Two Years!!! /  by amy weiland

It’s officially feeling like fall! Here at Constellation, that means birthday season! On October 16th, we celebrated the official two year mark. I was completely overwhelmed with gratitude. This month has been so busy that I hardly had time to think about what day it was, until one of our regulars reminded me. Between the Death Café, Feminist Zine Fair, Run Forever LP Release Party, and our anniversary I’ve been reminded again and again how lucky I am to be a part of such an exciting, interesting, caring, and fun community. Glad you all found us and glad we can continue to serve you! Cheers to many more!

For drinks this month, we have some exciting seasonal specials. The maple spice latte returns with two shots of espresso, steamed milk, local maple syrup & a freshly ground spice topping. In addition, Ceremony has unveiled the newest lineup of Asymmetries Espresso. This series is a great way to experience the blending process, as the featured espresso blend changes proportion every three weeks. The first blend is 80% Washed Process Ethiopia Beriti – a refreshing and balanced coffee with notes of blackberry, lime & cocoa, and 20% Natural Process Ethiopia Wazzala – a fruit forward lemon meringue flavor bomb. It is an absolutely lovely shot of espresso, and we are offering it as a stand-alone shot or in a flight with a chunk of local honey comb from Bedillion Farms and some edible Calendula from Braddock Farm.

We have some wonderful things in the works for the holiday season, so stay tuned for plenty of fun events and great new offerings. See you soon!!

Back to school! /  by amy weiland

On Monday, September 7th we will be open limited hours, 8am to 3pm. Be sure to swing by and pick up some bottled cold brew for your Labor Day celebration!

Thursday, September 24th marks the return of Work Nights at the Lawrenceville branch of the Carnegie Library. Swing by after 6pm for tasty coffee, delicious salted caramel blondies, and the chance to spend some time co-working with the community!

Constellation was honored to have the chance to showcase the work of our amazing bakers, Threefifty. On Saturday, August 29th the ladies in charge were here making delicious egg and biscuit sandwiches and dishing out gluten-free pies. The event was such a hit they will be back at the end of September to do it again. Keep your eyes on our facebook and instagram for updates closer to the event.

October is shaping up to be another wild month, with the shop's two year anniversary, Pittsburgh specialty coffee week, and some other fun events in the works. Thanks for all your support of the shop, looking forward to a lovely fall!

Memorial Day Hours /  by amy weiland

Thank you, as always, for your continued support of Constellation. The shop wouldn't be nearly as fun if it weren't for our awesome customers!

May has been a very busy month, in addition to having a successful Pop-Up event with Gold Dust Floral and The Vandal, we enjoyed a visit from our friends at Ceremony Coffee Roasters. It's always a treat to get to pick the brain of coffee professionals, and in this case, Ronnie Haas, 2015 North East Brewer's Cup champion, and Michael Harwood, (barista champ extraordinaire) had quite a lot to share! We spent the afternoon setting up a new grinder and working on dialing in our recipes for drip, new pour-over options, and new espresso techniques. Swing by for a coffee and we will be happy to chat about our awesome new set up. Cheers!

We will be closed Sunday, May 24th and Monday, May 25th for a holiday weekend. Thank you!

 

April 2015 Events /  by amy weiland

The seasons are starting to turn toward Spring, which means a lot of fun things happening at Constellation! Not only is our iced coffee service back in full swing, our friends are out and about showing off their winter projects. On Thursday, April 2nd we are providing coffee and snacks for Work.Nights. at the Lawrenceville Library. Last month's was a success and we're looking forward to getting things done again in April!

On Saturday, April 11, we are showing the work of local weaving talent Mary Acklin. Acklin creates wall hangings with beautifully woven colors and texture. The show will be on view with items for sale through May 2nd.

