There are a lot of coffee places in Nashville, A LOT and the really good ones often have more than one location or wholesale their coffee to local restaurants and bakeries. I love drinking coffee and reading reviews on the latest coffee machines. If you want to check some out for yourself, Click Here. Eighth & Roast is the first place I had a real cup of coffee so it’s my favorite, but it’s also my favorite because they were my very first wholesale customer when I owned my bakery. Eighth & Roast is owned by Brad and Lesa Wood and I spent many early mornings talking to Lesa about women in business in “Music City” and I learned more than my brain could comprehend about coffee notes from Brad, so to write this post was a little like a home coming for me.

Eighth & Roast
2108 8^th Avenue South
Nashville, TN 37204
www.facebook.com/roastinc

If there is one thing Nashville has it is a large hipster population. The hipster can typically be found in many of the coffee shops in Nashville and I usually avoid those places; it is one of the many reasons I love Eighth & Roast, it has a low hipster population. On my morning writing this blog, there were no fedoras or man buns in sight.

When you first walk into Eighth & Roast the first feeling you get is warm and welcoming with a slight industrial feel. The whole left side of the shop has exposed brick with dark wood counters lining the large front window and the exposed brick wall. Two large community tables that came from old bowling alley lanes compliment the dark wood and brick. There is also an abundance of electrical outlets through out the seating area and cute little tables out front if you wanted to drink your coffee outside.

They make all their pastries in-house and this morning, after standing in line probably too long deciding between a bacon egg cheese biscuit sandwich, lemon poppy seed muffin, granola, or breakfast burrito, I settled on the strawberry cardamom muffin. I also got a cup of the Ethiopia brewed coffee and yes a latte, as you can see. I had yet to have my cup of coffee this morning and I panicked. I couldn’t decide between beautiful latte art or the necessities of my morning fuel so I got both, don’t judge.

It is by far the best cup of coffee in Nashville. Lesa roasts all the beans right there and you can almost always find her in the roasting room roasting away. The coffee is gentle and not over roasted. They only roast beans from small estate and small co-operative grown farms. You can find all the usual suspects at Eighth & Roast, pour over bar, lattes, cappuccino, but there are two things I would recommend in a heart beat. If iced coffee is what you are wanting, this is the ONLY place in Nashville to get it. The coffee is flash chilled and it is served on tap, yes I said tap, just like beer, but iced coffee. If it’s a latte you are looking for, the Nutella Latte is slap your momma good.

The Strawberry Cardamom Muffin was moist with just the right amount of spice and had large slices of fresh strawberries. It was a nice compliment to the coffee. Roast also serves lunch and has a second, smaller shop located at 225 Chestnut Street, Nashville, TN.