THE SAMPLER continued from 60
We sat at a small table and scrutinized the patrons, many of them small children, as they partook of their frozen delights. There is hardly anything more entertaining than watching children eat ice cream.
The friendly and capable staff tell me things have been going great, although still a little slow in the mornings. That may change when the drive-thru window is open, hopefully“ in a couple of weeks.” Also, breakfast sandwiches may be in the offing.
The store is open 6:00 a. m. to 11:00 p. m. Monday through Friday and 8:00 a. m. to 11:00 p. m. on Saturday and Sunday.
The new Moose offers a hot ham and cheese sandwich, all beef hot dogs, Coney dogs, pulled pork barbecue, a“ Frenchie”, which, apparently, is the“ Champagne of sloppy Joe’ s,” and a“ Spanish burger,” baked in tomato sauce and topped with Coney sauce.
There’ s also a black bean and chipotle patty vegetarian burger on a whole wheat bun.
Now, while one could enjoy an ice cream cone and then coffee, I wanted to do justice to the coffee experience by approaching it separately from the morning perspective.
Accordingly, upon the following morning, I escorted my kitchen companion once again to the Chocolate Moose, this time for morning coffee.
Brown County coffee is a burgeoning business that began as a hobby.
Nick Shultz got interested in home-roasting coffee through some articles on the Internet and soon invested in some equipment and began home-roasting his own beans. Now, Brown County Coffee is the third-largest coffee roaster in the state, producing about a ton of roasted coffee each week from two commercial roasting machines.
The packaged results can be purchased at several local stores, dozens of restaurants around the area, and of course, at the new storefront in Nashville.
I like my coffee plain black— no need to ruin a perfectly good cup of java with a lot of fooling around and nonsense. But I am aware that The Chocolate Moose / Brown County Coffee store is the kind of place where one can get not only lattes and mochas and cappuccinos and so forth, but experiment with all kinds of amendments and flavorings.
We sip our morning coffee as sunshine streams through the windows and a steady stream of locals and visitors pass through seeking coffee. A coffee shop is always a place of community, and the relaxed atmosphere seems perfect for that.
But the coffee just makes me want more ice cream. And the ice cream makes me want another cup of coffee. It occurs to me that I could become permanently entangled in the gravity loop, the infernal bittersweet paradox of an ice cream stand turned coffee house.
But I can comfort myself with the knowledge that, at the worst, I will continue to be profoundly satisfied. •
Paid for by Cindy Steele
Community-minded | Dependable | Experienced
Mosaics by Cindy Steele Available at Spears Pottery in Nashville, IN( beside the Nashville House on South Van Buren Street)
62 Our Brown County Sept./ Oct. 2016