The Artistic Bean — Restaurant in Pigeon Forge

I do not write reviews very often at all and when I do it is because of a really bad experience that I deem worthy of taking the time to write about or because of a really good experience or someone going above and beyond. That said, I am writing to acknowledge my great enjoyment from the coffee roasted at the Artistic Bean and also to the top notch customer service from the owner Mike. In short, my wife surprised me with this coffee as a fathers day gift 2 years ago and it immediately became my favorite drip coffee to drink (the Colombian espresso blend particularly). Just a couple of weeks ago I had ordered an assortment of the K-cup varieties offered but due to a glitch of some sort when they received my order it only showed them 1 of the 4 flavor options I had selected. So after I opened my package and seen only the Colombian blend I chose to reach out and just asked if there was an error on my end or if I misunderstood the particular directions upon checkout with my order. The owner, Mike, reached out to me apologizing for the mistake and let me know they were trying to fix the issue and that he would be roasting fresh beans that week and would send me the other blends I had requested. He was a man of his word and just a few days later I received the other 3 blends that were missing on my original order. I would have continued to drink this coffee with future purchases had he not sent the other pods, or even if he didn't respond to my email, but with top notch coffee and a top notch customer service base to match it I will most definitely continue to enjoy my favorite coffee and encourage others to give them a try. I look forward to an in person visit on our next getaway to Pigeon Forge or maybe the new upcoming location I seen posted about in Maryville!! Thanks for the great coffee and great customer...

Ok, here’s the story. I tried their coffee in the kiosk in the mall. I was mildly entertained at the flavors provided, but knew through the attitude of the barista that they had more to offer. Her passion for the product and business was obviously louder than the drip coffee she was serving there.

Fast forward to this weekend—we stopped in and got a couple of lattes. Mine-a breve latte, the wife, decaf soy latte.

The experience:

The barista was in her element, digested what I said, no mistakes, and without delay.

The coffee: stellar. Ridiculously fresh. All over the area we’ll try a spot, and get shots pulled from a cold espresso machine, coffee with less flavor than a spoon of sugar blah blah.

We got vibrant cups. The shots we got from here were pulled well, and hot. The flavor profiles took us to pleasant, unexpected places, and left us happy, but with empty cups.

I highly recommend this spot if you desire excellent coffee, presented in a proper way for consuming with an expectation for a journey.

Finally, a goto spot for this family when we want a great cup outside of our home.

Thank you all for opening this shop in 2020, thank you for passionately pursuing quality. I know it’s hard work, but this kind of work, I hope, has a wild reward for you as...

I have tried The Artistic Bean a couple of times now. If I was basing it off my first visit i would have probably given it a 3 star rating based on the fact the espresso had a sour back end. If I was basing the rating just on customer service, I would give it 5 stars without hesitation. As I was waiting for my coffee I had already decided to do that. However, the one star fell off when they filled my cup from the coffee as it brewed instead of waiting for it to finish brewing. (For those reading this and unaware of why that matters, when the coffee first starts brewing you will have a stronger coffee because the grounds are fresh and the water is extracting more of the coffee. As it brews, the coffee coming from the filter is weaker because a lot of the flavor has already been pulled. However, when is all in the pot, pulled for the whole cycle, it makes the perfect ratio. If you take the coffee when it first starts brewing out, what's in the cup is stronger, but what's left to go in the pot is weaker, affecting the taste for the others getting cups from the pot. The opposite happens when you pull later in the brewing cycle, leaving weak coffee in the cup and strong in the pot.) However, friendly staff and great single...