Tag: Milli Coffee Roasters

Categories
Living

Taste of victory: Markets of Tiger Fuel names sandwiches for football greats

Ready, set, snarf! The Chris Long Special is made with rotisserie chicken, avocado, sprouts, tomato, cheddar cheese, and chipotle mayonnaise on a brioche bun. Photo: Tiger Fuel

With the UVA football team on an early winning streak this season, The Markets of Tiger Fuel—a favorite for game-day grub—look like marketing geniuses with the introduction of new sandwiches named for head coach Bronco Mendenhall and former University of Virginia and NFL star Chris Long. The service-station deli trend isn’t new in Charlottesville, but Tiger Fuel now works its made-to-order magic at five locations (tigerfuelmarkets.com). The Bronco Buster—turkey, pepper jack cheese, bacon, lettuce, tomato, and hot pepper relish on a seven-grain roll—is already on the menu, with a $1 game-day discount. Long’s eponymous sandwich—rotisserie chicken, avocado, sprouts, tomato, cheddar cheese, and chipotle mayonnaise on a brioche bun—debuted on Monday, October 7. A buck from each sale goes to Long’s charity, Waterboys, which works to deliver clean water to communities in need.

 

Artist Georgie Mackenzie’s work will be on display at Milli Coffee Roasters beginning with the exhibit opening, 5-7pm, October 12. Photo: Courtesy Milli Coffee Roasters

Cool beans

“Machines don’t make coffee, people do.” Those words of wisdom from Milli Coffee Roasters founder Nick Leichtentritt have guided new owner John Borgquist, who has carried on Milli’s tradition of building community with caffeine since Nick passed away unexpectedly earlier this year. A longtime customer and friend of Leichtentritt’s, Borgquist officially took the reigns June 1. Now, along with Leichtentritt’s sister, Sophia Milli Leichtentritt, Borgquist is taking things to the next level with a state-of-the-art new roaster that will enable Milli’s to expand its small-batch offerings. “It has a round drum and looks like an old-school locomotive, but in stainless steel,” Borgquist says. “I’ve kept with [Nick’s] philosophy, though it’s great to have the new tool.” The shop—which also offers Belgian waffles, panini, and wine—will use the roaster to produce an organic, fairly traded Guatemalan coffee grown at high altitude in Huehuetenango. (“It’s pronounced way way ten-ango, which I call ‘Hue-Hue All the Way,’” Borgquist says.) Another Milli’s tradition, displaying work by local artists, will carry on beginning October 12, from 5-7pm, with a show by UVA student/painter Georgie Mackenzie. The shop/gallery is at the corner of Preston Avenue and Ridge McIntire Road. millicoffeeroasters.com

Nuggets

In a run-up to National Vegan Day, on Friday, November 1, Charlottesville’s pizza-and-trivia haven Mellow Mushroom is celebrating with Meatless Mondays, on October 14, 21, and 28. Everyone likes a nice gooey pie, so the pizza joint has teamed up with innovative plant-based food producer Follow Your Heart to make its popular Veg Out Pizza fair game (oops, sorry) for vegans, using a non-GMO, soy-free mozz alternative. Prepared on a 10-inch platter of gluten-free dough, the pie is made with red sauce and fresh veggies like spinach, green peppers, mushrooms (not magic ones), sweet onions, black olives, and—oh, you get the picture. No pepperoni, capiche?! The price is $10.99, a savings of about $8, according to a press release. • Looking for a cool way to ease into the weekend? The Wine Guild of Charlottesville welcomes London-based writer Wink Lorch—author of Jura Wine and Wines of the French Alps: Savoie, Bugey and beyond—for a tasting and book signing from 5:30-8:30pm, Friday, October 11. In addition to having one of the best bylines ever, Lorch is a leading authority on wines of the French Alps and Jura, a little-known viticulture region on the border of France and Switzerland. Email wineguildcville@gmail.com to reserve a spot at the tasting, and indicate which book you’d like Lorch to inscribe for you. Book and tasting $40-45, tasting only $10-15. 221 Carlton Rd. wineguildcville.com • The UVA-developed technology that led to the launch of Ian Glomski’s Vitae Spirits is about to bear fruit again with the debut of another local boutique liquor producer, Monte Piccolo Farm and Distillery. The tech, which aids in identifying and quantifying flavor compounds in fruit brandy, has paved the way for Robin Felder, UVA professor of pathology and associate director of laboratory medicine in the School of Medicine, to produce an eau de vie-style pear brandy with his big copper still in Albemarle County. Monte Piccolo grows its own fruit to make the hooch, and Felder says he’s finalizing his bottling, labeling, and packaging for brandy that will be available soon. “With over 4,000 pounds of pears this year, I’ll certainly have enough pear eau de vie-style brandy to sell!” Felder says. montepiccolo.com

Categories
Knife & Fork

Cup of mud, meet glass of grape: Local cafes offer coffee and wine side-by-side.

