The Story of Mid-Week Mugs
In the depths of my google drive lies a spreadsheet entitled “The Ultimate Knoxville Coffee Shop”. This spreadsheet has been in the works for about three years and greatly reveals my obsession for coffee. But in order to explain the importance of the spreadsheet and how it sparked mid-week mugs, we must back up the timeline to the early 2000s.
As an elementary school-aged child, one of my favorite things to do was spend the night at my grandparents’ house. Why? Because when you stay the night at grandma’s, you get to eat all the junk food your parents would not allow you to have at home! For me this included fried eggs, coke floats, and, most importantly, coffee. My grandmother is an avid coffee drinker and would make an amazing Saturday morning breakfast spread of homemade Belgian waffles, newly canned strawberry preserves, and whipped cream from the spray can. We grandchildren would love to help her with the waffle maker and became extremely intrigued with the hot, fully caffeinated, beverage she drank every morning. Plus, it was served in a beautiful mug collected as souvenirs from their travels. Of all of these mugs, the blue and white moose lodge mug with the handle that perfectly fit into your hand was the most coveted. She would let us pick out, or fight over, our mug then pour a cup to enjoy with her.
Since I have gotten older, I realize my cup of “coffee” was essentially creamer flavored with coffee. Nevertheless, I was hooked. Elementary school quickly transitioned to high school where the library had a “cappuccino machine”. This machine did not produce actual cappuccinos. It was the library equivalent of a gas station caffeinated sugar beverage machine with slightly concerning powdered milk. This did not stop me from going to the early tutoring session at 7am to give a dollar to the permanently frowny faced librarian so I could enjoy a cup of fake vanilla flavored deliciousness. Something had to motivate me to get a better grade in pre-calculus, and the gas station coffee machine did just the trick.
Freshman year of college exponentially accelerated my love of coffee. Admittedly, this love toed the line of addiction. Scholastic all-nighters in the library paired with a 4am wake up time working summer camp turned the want into a need. These experiences also accustomed me to drink coffee black. While I am hesitant to admit the actual amount consumed per day, learning to love coffee for the actual flavor of coffee is a pivotal moment in the coffee-loving journey.
Sophomore year of college brought me back to campus where I transitioned from all-nighters in the library to afternoon coffee shop study sessions. This was fantastic for my sleep schedule, but not so much for my pocket book. Fortunately, I was not alone for these study sessions for very long. At this point I had figured out, after being away for the summer, which friends were sticking around and which were heading other directions. There were two friends in particular that had reached out and wanted to catch up over coffee. After meeting them separately, we came to the realization that the three of us knew each other individually, but had not been a room together. Obviously, that had to change. Right then and there was the birth of the Deja Brews.
The Deja Brews ended up being about the only consistent thing throughout our undergraduate career. Religiously, 8am on Friday mornings we met at Golden Roast on the corner of Lake avenue and Melrose, sat at the same table in front of the order counter, and ordered black coffee with a bagel if we had pooled enough change that week. The Deja Brews persisted through break ups, new love interests, changes in majors, and existential crises alike. Autumn, spring, and winter, we made it through every semester until graduation parted us to different states and countries. While virtual hang outs still occur with the Deja Brews, nothing beats laughing about the days when we were twenty making mistakes and figuring out life together.
Graduate school rounded the corner, and I remained at the University of Tennessee. However, I knew my days in Knoxville were numbered and wanted to make the most of the time left. Here is where the spreadsheet enters the scene. While meeting with a member of my cohort at a coffee shop, we soon realized how much we had in common. Of course that commonality centered around our love of coffee. We decided we wanted to visit every coffee shop in Knoxville before leaving for our residencies. Though we had some ups and downs with COVID, online classes, and businesses closing, we were able to accomplish the majority of the list. What the spreadsheet doesn’t capture is how Alex became my “exit buddy” for graduate school. We graduate together or bust.
In a way, “The Ultimate Knoxville Coffee Shop” came to life with mid-week mugs as well. When I started posting about these coffee shops on Instagram, it opened the door to grab coffee with more people. Through these coffee hang outs, we were able to share hopes, dreams, and fears. Cups were emptied and souls were filled. There were some tears, but mainly laughter. Mid-week mugs has been continuing in Lakeland, but the structure of it is not yet in stone. Perhaps a new spreadsheet should be in the works, with room for new coffee and new friendships.