For one day on April 15th, Maggie Negrette returns with her Apothecary of Esoteric Panacea, an ongoing interactive exhibit. The Apothecary was shown here last year and community members were welcome to contribute either a problem or solution to any ailment, whether physical, emotional, social, or spiritual, and house it in a prescription bottle or make a new vessel to be filled with solutions. Join us again to see if this traveling exhibit has found new solutions to your problem or new problems for you to solve!

 On April 18th, we will be hosting a breakfast pop-up with Emily Slagel and Joey Hilty to welcome their new restaurant, The Vandal. We can't wait for them to open their doors at their new Butler Street location, so we're having them sling some healthy and tasty foods along with drinks catered to their menu. Stay tuned to their twitter @thevandalpgh and our social media for more updates & finished menu as the event gets closer.

Additionally, we are going to do a test run of something customers have been asking for a while: Sunday hours. It wasn't quite feasible until now, but we're ready to give it a try. Drop in on Sunday April 19th from 9am to 2pm and let us know what you think.

Cheers! See you soon!

March Events /  by amy weiland

We are pleased to be participating in a number of community events this month. Please join us on Thursday, March 6th for an evening event at the Lawrenceville branch of the Carnegie Library. Work.Nights. is a collaborative event aimed to create a networking and co-working space for entrepreneurs, folks working in the tech industry, and people looking for a break from the work-from-home grind. Check out the event details here. This recurring event will also be held on the first Thursday of April and May.

On Friday, March 7th, we are happy to be a drop in spot for BikePGH's bike-to-work day. Tons of folks are out in the rain, snow, sleet, and hail, and we want to thank you for your commitment to a more sustainable lifestyle and making Pittsburgh safer for cyclists year round. From 7am to 9am we will be serving free coffee and hot cocoa to cyclists as well as $2 discounts on all espresso beverages. Be safe and warm!

If you have interest in starting a small business, finding out more about the Kiva Zip program, or chatting with members of the Lawrenceville Corporation swing by on March 12th from 9-11am for Office Hours with representatives from both organizations. Visit the Lawrenceville, Pittsburgh facebook page for more information.

Thank you and we hope to see you soon!

Holiday hours & Kiva fundraising /  by amy weiland

Here at Constellation, we have been busy brainstorming for how to make the next year even more fun - stay tuned for more great drink specials, some changes to the seating plans in the cafe, and also some improvements designed to make your experience grabbing a drink even quicker. If you're interested in making a contribution, be sure to visit our Kiva page.

We are wishing you a happy and healthy holiday season! We will be open from 7am to 6pm on Wednesday the 26th, closed Thursday the 27th, and open 9am to 4pm on Friday the 28th.

In December, we will be open from 7am to 2pm on Wednesday, the 24th, closed December 25th through the 1st. After January, we will return to our regular 7am to 6pm M-F and 8am to 4pm Saturday hours.

Thank you again for all your support, see you soon!

 

Pittsburgh specialty coffee week /  by amy weiland

Constellation is happy to be participating in Pittsburgh's first specialty coffee week, October 13th-18th. Stop by the shop to pick up a card that can be utilized at 21st Street Coffee & Tea, Caffe D'Amore, Commonplace Coffee Co., Orbis Caffe, Espresso A Mano & Tazza D'oro for discounts and check out www.pghcoffeeweek.com for updates on events!

In addition to all the great coffee week news, we are excited to announce that it is our one year anniversary on October 15th! Constellation will be serving espresso cocktails and light snacks during a 4-6pm happy hour to celebrate. We hope you have a chance to stop in, we would love to say thank you for being so supportive during our first year of business.

The upcoming year holds a lot of exciting opportunities that just wouldn't exist without the wonderful, encouraging community here in Pittsburgh - we just can't thank you enough!

Cheers & see you soon!

July 4th Weekend /  by amy weiland

Constellation will be open for Friday, July 4th from 8am to 2:30pm, and Saturday, July 5th from 8am to 6pm. Make sure to drop by Saturday to check out the new art by Jacki Fitzpatrick!

See you soon, have a safe and fun holiday weekend!