Bright and breezy, the dining room at Belle is perfect for enjoying a light meal and a beverage (caffeine or alcohol, your call). Photo: Stephen Barling

In a town obsessed with coffee and wine, it was only a matter of time before the two beloved beverages started shacking up. Cafes in Europe have long kept both on the menu, and now a host of local java joints and new establishments are following suit.

“I think most people love cafes, even if they don’t know it, and creating a comfortable space where you can get great coffee, great and quick bites to eat, and some wine when ready has been something I’ve wanted to do for a while,” says Andy McClure, who opened Belle Coffee & Wine last spring in the former La Taza space in Belmont. “Having a 2-year-old certainly helps with opening early, too!” (McClure owns The Virginian Restaurant Company, which is best known for Citizen Burger on the Downtown Mall.)

In uniting coffee and wine under one roof, Belle joins local stalwart C’ville Coffee & Wine; Crozet’s Rocket Coffee, which recently added a tasting room for offerings from nearby Lovingston Winery; Charlottesville’s Smallest Wine Shop, whose modest by-the-glass selection enhances the ever-eclectic offerings at Milli Coffee Roasters; and local chain Grit Coffee, which has served wine alongside its house-roasted coffee at its Stonefield location since 2017.

“We’ve been interested in the relationship between coffee and wine for a number of years,” says Grit co-owner Brandon Wooten. “Both coffee and wine can easily be enjoyed by novices but also can be explored in a way that brings other levels of enjoyment.” But Wooten says it’s been tough to add wine to an existing cafe: Once customers think of a place as a coffee shop, “it’s a challenge for them also to view that as a place to drink wine or beer.”

To rectify that, Wooten and partners Brad Uhl and Dan FitzHenry will be combining coffee and wine from the start at The Workshop—part of The Wool Factory, the food-and-drink conglomerate opening later this year in the Woolen Mills development. “The Workshop will primarily be a bottle shop focused on selling interesting small-batch wines,” Wooten says. Those offerings will include international vintages alongside passion projects from area winemakers. As for coffee, “this space will be different from a normal Grit Coffee location in that there will be a much bigger focus on coffee tasting and telling the story about the factors that go into delivering really great coffee,” Wooten says.

McClure also champions a more thoughtful approach to these often-gulped offerings. “I think the European style of coffee drinking is something we can all appreciate,” he says. “Less rushing and more a fundamental part of the eating or drinking part of the day.”

Since Belle opened in late April, McClure and his team have been busy tweaking the menu of locally roasted Trager Brothers coffee, wine by the glass and bottle, light breakfast and lunch items, and happy hour snacks. “I am still not done messing around with the offerings,” McClure says, “but I do see a finish line at this point.” It’s easy for McClure to stay hands-on; he lives two blocks away. “This was designed for Belmont specifically. I am hoping it’s a great fit for years to come.”

For Rocket Coffee’s Scott Link, adding wines was a practical proposition. He’s already brought in pastries, sandwiches, and barbecue to help draw a more varied audience to his converted gas station near downtown Crozet. “Things have been going well for the coffee shop in the mornings,” Link says, “but we were not hitting our daily traffic targets and needed to help stimulate traffic in the afternoons.”

Link had space free to rent and had already been considering adding beer and wine, and Lovingston Winery wanted to open a tasting room in the area. It’s too early to tell how the new offerings will work out, Link says, but “the place feels better, and initial response has been positive.”

Matching coffee, a stimulant, with alcohol, a depressant, might seem odd. But Belle’s McClure says there’s a good reason for this unusual combination. “Every drink should be delicious, but it also serves a purpose. We love wine, and when you love it too much at one time, that’s when it may be time for an espresso.”

Categories
Living

Milli Coffee Roasters founder dies at 34

Nick Leichtentritt was a much loved member of Charlottesville’s food scene. Photo: Martyn Kyle

Nick Leichtentritt, founder of Milli Coffee Roasters and Sicily Rose, died February 17 at the age of 34. Pursuing a passion for food and drink, Leichtentritt left a corporate job in 2012 to open the coffee shop, followed by his cannoli shop, Sicily Rose, in 2018. Both developed loyal followings, and Leichtentritt became a beloved part of the Charlottesville food community. “Nick spent time with so many of the great tastemakers in Charlottesville,” recalls Will Richey of Ten Course Hospitality. “He was one of them after all, and he was open to all types of perspectives and experiences in a way that many are not. So many of us will miss him terribly.”

