Made in Tennessee: Turntable Coffee Counter

JACKSON,TN (WNBJ)-

While many people were staying home during the past year and a half during the height of the pandemic – one local man made his dream come true and opened his business. After being a barista at two different coffee shops in Jackson for twelve years Anthony Kirk decided to open his own coffee shop. Turntable Coffee Counter announced its opening in the fall of 2020 and opened its doors in February of this year.

“The shop had been in the works for a few years and then when we finally decided. It was the middle of the pandemic…we actually downsized the business three times as we were looking for funding and start-up costs, that was a challenge… and then when we finally opened, we had to think about how can we do this safely,” says owner Anthony Kirk.

Kirk’s vision for turntable was to bring something to Jackson that could be found in a big city but make it unique to the Hub City,

“On our walls, we have portraits of local musicians, we got local artwork on the wall…even the name turntable is about Jackson with its Rockabilly music history as well as its train history, the device that rotates train cars is called a turntable.”

One of the goals of Turntable is to partner with other Tennessee businesses,

“the shop at its core is really about collaboration and partnerships, the core of our menu is west Tennessee and middle Tennessee,” says Kirk.

The coffee and syrups are from Memphis (Ethnos coffee roasters and Cane and Herb), the bake goods are from Brownsville (Eaderhouse) and the teas are from Nashville (High Garden).

Turntable Coffee has a rotating menu that is inspired by the season. “During the summer we wanted something light, fun and refreshing drinks, something fruity…during the spring we had some floral beverages. As we go into the fall, we’ll be introducing some beverages that are cozy and spicy and warm and we are really excited about that,” says Kirk.

Kirk says that they spend a lot of time crafting their menu but they also want to inspire a love of coffee by selling bags of coffee and the tools to brew it at home, “We wanted the brewing process to be accessible… we want it to be easy for you to do it at home and we will gladly teach you how to do that.”

Kirk says that opening the shop has been a lot of work but being able to serve and meet the community makes it all worth it.