Skip to content

Case file No. 001  ◆  opened at first light

morning brew co.

The Case of the
Perfect Cup.

Gaslight. Fog. A cortado of suspicious excellence. Every morning at Cambridge Square, a cup vanishes without a trace, usually into the hands of the person it was made for. Our gentleman has been on the case since the first pot. He never rests. Well. He sits. But he never rests.

Prime suspect
A perfect cortado
Last seen
Cambridge Square, 7 AM
Status
Solved daily
Sepia engraving of the Morning Brew Co gentleman detective in top hat and monocle, leaning over a foggy gaslit street table to examine a steaming cup of coffee through a magnifying glass

Fig. 1 : the subject interrogates a suspicious steam pattern. Gaslight district, 7:04 AM.

run your glass over fig. 1

Pen and ink engraving of a coffee cup on a saucer with ornate curling steam rising from it

Fig. 2 : steam behaving beautifully

The latest case  ◆  No. 47  ◆  summer term

The Cold Case.

Come July, every warm trail in Tennessee goes cold. We let it. This season the gentleman is shadowing an iced honey lavender latte: espresso shaken over ice, a whisper of lavender, a spoonful of honey, finished with cold foam. His notes say it disappears without a trace. Repeatedly.

Items under surveillance

Iced Honey Lavender Latte6.25
Cold Brew, black as the case notes4.50

Investigator's note: order both. Call it corroborating evidence.

The evidence locker  ◆  four dossiers, all delicious

Every item here has been thoroughly interrogated.

Four case files, updated at dawn. Prices in plain figures, motives in plain sight. The gentleman signs off on every dossier before the doors open.

Dossier A

Coffee & Drinks

Category: hot pursuit & cold trail

  • Espresso3.25
  • Cortado4.25
  • Latte4.95
  • Pour Over4.75
  • Cold Brew4.50
  • Matcha5.50
  • Chai Latte5.00
  • Hot Chocolate4.00

Interrogation note: the culprit is almost always the cortado. Case closed by 7:15 AM.

Dossier B

Pastries

Category: crimes of butter

  • Butter Croissant4.00
  • Almond Croissant4.75
  • Cinnamon Roll4.50
  • Blueberry Muffin3.75
  • Scone of the Day3.95

Butter was found at the scene. Quantities: generous. No one is sorry.

Dossier C

Crepes

Category: folded, then vanished

  • Lemon & Sugar8.00
  • Nutella & Banana9.00
  • Strawberries & Cream9.50
  • Ham & Gruyere10.50
  • Spinach, Egg & Feta10.00

Folded twice, questioned once, gone in minutes. The plate never talks.

Dossier D

Bagels

Category: repeat offenders

  • Hot Honey Prosciutto9.50
  • Classic Lox10.50
  • Bacon, Egg & Cheddar8.50
  • Plain, Cream Cheese4.50
  • Veggie & Herb Schmear6.50

The hot honey prosciutto has a record. Sweet, salty, and clearly premeditated.

Order from the locker

Full docket available at the counter

Kraft paper coffee bag with the Morning Brew Co label featuring the top hat gentleman, standing on a wooden table scattered with coffee beans in warm morning light

Recovered from the roastery, unharmed

Exhibit A  ◆  the house blend  ◆  take the case home

Admissible in any morning.

The bag that started the whole investigation. Our House Blend wears the gentleman on the label and behaves impeccably in a pour over, a press, or whatever contraption you keep on the counter.

Chain of custody

  • ITEM: House Blend, whole bean, 12 oz
  • TASTING NOTES: dark chocolate, toasted pecan, brown sugar
  • ROAST: medium, even tempered, cooperative
  • VERDICT: guilty of emptying the pot
House Blend, the bag18.00
Claim Exhibit A

Also on the shelf at Cambridge Square

From the private library

Every good mystery keeps a ledger.

Ours wears leather and brass corners, and it carries the mark of the house: the gentleman, the hat, the arc of the name. It has never once been closed on an unsolved cup.

A leather bound Morning Brew Co case ledger with brass corners, embossed with the arced wordmark and the top hat gentleman crest, resting in a foggy gaslit street
the mark of the house, morning brew co.
Pen and ink engraving of a Victorian corner cafe with a striped awning, small round tables and chairs on the cobbled pavement outside

Fig. 3 : the scene, Cambridge Square. Approach upwind of the croissants.

Visit  ◆  the scene of the perfect cup

Return to the scene.

Cambridge Square, Ooltewah. Follow the smell of fresh espresso. It is the only clue you will need, and it has never once misled anybody.

Stakeout log

Mon to Fri7 AM to 7 PM
Sat and Sun8 AM to 4 PM

The gentleman keeps longer hours. He is, after all, an engraving.

Coordinates

Morning Brew Co
Cambridge Square
Ooltewah, Tennessee
Get directions

Correspondence: hello@morningbrewco.com

Catering  ◆  the bureau makes house calls

Seven cities fall under our jurisdiction.

Urns of coffee, trays of pastries, and standards that travel remarkably well. Weddings, offices, gatherings of any suspicious size. Pin your city to the board.

  • ChattanoogaTenn.
  • ClevelandTenn.
  • KnoxvilleTenn.
  • AtlantaGa.
  • DaltonGa.
  • RinggoldGa.
  • HuntsvilleAla.
Open a catering case

Tell us the date, the headcount, and the scene of the gathering

Intake form No. 10  ◆  new recruits

Join the Bureau of Morning Intelligence.

Dispatches when a new case opens, first word on seasonal suspects, and 10% off your first order for signing on.

No spam. Unsubscribing is not a crime.