Despite Leichtentritt’s passing, both Milli Coffee Roasters and Sicily Rose remain in operation. Leichtentritt is survived by his wife, Nicole Kistler Leichtentritt, and a 4-year-old-son, whom the community has rallied to support with a fund for his immediate and long-term needs. To contribute, see the GoFundMe page Jesse’s Bright Future. (As of 11am Friday, March 1, the campaign had raised $19,000 of its $30,000 goal.)

Reservation, please

The dining app Resy, recently launched in Charlottesville, is making it easier to book and manage reservations, area restaurateurs say. Once diners register, they can make and change reservations, receive text reminders, and provide profile information regarding allergies, favorite cocktails, special occasions, and more. “It’s an awesome new platform with great analytics for users on both sides,” says Zocalo owner Ivan Rekosh.

Hardywood lightens up

Anticipating the arrival of spring, Hardywood founders Eric McKay and Patrick Murtaugh are launching a spin-off brand called Suncrush, a fruit-infused sparkling brew. Crisp golden ale with a hint of green tea gets a dose of crushed fruit and natural flavors, like grapefruit, Southern peach, and black cherry. Low in alcohol, calories, and carbohydrates, the drinks target outdoor-sports enthusiasts. “I’m a ginger nut,” McKay says, “and am really looking forward to Ginger Lime Suncrush.”

Categories
Living

Pumpkin spice everything must mean it’s fall

Milli Coffee Roasters owner Nick Leichtentritt says he likes the idea of offering a seasonal menu, which includes the ubiquitous pumpkin spice latte, to reflect our changing palate. Staff photo

By Sam Padgett

Fourteen years ago, the pumpkin spice latte crashed into our lives when Starbucks introduced it into its seasonal lineup. And this beverage has gone from a niche fall drink to being ubiquitous enough to warrant its own acronym: PSL.

Pumpkin spice fever has become something of an epidemic, and its sheer popularity has inspired a litany of products. Not only is there pumpkin spice vodka, lip balm and soap, but there are even pumpkin spice dog treats.

This drink has firmly cemented itself into our seasonal culinary tradition, like turkey on Thanksgiving or eggnog on Christmas. To fully dissect this trend, I visited the people it affects most: baristas.

September is officially the beginning of PSL season, but requests for iced pumpkin spice lattes aren’t uncommon in the summer—nearly every barista I talked with said she currently receives a couple queries about the drink daily. However, none of the baristas I interviewed was fanatic about the drink themselves. Many of them confessed they had never had one; they weren’t intrigued by the prospect of pumpkins in coffee. Heather Thompson, a barista at Splendora’s Gelato Cafe, says, “I enjoy pumpkin as a food, not a beverage.” All of the baristas I talked with at Milli Coffee Roasters said they’d rather eat a pumpkin pie from The Pie Chest than drink anything pumpkin flavored.

But to truly understand the pumpkin spice phenomenon, I went straight to the source, and talked with Bri Boyd, a barista at a Starbucks located on UVA’s Grounds. According to her, most pumpkin spice latte-ordering customers are repeat customers: “Some people will order one every day,” she says. She estimates that roughly three out of every 10 customers in the autumn order pumpkin spice lattes, a vastly different figure than other local coffee shops like Grit Coffee and Java Java, which report they only sell a few daily.

Essentially, Starbucks created a product that is mostly desirable due to its limited availability. Our positive associations with the season create an innate sense of nostalgia, and nostalgia is an incredible marketing tool. Sure, there are undoubtedly many people who sincerely love PSLs, in all of their cinnamon-and-clove goodness, but there is also a whole continent full of people who like Vegemite; food tastes are just as subjective as tastes in art or music. 

Nick Leichtentritt, owner of Milli Coffee Roasters, views the whole phenomenon with a dash of optimism. “I like the idea of doing things seasonally,” he says. “Our palates change with the season, and if people like pumpkin spice lattes, then we’ll make them well.”

Categories
Arts

Booking team Camp Ugly breaks through the velvet rope

Will Mullany and Judith Young formed the music booking group Camp Ugly to develop a representative scene beyond white dudes playing indie rock. Photo by Ron Paris

In May 2015, housemates Judith Young and Will Mullany went to the Paramount Theater for a screening of Salad Days: A Decade of Punk in Washington, D.C. (1980-90). In the cushy theater seats, they watched how the early D.C. DIY scene unfolded, how now-legendary bands such as Bad Brains, Minor Threat, Government Issue and Fugazi released their own records, booked their own shows and eschewed major record label and mainstream media in the process. They left inspired to start a venue of their own in support of independent music.

