Hello Asheville!
You guys know how much I love coffee. Like, a LOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (pant pant) !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (gasp pant) !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That’s why I was so sad every time I walked past PennyCup Coffee Company on Bartlett Street in the Southern hinterlands of the River Arts District. They were in there roasting delicious, fresh, yumminy coffee beans, just a few short blocks from my house — I could SMELL it — but they were not open to the public. I would walk past, get a sweet sweet whiff of those beans a’roasting, and die a little bit inside. I even pressed my face to the glass more than once, like a Dickensian street urchin, just hoping to see some sign that they might throw open their doors, and start serving fresh hot coffee by the cup to the public! Yet the doors remained closed. In fact the other day, I even saw a “closed” sign in the window.
Waitthewhatnow? A closed sign? That’s new. Why would a place that isn’t open to the public suddenly have a closed sign?
My frown turned upside down when the closed sign was finally turned around and read “open.”
I ran across the street to investigate further. I was so excited about the prospect of a new cafe in my hood, that I nearly go hit by a car. 100% true story.
Well, yes Virginia, there really is a muhfuckin’ Santa gotdang Claus, because all my prayers were answered that day, and indeed PennyCup Coffee company is now open to the public, serving really great coffee drinks, and beans by the bag, and even house-made baked things!
I talked to co-owner, and master roaster, Bill Tanner a few days before they opened and then popped back in on opening day to sample the goods, and I’m happy to report that the goods are good! Really good!
I had an Americano and a lemon poppyseed muffin and both were excellent! The Americano was made by a young gentleman named Cameron who informed me that he’d been working in cafes, making espresso drinks for 10 years, since he was 16, and his experience definitely showed. The Americano looked beautiful and tasted amazing. I’m gonna toggle through and try all of the espresso drinks at PennyCup and definitely tap into the house cup too.
If you already enjoy the coffee at Battlecat Coffee Bar and Hole doughnuts, then you are familiar with PennyCup coffee beans.
The top o’ the muffin and the post-cream-added top o’ the Americano look just about the same color and that’s just about fucking awesome.
The lemon poppyseed muffin was surprisingly nums. Nice and dense, not too sweet, with a good natural flavor to it. Sometimes when you order a muffin at a cafe, what you really get is a piece of cake shaped like a muffin. This was a muffin. It even seemed somewhat wholesome. I asked where they get them from and Cameron told me they make them there, pointing to a small convection oven. That rules. There were scones and such too that I’m looking forward to trying.
I couldn’t be more psyched that PennyCup is now open to the public! Is there anything in this fucking world better than coffee? NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (pant pant gasp cough cough pant) !!!!!!
The beans you’re drinking are roasted about 12 feet away. It doesn’t get much better than that.
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Stu Helm is an artist and writer living in Asheville, NC, and a frequent diner at local restaurants, cafes, food trucks, and the like. His tastes run from hot dogs and mac ‘n’ cheese, to haute cuisine, and his opinions are based on a lifetime of eating out. He began writing about food strictly to amuse his friends on Facebook.
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External links:
It’s above Element Clay Studio, 362 depot street. Enter on Bartlett st.
Address?
It’s near the corner of Bartlett & Depot in the River Arts District. Just down the street from The Junction.