La Terza Artisan Coffee

Literally translated "the third".
What the hell is the third you might ask.
Well with coffee it started with coffee such as Folgers, people were able to easily make coffee at home for their own consumption. Then Starbucks, who introduced consumers to their first espressos and latte's. The third wave of coffee is small batch roasters such as La Terza Artisan Coffee taking coffee into a new realm of craftsmanship rather than just a commodity.
The third also has another definition in the social media age. A third place. You have your home, your worksite and a third place. That third place could be a bar, coffee shop or anywhere else you meet and hang out with friends and acquaintances.
I always knew that Park+Vine served La Terza but it wasn't something I though much about as I am a super Deeper Roots Coffee fan and usually search out any shop serving their products.
Then the first time I had breakfast and coffee at Maplewood on Race St. and my mind was blown. I instagram'd my coffee and said "if you take coffee shops off the table @maplewoodcincy has the best coffee you can get in a restaurant (and better than some coffee shops)"

A photo posted by 5chw4r7z (@5chw4r7z) on Jul 26, 2016 at 9:08am PDT

Park+Vine tagged La Terza on the instagram and we started a conversation that ended with me in Lockland learning more about La Terza from co-owner David Gaines. The insights were interesting, things I had never known or thought about before. For instance, coffee's bitter taste. Coffee is usually brewed around 190f. The first taste buds to function are the ones that sense bitterness at around 180. As the coffee cools more tastes are sensed. One reason for adding cream to the coffee isn't because the cream tastes better, its to cool the coffee and engage more taste buds.
We also participated in roasting coffee. It all happens in a shorter time span than I thought, about 15 minutes from raw beans to a pour over. Watching a pour over with fresh beans is interesting, they out gas for awhile after roasting so they were bubbling pretty good as the water slowly filtered through.
Mr Gaines mentioned the fact that coffee is touched by about 50 hands during the picking and curing process which got me thinking. 50 people touch it, the coffee gets shipped to the U.S. Then it is roasted packaged and shipped to your favorite coffee shop. It gets ground, measured and someone handcrafts a pour over. When you think about it, that $4 pour over is most likely the bargain of the century.
If you have the chance, get yourself to Lockland for one of their weekly tours, $6 includes all the samples, a coffee at the end and discounts on any purchases. And absolutely be on the lookout for coffee shops and restaurants serving La Terza Coffee. If you find yourself downtown I highly recommend Park+Vine and Maplewood. Or you can order online.







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