The Six Stories You Need to Know How to Tell - Due Feb 6

This week, you'll be reading "The Six Stories You Need to Know How to Tell" in preparation for class next Monday. For this blog, please pick ONE of the stories that the reading discusses and write your personal version. 

*Please note: we will be talking about individual stories in class, so be thoughtful in your responses and pick a story that you'd be comfortable discussing in person!

in luv w/ wildlove

Wildlove Bake house may not sound like a coffee shop (mostly because it’s really a bakery that happens to serve coffee) but it definitely feels like one. I decided to visit Wildlove because as a casual coffee lover, I’ve visited nearly all the local coffee shops in Knoxville over the past four years and always wanted to visit after hearing many good things about it. Even before entering the minimalistic decorated shop, the air was filled with the sweetest smells that reminded me of kindergarten and when I had no concept of time. As soon as I walked in to the shop, those sweet smells were met with sweet sights of chocolate croissants, homemade pop tarts, scones and other goodies in a big glass display case in the back of the store that was connected to the coffee bar and cash register. After placing an order of a latte and a Benton’s bacon and egg biscuit, I took a seat in the spacious and well-lit shop. It could have been the family-styled tables, the light colored walls, the giant outdoor porch, or the fact that you could see the baking staff working on the next dozens of baked deliciousness but something about Wildlove Bake house was so calming and gave me no sense of the hurried rush often experienced in other coffee shops.

With not too long of a wait, the very friendly Wildlove staff had my biscuit and coffee ready and brought to where I was seated and was it a beautiful sight to see. The biscuit was warm, thicc and had the perfect consistency for the egg and bacon. In this scenario, the biscuit was definitely the star of this morning breakfast even though the coffee was good, it wasn’t anything too special. Despite this, Wildlove is a great place to spend your morning and even bring along a few friends due to being one of the largest coffee shops I’ve visited in Knoxville. I will definitely be returning to WIldlove especially if it involves more bacon and egg biscuits. :-) 

Two Friends, One Coffee Shop

*Read in English accent*

It was a cold, dreary Monday afternoon when my roommate Carson and I decided to embark on a quest for the best coffee in all of Knoxville. Usually I am not one to partake in the caffeinated rejuvenation that is coffee. The inherently bitter taste and thicker viscosity normally persuades me to partake in something a little crisper and lighter (perhaps an ice cold domestically-brewed pilsner #USA). However, seeing as darkness was nigh and, thus, the subsequent chiller, brisker air was upon us, I forwent the alcoholic carbonated elixir to which I am normally accustomed. Instead, Carson and I pioneered ourselves into the world of coffee and found ourselves delighting in the delectable warmth of coffee’s welcoming embrace. We ventured into a place that the local natives call “North Knoxville” and found quite the sight. “Remedy”, so they call it, isn’t the easiest coffee shop to find, but, oh my, was the journey worth it. Travelling into this neighborhood, right on the cusp of gentrification, nicer buildings, and thusly higher prices (which almost directly cause the lower-income natives to saddle up and venture even farther from the city’s center and their workplaces, furthering the difficulties it takes to be a low-income family in this day and age). Ah, the joys of gentrification. I digress; the coffee shop was quite exquisite. Barn wood and vintage decorations inside the shop almost make you feel as if you grew up in a simpler time, where people worked with their hands and talked to one another instead of seeing our illuminated faces stuffed into our electronic handheld devices 24/7. Ick! Can you imagine? Still, the charm of the place was wonderful and the coffee! Well, actually, it was pretty decent. Service was okay. 7/10.

-Patrick Darby, Yelp Reviewer

Wild about Wild Love

I have been dying to visit Wild Love since hearing of its arrival and the raving reviews from friends and other local Knoxvillians. However, after coming across the article that suggests Wild Love is the best coffee/bake shop in the U.S., I knew it was really time for me to make it a priority. This assignment gave me the perfect excuse to finally make it happen and let me tell you, I wasn’t disappointed one bit. Located in North Knoxville just a quick drive off campus, Wild Love offered the perfect little study break and escape from the hustle and bustle of UT. I loved this place before even walking in. Although not the prettiest part of town, this bake house has created a warm and inviting aesthetic with its unique sense of style. The inside is equally as refreshing as the outside providing a light and airy work/study place or food stop. If the decor wasn’t enough to draw me in, the comforting smells of fresh pastries and hot, brewed coffee wafting through the entire building was enough to do it. I’m not much of a coffee girl so I “settled” for a sweet treat instead. I’m not joking when I say Wild Love might have made the best chocolate croissant I have ever tasted. It was perfectly flakey and layered with smooth chocolate making me a very happy customer. I did take stuff to work on and found that it provided the ideal atmosphere to get stuff done. It doesn’t get much better than being productive while also treating yo’self. I think my recent trip to this bakehouse will be the first of many, because I’m sold. 

K-Brew

My week has been pretty busy and I really don’t drink coffee, so I did not get to actually get to go to K-Brew. However, I did research about this local Knoxville coffee shops and found some interesting facts about it. First, they have two different locations with one being located on North Broadway in North Knoxville and the other one located on Market Street in Downtown Knoxville. The K-Brew located on North Broadway is right across from our Capstone project, Kickstand. Also, K-Brew is a Specialty Coffee Association of America member. This organization started in 1982 to set quality standards and discuss issues among the specialty coffee trade and now has 2,500 members. K-Brew was voted the Top Knox winner in 2016 by the Knoxville Mercury. This is pretty impressive based on the sheer number of coffee shops that exist in Knoxville and to be the best one really says something about their product. Speaking of their product, K-Brew likes to change up their roasts about ever couple of months or so. Right now, they have blends from Kenya and Costa Rica for people to drink. They receive their milk from right here in Knoxville from Cruze Farm. This is pretty cool because the number of dairy farms in the state has been shrinking so to have one in Knoxville is nice to see. I was looking at pictures of K-Brew and they have these awesome hanging chairs so I might go just for that. Researching about K-Brew definitely makes me want to go now so I’ll have to check it out.