Young and Mullany, both recent UVA grads and former WXTJ 100.1 FM student DJs, began hosting shows in their house on Gordon Avenue for the station. They called the effort Camp Ugly. High school and college students packed into their living room and kitchen, spilling out onto the porch, to hear local bands like Cream Dream and New Boss.

But they wanted to do something that would meld the student music scene with the city music scene. While sitting at Milli Coffee Roasters on Preston Avenue one afternoon, Young looked up at the ceiling and noticed stage lights hanging from the ceiling; she thought it would make a cool place for a show.

Young e-mailed Milli owner Nick Leichentritt and asked: “Can I book shows here?”

Leichentritt responded almost immediately: “Yes.”

And thus began Charlottesville’s latest DIY music initiative: Camp Ugly shows at Milli.

Every Friday night, bring $5 to Milli and get a red ink Camp Ugly heart stamped on your hand and hear a handful—sometimes three, sometimes two or four—of local and touring independent bands.

Camp Ugly has one major principle: Book talented, diverse musicians who play good, diverse music, and pay them for their art.

But that’s easier said than done. It’s a challenge to find bands that aren’t full of white dudes playing indie rock, they say. And while both admit that they love plenty of bands full of white dudes playing indie rock, they don’t want to perpetuate the status quo.

“What purpose are we serving by maintaining the only thing that there is?” asks Mullany.

They’ve booked Those Manic Seas, an alt-rock band whose lead singer has recorded a DVD of his performance played through an old TV propped up on the neck of a mannequin. They’ve hosted Charlottesville ex-pats Left & Right (an all-white, all-dude rock band). They have a hip-hop show planned for September 16 and a free computer-music and jazz improv night booked for October 7. “You come in with the expectation that what you see might be totally off the dome,” says Mullany. They envision all-female bills, electronic and bluegrass acts and maybe even an all-Jewish klezmer show.

“The philosophical debates that we have about music don’t show well in our calendar,” says Young. At least not entirely, not yet. They’re still trying to seek out diversity in race, gender and sound—and for good reason.

“Women, non-binary folk and people of color have different perspectives in their music,” Young says. “They are detailing different narratives that people really need to hear.”

It’s important that everyone have a musical platform, Mullany says. “When it becomes apparent in music, as it has, that certain types of people or backgrounds aren’t getting the same sort of treatment or presence in the community that others are, it’s time to take a hard look at why this is, and what you can do to help.”

Leichentritt says these intentions are what led him to agree to a Camp Ugly/Milli partnership in the first place, along with Young and Mullany’s promise and ability to come through on their word. “I’ve been happy to work with them,” he says, noting that both Young and Mullany know what they’re talking about. “They do a good job.”

All of the door money goes to the bands; Camp Ugly doesn’t take a cut, and neither does Leichentritt, though he profits from coffee, beverage and food sales made during the show. Bands are paid on a weighted scale that considers the number of band members and distance traveled, and Young says she tries to pay them as fairly as possible for their time and their art.

“Women, non-binary folk and people of color have different perspectives in their music,” Judith Young says. “They are detailing different narratives that people really need to hear.”

Camp Ugly joins the ranks of more established DIY venues like Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar and Magnolia House, but Young and Mullany are quick to note that they’re not looking to compete for bookings. At first, they say they worried about whether Camp Ugly would be a detriment to the local DIY scene by diluting it. “But I don’t think so,” Mullany says. “I think there’s more room to get people into it.”

When Magnolia House booked three of Charlottesville’s most popular bands, New Boss, Night Idea and Second Date, for September 9, Camp Ugly decided to take the night off rather than compete for the audience. They still might put on a show, but it’ll be for a different crowd—bluegrass, or jazz, instead of indie rock. “Magnolia is not an enemy,” says Young. “We’re trying to achieve the same goal.” And that is getting more ears tuned in to live music.

Mullany hopes that having yet another DIY venue will inspire more people to play music—and more diverse music at that—around town. “Sometimes bands will form when there’s an opportunity to play that isn’t being filled,” he says. “I hope that more places to play means more people playing music. I don’t know how true that will be, but I would like there to be more people performing in Charlottesville.”

Categories
Living

Cold-brew coffee isn’t a watered down version of the original

Snowing in Space Coffee Co. co-owner Paul Dierkes, left, says adding nitrogen results in smooth, thick and creamy coffee, similar to a Guinness.

It’s been really hot. We’re all sweaty and sluggish, and most of us could use a good jolt to get through the dog days of summer.

