secure fresh crop samples, and cupping and roasting along the way. There are now three employees on the roasting team, plus quality control experts at each shop; after launching the line, which will be available at all Barista locations, Mumma expects to partner with key retailers around the country, meaning you'll be able to find his beans in like-minded coffee enclaves outside of Nashville.
'This will hopefully offer up more cool opportunities for people to try some of the most unique coffees in the world,” he says.
1230 4th Ave. N.; baristaparlor.com