When Susana and Alex Allen opened the Fainting Goat Coffee Company in Spring Hill, Tennessee in 2017, they were hoping to fill a void they saw after moving from Franklin. There was no place in the city for people to hang out and have a conversation. They have filled that void and filled it well. On any Saturday the parking lot will be as full as the tables in the old house on Main Street where the business is located. Recently, they celebrated five years of serving coffee and other goodies to the community.
As the days are getting warmer and sunnier, customers can take their food and beverages outside to the benches and tables under the trees and umbrellas. And during the winter months, there is plenty of seating at industrial-look pine tables with metal chairs, and some comfortable leather seating. It is a low-key place with a big dash of quirkiness. Perhaps that is why it is so inviting, or maybe it is the friendly baristas behind the bar.
“The heart of The Goat is behind the bar,” the Allens say on Facebook. “We have the most amazing staff…We wouldn’t be where we are without their love, care and dedication.”
Their name, their coffee, and their building have a personality that bubbles through, like the foam on the top of one of their Chupacabra Lattes. Blending the mythology of how coffee was discovered in Ethiopia and Tennessee’s famous Fainting Goats, they came up with the Name Fainting Goat Coffee Company.
According to the National Coffee Association USA, in the ancient coffee forests of Ethiopia, a goat herder named Kaldi noticed that his goats were much more energetic after eating the red berries off of a particular tree. After trying them himself and experiencing the same results, he brought some back to the abbot at a local monastery who promptly threw them into the fire because they were red, the sign of the devil. But the smell of the roasting beans was so heavenly that the abbot had water poured over the embers to preserve the delightful smell. Eventually, he tasted the beverage made from the berries and found it allowed him to be alert for long hours of evening prayer. After sharing his discovery, news of the beverage spread.
Susana Allen told real estate agent Matt Bogosian in a video he made about the café that she and her husband were blending the mythology about goats discovering coffee with Tennessee’s own fainting goats after seeing videos of them. The whimsical blend of stories, along with some pop goat art give the coffee shop its sense of community and good humor.
Unlike many coffee houses, The Goat makes many of their own syrups from scratch, including the vanilla, chocolate and pumpkin spice made from real pumpkins. And they serve both their own house blends and also Columbia’s Muletown Coffee Roasters.
The beverage menu includes many uniquely blended lattes, macchiato, cappuccino, cortado, teas, tea blends, a tonic, lots of different frappes, cold brew, and hot chocolate. Their food menu is simple. It consists of muffins, pastries, three types of breakfast burrito and empanadas.
Signature drinks all have a unique Hispanic flair, including the Nacho Libre Latte. This latte is sweetened with Mexican chocolate, spiced up with a pinch of cayenne pepper and topped off with whipped cream and cinnamon. Another is the Horchatta Latte, a sweet latte infused with Horchata, a traditional Mexican drink that has hints of cinnamon and rice, topped off with Cajeta -Goat’s milk -caramel.
Their John Mayer Tonic is made with Cáscara. Cáscara is the outer shell of the coffee bean that has been sun-dried. Once dried, it’s steeped like tea and made by The Goat into a deliciously sweet and tangy sparkling drink offering hints of cherry and lime sweetened with organic cane sugar. It has caffeine, but less than coffee and more than black tea. Like tea, it’s full of antioxidants and vitamins.
If you’re a Star Wars fan, don’t miss out on their featured drinks like the Droid Iced Tea. It is a delicious black iced tea infused with sweet Cáscara and a shot of freshly squeezed lemon juice for acidity. They call it the Arnold Palmer of Tatooine. You can also try the Wookie Latte – a hot latte that combines a double shot of Cabra Loca medium roast espresso with caramel pecan flavored topped off with whipped cream and caramel sauce. For something cold, try the Child Latte – an iced latte that combines a double shot of Cabra Loca medium roast espresso with homemade mocha, infused with a shot of cherry blossom flavor.
Offering three of their own in-house roasted blends, plus a special holiday one made seasonally, these can be purchased in-house or online. Their standard blends include Goat Eye, a light roast created from New Guinea, Ethiopian and Colombian beans; Cabra Loca, a medium dark roast made from New Guinea, Ethiopian and Honduran beans; and Stiff-Legged, a dark roast made from New Guinea, Ethiopian and Brazilian beans. Their holiday blend is a medium roast made from Mexican beans.
A bunch of merchandise is offered in store and online with their distinctive stiff-legged falling goat logo. There are hats, tee shirts, sweatshirts, drinkware, stickers, totes, and zip and pull-over hoodies. And during the holiday there are even hand-carved wood Christmas ornaments.
Frequent visitors can join their loyalty club for free. There is an app to order ahead. And gift cards are available. Plus, they offer free Wi-Fi.
There are three rooms available for meetings, the Work Room, the Spring Hill Room and the Extended Room. Rental of the space for small events is also possible.
“A friend took me here for coffee,” said one reviewer on Facebook, “I also got breakfast before we embarked on a crafty day… I will definitely be back … It’s hard to find fun, authentic coffee shops these days. Not everyone wants Starbucks! This place is definitely not cookie cutter… I got the Pumpkin Spice Latte with Oat Milk and a veggie breakfast burrito with the hot red salsa. That salsa was a great level of heat for me — who eats lava according to my family, — and the burrito was a steal! It was HUGE … and only $8. The weather was amazing, so we ate at one of the picnic tables outside and it really was a great space. Try them if you’ve never been!”
The Fainting Goat
5321 Main Street
Spring Hill, Tennessee
(931) 451-5151
https://www.tfgcco.com/
Hours: Monday through Thursday, 6:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m.
Friday and Saturday, 6:00 a.m. until 9:00 p.m.
Sunday, 7:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m.
