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With a closing date approaching, most restaurants would simplify operations by paring down menus, cutting corners and preparing to go quietly.

But Team Car Cafe, located inside the Latting Speed Shop in Cordova, is choosing the opposite.

Nearly four weeks before it plans to close its doors for good, the cafe introduced its most ambitious offering ever: a $100 double shot of espresso.

“A little of the influence came from (specialty coffee bar) Shot in London. I got to go there over the summer and experience their $100 espresso shot,” said Team Car Cafe owner Will Tucker. “And now ours is everything I wanted it to be. Very complex flavor notes that last a little longer on the back of the palate.”

The offering raises an obvious question: What makes a single shot of espresso worth $100?

Team Car Cafe manager Dani Bramblett worked closely with Naiman Rigby of Rigby Roastery to develop the blend, and Rigby sourced the beans from a farm in Panama that produced approximately 6 kilograms of coffee for global consumption — a yield so limited that most coffee shops will never encounter it at all. Team Car secured roughly 1/6 of that supply.

The retail price isn’t meant to be reflective of indulgence, Tucker said, but the true cost of sourcing, processing and fairly compensating everyone involved in the shot’s procurement and production processes.

From its beginning in 2020, Team Car Cafe has operated on the belief that coffee is only as meaningful as the care behind it.

“My reason for wanting to bring this to our guests at Team Car doesn’t really change now that we’re closing,” Bramblett said. “I think it would be kind of unfortunate to put all this effort into this and to not let people experience it.”

Most people rarely think about coffee’s journey from seed to plant, harvest to processing to roasting, before it’s poured into cups. But this is exactly the kind of detail that consumes Rigby.

“I live for this s---,” he said. “I’m completely self-taught. My first three roasters were made out of barbecue grills.”

Naiman Rigby of Rigby Roastery sourced the beans for the $100 double shot espresso from a farm in Panama. (Brad Vest/Special to The Daily Memphian file)

Rigby is a Memphis-based, internationally award-winning roaster and brewer who now uses a sophisticated roasting machine to produce his coffees. His entire ethos is centered on making luxury beans and brews more accessible to everyday Memphians, and his coffee contacts are everywhere from South America to Asia.

It was through Rigby’s contacts that Team Car Cafe discovered that the ultra-exclusive coffee that London’s Shot sold wasn’t available for export from Japan this year, due to scarcity. But an exceptionally rare lot of coffee produced at a Panamanian family farm was an alternate option.

The espresso features a honey-processed Panama Gesha sourced from Finca Gayarta, a small farm producing a limited lot associated with Hacienda La Esmeralda’s Nuguo coffees. Its tasting notes include peach, jasmine, vanilla and tangerine, flavors that are unique to the region.

“Team Car came to me and they asked for a shot that would retail for around $100,” Rigby said. “It took me two months to get things going because I was just a baby fish in a pond of really big fish trying to procure a single kilo of this coffee.”

After a months-long process of bidding and negotiation, Rigby secured a small amount of beans to be imported for Team Car Cafe, paid hundreds of dollars in tariffs and began the careful process of lightly roasting and resting the limited-edition beans.

There is a high probability that no other American shop has this coffee, but Cole Torode, international procurement specialist and award-winning coffee competitor and coach, was unavailable to confirm that to be the case. It’s safe to say that the odds are very low that any American outside of Memphis has access to the rare coffee.

But why would Team Car offer this luxury now, with the closure looming?

“This was already in the works before we knew we were going to close at the end of year,” Bramblett said. “It would be kind of unfortunate to put in all this effort and not even let it hit the store for service. My reason for wanting to bring this to the cafe and our customers hasn’t changed.”

In Nashville, Now & Then Coffee offered a pour-over made of the same beans (but from a different lot) for $70 a cup until last month, when it also shut down operations. Espresso is more concentrated and requires a different level of skill to produce, making it more expensive. But Rigby said it’s exactly the kind of experience Memphis coffee lovers deserve.

“It makes all of the coffee in this town better,” Rigby said. “It makes everyone who’s making coffee for the people in this coffee town think about the best coffee in the world when they make it. And that shines confidently, whether it’s $2, $3, $5 or $100. ... I’m rallying as many people as I can to go and try this coffee.”

It has taken some education, however. 

“A lot of people thought it was a joke, at first,” Bramblett said. “I probably should have expected that, but now it’s been a chance to let people know about the different kinds of coffee available for them to experience.”

“I see coffee along the lines of wine or bourbon sipping,” added Tucker. “I think there’s a desire for people to see what kinds of boundaries can be pushed.”

With no next chapter to plan, the team decided to pour everything into this effort. There was no reason to save it anymore. The luxury espresso shot isn’t a flex; it’s a farewell.

When Team Car Cafe closes its doors at Latting Speed Shop on Wednesday, Dec. 24, it won’t do so quietly but with intentionality. Not with a discount, but with a reminder of what care looks like when it’s taken seriously to the very end.

The espresso may only last minutes, but the story lasts longer.

This week on the Memphis food scene

Triangle Meat Market, more widely recognized as Charlie’s Meat Market, has temporarily shuttered its operation at 4790 Summer Ave. (Ellen Chamberlain/The Daily Memphian)

Across the city, folks have been wondering what’s been going on with Charlie’s Meat Market. We caught up with Chuck Hogan to learn what’s possible for the future.

Sophia Surrett gave us the heartwarming and belly-filling story of a Memphis couple serving thousands of customers from their home bakery. She also told us about a popular chain returning to the University of Memphis campus and more in Food Files. 

If you’re like many of our readers who have been craving the tastes of restaurants gone by, you may be happy to learn that the owner of Evelyn & Olive is bringing a new Jamaican restaurant to the city while keeping some of the old menu items alive.

From left to right: Andrew Matthewes, Kelcie Nollner and Lindsey Shanmugasundaram, founders of Stomping Grounds, stand in front of where a Wild Beet will open in Memphis. (Sophia Surrett/The Daily Memphian)

Just in time for the new year and new dietary resolutions, a healthy restaurant will be moving into a former Railgarten space.

Hip-hop legend and Memphis rapper 8Ball debuted a new coffee brand, complete with limited edition bundles in collaboration with a beloved local coffee shop.

One of the best winter weather dishes to keep you warm is currently on the menu at Park + Cherry and I’ve got the lowdown on what to order there.

Jennifer Chandler is helping us to keep our expectations high and our bills low with this week’s $15 Deal from By the Brewery. And in this week’s Recipe Exchange, she shares how to make Amelia Gene’s glass noodle salad.

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