Mid-Week Mugs: Making A Comeback

When I was in graduate school in Knoxville,Tennessee, I found myself swamped with clinics, papers, and presentations. I was always very studious in school, but if I was not careful the blinders would be put on, and I would be sucked into the stress of schoolwork. I had learned this the hard way in high school and undergraduate degree and wanted to turn a new leaf while getting my doctorate. Instead of being solely focused on the end goal of the diploma, I wanted to also take that time to enjoy life and the experiences it had to offer. Now, I just needed to figure out what I loved to do for fun.

One afternoon I found myself at a coffee shop with a member of my cohort. We were working on one of our latest projects for our first year of graduate school. Through that meet up Alex, we quickly bonded and realized we had a lot in common. One of those commonalities centered around our love of coffee. After turning in the project, we hatched a plan. We decided to visit every coffee shop in Knoxville before leaving for our residencies. 

Right before we walked across the stage in May 2023, Alex and I made sure to have one last coffee together as students.

Knoxville had a fantastic coffee shop scene. We loved going all over town finding the perfect spot to study or chat. We devised a spreadsheet entitled “The Ultimate Knoxville Coffee Shop” with about three dozen shops to judge based on ten different categories. These categories ranged from specialty drinks, food items, and even plug-ins because no one wants to be stressed out finding a good seat with all the amenities. Though we had some ups and downs with COVID, online classes, and businesses closing, Alex and I were able to fill up the spreadsheet.

By the time it was time for us to depart for residency, there were some clear winners when it came to our favorite coffee shop. Our favorites really came down to easy accessibility, consistent lattes, and delicious food options. I mean, how can you go wrong if you offer dozens of flavors of bagels!? During  this coffee journey, “The Ultimate Knoxville Coffee Shop” spreadsheet morphed into what is now called mid-week mugs on Instagram. I originally started posting as another method to keep up with which coffee shops we had taste tested, but then midweek mugs started morphing into its own thing.

There were many friends who met up with me during the Knoxville coffee journey, but Natalie and Michaela were constants who were always down to go to a coffee shop.

Soon people started noticing I was posting about these coffee shops on Instagram, and it opened the door to grab coffee with more people. While Alex remained my tried and true mid-week mugs partner, there were others who were open to experiencing the journey. Through these coffee hang outs, we were able to have open and honest conversations with each other. We shared hopes, dreams, and even fears over a pour over. Cups were emptied and souls were filled. There were some tears, but mainly laughter was involved in these gatherings. Then, it finally came time to move. 

I attempted to continue mid-week mugs in Lakeland, Florida but to be honest, it never took off. The structure of having coffee on Wednesdays was not set in stone, and there was no coordinating spreadsheet. Even worse, the number of good coffee shops were few and far between. While I made fantastic friends that I shared plenty of meals with, I ended up mainly sticking to a place called Pressed. This was a coffee shop and bookstore rolled into one, and ended up being where I joined a weekly book club. The book club group quickly ended up becoming my people, and I made a routine that did not stray from the course. While it was sunny in Florida, the light did not shine on mid-week mugs, and it started to fade into the background.

I am so grateful towards Pressed in Lakeland, Florida for being the meeting place for book lovers to unite.

Before I knew it, graduation was here and we were embarking on yet again another move across the country. This time it was to Northwest Arkansas. I was ecstatic to be moving closer to family, but not so thrilled to be packing up boxes to move to my third state in three years. In order to get myself out of the packing funk, I decided to write a list of things to look forward to in the new state. Of course old habits die hard, and I started once again making a coffee spreadsheet. 

I was dumbfounded with the sheer number of coffee shops that existed in Northwest Arkansas. There were easily over fifty that needed visiting, and there were so many that were unique. My internet searching took me to an outdoor coffee shop only accessed by hiking or biking trail, a rooftop coffee shop, and even a coffee shop inside of a rock climbing gym. Perhaps it was time to shine the light again on mid-week mugs.

I am happy to announce the new and improved “Ultimate Northwest Arkansas Coffee Shop” spreadsheet us up, running, and ready to get coffee with friends. I feel like I have made a great foundation of friends over the past few months, and can’t wait to continue the caffeinated conversations with new people in the coming months. I believe accomplishing this goal will be even more lofty than visiting every coffee shop in Knoxville, but I am up for the challenge. Let the coffee tasting commence!

There are so many fantastic coffee options in Northwest Arkansas, and Onyx is at the top of the list!