DAYTON EATS
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HOW TO GO
What: Ghostlight Coffee
Where: 1201 Wayne Ave., Dayton
Hours: 7 a.m-5:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Friday; 8:30 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday; 8:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Sundays.
More info: http://ghostlightcoffee.com or 937-985-2633
Food: Food trucks will often park alongside Ghostlight to serve. While they have had some trucks come for weekday lunches and dinners (check their Facebook page www.facebook.com/GhostlightCoffee for daily updates), the most popular are the Sunday Brunch trucks that run from around 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Harvest Mobile Cuisine shows up most frequently. Chef Patrick Sartin's menu pairs well with Ghostlight's coffee offerings for brunch. While trucks will occasionally show up during the winter months, almost every Sunday is booked through the spring, summer and fall.
Coming soon: Ghostlight is currently working on a kitchen space down the street and are planning to offer baked goods, as well as some wrap sandwiches and salads for customers to enjoy.
Americans love their morning, afternoon and evening cup of Joe.
According to a 2013 survey conducted by the National Coffee Association (NCA), about 83 percent of adults drink coffee, up from 78 percent a year earlier.
In fact, we’re the world’s thirstiest consumer of the beverage, drinking an average of three cups a day per person. That totals up to be around 587 million cups or coffee — give or take — that accounts for $30 billion a year in sales.
A seemingly simple cup of coffee may not initially sound like something that can be improved upon much. But if you spend any kind of time thinking about the history of this warm, comforting beverage, it becomes clear that many changes have been brewing over the years.
Shane Anderson, owner of Ghostlight Coffee on Wayne Avenue in Southpark Historic District, says that coffee is currently in its third major wave of reinvention.
The first wave was marked by the proliferation of watery instant coffees that left plenty to be desired in the ’40s and ’50s. The second wave of coffee was the rise of specialty coffee shops and coffee machines in homes that upped the ante several decades later, and the third was the appearance of specialized gourmet coffee shops where each variety of coffee beans are celebrated for their unique characteristics with non-pressurized brewing methods to help enhance the flavors.
The NCA’s data backs up the shift Anderson says is happening, with sales of traditional coffee dropping 7 percent in 2013 despite the growth in the market overall and a surge in customers increasingly looking for gourmet coffees.
Anderson, who opened Ghostlight on Nov. 14, 2011, says the community has wholeheartedly embraced what he and his staff are working to do in bringing new flavor profiles and options to coffee cups across the Dayton community. His most popular items on the menu illustrate how the market continues to change.
• 24-hour Cold Brew ($3.25) and Nitro Cold Brew ($4): In May, Ghostlight added a tap system to offer their very popular 24-hour Cold Brew Iced Coffee on tap and also worked out a system to offer nitrogenated iced coffee on tap. The Nitro Cold Brew is a definite favorite that pours and tastes like a Guinness sans alcohol. It's a delicious alternative to a beer with a mouthfeel reminiscent of stout that's been run through nitro. Don't be surprised if you have to remind yourself at least once that you are drinking coffee. Anderson, always experimenting, infused the Nitro Cold Brew with fresh Ohio Hops over the summer and this winter with a spice mixture from Miami Valley Spice Traders that has a bright orange peel finish. It says a lot about Anderson's vision and willingness to embrace new processes and flavors that Ghostlight was only the second coffee shop in the state to add Nitro. The fantastic Cheapside Café in downtown Cincinnati was the first. Anderson says both have "taken off like crazy" with customers coming in for it year-round.
• Flavored Lattes ($4/$4.50): Ghostlight features some of my favorite lattes in town. They feature incredibly creative and delicious handcrafted Jo Snow artisan syrups made by Melissa Yen out of Chicago. Fig vanilla black pepper, cardamon rosewater, tangerine lavender honey, Balsamic black walnut (Anderson's favorite) and Cafe De Olla, imbued with cinnamon, cloves, spices and a touch of orange. They also work with Jo Snow to develop flavors such as their Lumberjack Latte that is currently being featured, which, is named after a loyal customer Joseph Chaney a.k.a. "Lumberjack Joe," who retired after 30 years working for the City of Dayton's Forestry Department. The latte is based on a lumberjack breakfast with maple, cinnamon and smoke sea salt.
• Gibraltar ($3): Another favorite with customers is the Gibraltar, a double shot of espresso and a small amount of steamed milk served in a 4.5-ounce Gibraltar glass. The drink is similar to a cortado or "flat white," but the quickest description would be that it is small latte with nearly equal parts espresso and steamed milk.
• Hand Poured Coffee on Chemex or v60 (prices vary depending on coffee selected): Ghostlight features Deeper Roots Coffees — artisan roasted single origin coffee made in Cincinnati with a range of regions and flavors. It's the same coffee featured at Butter Cafe on Brown Street and Warehouse 4 in Vandalia. A smaller roaster buys less than the mass market and has the ability to be pickier and more nimble. Ghostlight typically offers 8-10 roasts to choose from, which remain popular with customers.
“We started out as a ‘multi-roaster’ shop, offering terrific coffees from select roasters across the country, but the majority of our coffees come from one of the best roasters that we have found in the Midwest — Deeper Roots Coffee,” Anderson said. “While we offer batch brewed coffees on a Fetco brewer for a quick cup to go, we encourage our customers to linger while we prepare a single cup hand poured for them on a Hario v60 or Chemex (or French Press upon request). The pour-over preparation of coffee allows the barista to control and vary the flow of hot water, the brew time, water temperature … producing a cup that helps to highlight the coffee’s individual flavor notes and body.”
As Anderson explains, “good coffee is like a fine wine” — and just like with fine wines all the same things that affect the grapes affect coffee beans in the same way. Location, climate, plant variety, processing … in fact, the national coffee association says that the combination of factors is so complex, that even from a single farm there can be variations in quality and flavor. It gets more complex when you consider that coffee is grown in more than 50 different countries around the world.
“The central idea of Ghostlight is a blend of great coffee and the relationships developed by sharing that coffee. The thought behind the space itself was that it is someone’s living room, a welcoming, comfortable space in which coffee and time could be shared,” Anderson said. “It’s a great feeling, to have created something that so many staff and customers are happy to claim as their place.”
If you are going to a coffee house that knows its stuff like Press, Boston Stoker, Ohio Coffee Company or Ghostlight, it’s a great opportunity to try something new. And if you haven’t yet — once you do, you will realize not all cups are made the same.
Dayton Eats looks at the regional food stories and restaurant news that make mouths water. Menu updates, special dinners and events, new chefs, interesting new dishes and food adventures. Do you know of new exciting format changes, specials, happy hours, restaurant updates or any other tasty news you think is worth a closer look at? E-mail Alexis Larsen at alexis.e.larsen@hotmail.com with the information and we will work to include it in future coverage
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