Enter iced coffee, which, on a steamy day, can taste like the ambrosia of the gods…as long as it’s done right.

Brew a regular cup of coffee, let it cool and drop in a few ice cubes and you’ll be left with a bland, weak, watered-down brew. It might cool you down, but it won’t taste very good. There’s an art to brewing a flavorful glass of iced coffee, and coffee shops and markets all over town are mastering it with different techniques.

None of them are necessarily better than others, it’s just “a matter of preference,” says Milli Coffee Roasters owner Nick Leichtentritt.

Here are some of the methods local coffee shops are using right now.

Cold brew

A few years ago, almost nobody was cold-brewing coffee, says Shark Mountain owner and head coffee roaster Jonny Nuckols. Now, it’s all the rage, probably because the cold-brew method yields a smooth, flavorful, non-acidic beverage ideal for adding some cream and sipping slowly, he says.

Cold-brew coffee is a distinct way of brewing. As its name implies, it never touches heat. To create a batch of Shark Mountain cold brew, Nuckols finely grinds a light-roast coffee and adds the grounds to a filter bag within a nylon bag inside a five-gallon bucket. He pours about three gallons of cool water onto the grounds and lets the mixture soak for 20 to 24 hours. Then, he pours the filtered, concentrated brew into a five-gallon keg and adds water to bring the brew to a normal, but still fairly strong, strength. It’s dispensed from the keg and poured over ice as customers order.

This method extracts good flavors from the bean while leaving out the bitterness found in hot coffees, says Nuckols. Depending on the bean used, you’ll taste more chocolate, nut and berry flavors than you might with a hot cup of coffee, but you won’t get as robust a flavor profile, because high temperature is what ultimately draws out all of those notes. But still, “cold brew is definitely a good thing for the coffee industry,” he says. You can try Shark Mountain cold brew at Studio IX or at the iLab at Darden.

Shenandoah Joe’s Brain Freeze is also a cold-brew iced coffee. Owner Dave Fafara says his shops use a blend of coffees created specifically for iced coffee. Their 16-hour, triple-strained cold brew is popular: Fafara estimates that, during the summer, Shenandoah Joe moves between 100 and 125 gallons in Charlottesville each week. And JM Stock Provisions also sells cold brew—you can take home a growler of it—which they brew in-house.

Japanese style

Over at Milli Coffee Roasters on the corner of Preston Avenue and McIntire Road, Leichtentritt uses the Japanese-style iced coffee method. The resulting brew is “a little more well-balanced,” he says. “One of the big selling points of cold-brew coffee is that people say it’s very low-acid.” But, to him, “that little bit of acid is what helps make a good, balanced cup of coffee.”

Like cold brew, the Japanese-style method begins with finely ground coffee and a filter, but this method uses hot water. “It’s essentially like brewing really strong coffee” that is immediately poured—and thus cooled and diluted—over ice, Leichtentritt says. The cooled coffee is then stored in a carafe and poured over ice once again upon serving.

Cooling the coffee right away is the key. High temperatures bring out a coffee’s flavor, but the longer a brew is exposed to air as it cools, the more those flavor-packed compounds break down. Cooling the coffee quickly, with ice, helps trap and preserve those compounds.

Other shops around town, including Atlas Coffee and Mudhouse, make their iced coffee using a similar process. It’s the easiest way to make a lot of iced coffee quickly, says one Mudhouse barista.

Nitro

Nitro coffee, one of the latest coffee trends, is more like a craft beer than a brewed coffee, says Snowing in Space Coffee Co. co-owner Paul Dierkes. Nitro isn’t served on ice, but it is cold brewed and served cold from a keg. It tastes great black, but if cream and sugar is your thing, pour ’em in.

To brew nitro, Snowing in Space cold brews coffee on a large scale, kegs it, then pumps nitrogen gas into the keg at a high pressure for a long time to essentially agitate the brew. It’s served directly from the keg’s tap. Dierkes likens the resulting brew to a Guinness (a nitrogenated beer); it’s smooth, thick and creamy, with a foamy head.

Snowing in Space sources its beans from Shenandoah Joe and offers three single-origin brews, including the straightforward, nutty Brazilian Gimme-Dat and the unusual blueberry Lil Blue, and plans on introducing more varieties, including a cocoa mole flavor, soon. “The goal is experimentation,” Dierkes says while admitting he’s not a coffee connoisseur. “Let’s get experimental with styles and flavors and get interesting coffees to people.”

You can try Snowing in Space’s nitro coffee at Paradox Pastry, Keevil & Keevil Grocery and Champion Brewery. But it isn’t the only nitro in town—Shenandoah Joe and Mudhouse offer it as well.