In this post I give some background about coffee in Seattle, tell horror stories about New York Coffee, and talk about early explorations about New York City coffeehouses.
I like coffee and for years have enjoyed coffee in Seattle. I made an effort to visit Seattle coffeeshops when I heard they were fun and I talk to the baristas about coffee and sometimes I go to coffee club meetings and talk to other people about coffee, but I am not a coffee authority or too serious about coffee. But I know that I like some kinds of coffee prepared properly and other kinds of coffee and coffee not prepared properly is no fun.
In Seattle I cannot think of any place which serves espresso poorly. I took for granted that all baristas learned a little about coffee and that they would all serve coffee to the best of their ability. Espresso machines are expensive, and one might think that if a coffeehouse owner spent the large sum to buy an espresso machine then that person might take the small amount of time to teach baristas in the establishment to make acceptable espresso.
Now that I am in New York City I live in a neighborhood with a predominantly dominican population and coffee seems not to be part of this culture, which is fine, so there are not coffeehouses in this neighborhood. But I expected when I found a commercial block on the edge of most residential neighborhoods, or when I went anywhere into the city, then I would find coffeehouses serving coffee thoughtfully. The last US cities I visited – San Francisco, Portland, and Vancouver – all have plenty of coffee options so I thought it would be the same anywhere, and especially in New York City. I further imagined that since rents were high, and since people had small apartments, they might want to get out of their apartments and hang out with their laptops drinking coffee in a coffeehouse.
The first experience I had was walking into some nice-looking corporate chain coffeehouse. There were pictures of coffee on the wall and the place was quite large and they sold nothing but coffee, tea, and pastries. It was obvious that corporate funding had decorated the place to corporate standards and every comfort which can be put into a soulless space was available there. Normally I like to patronize individually owned coffeehouses, but I was desperate and the place seemed like it was designed to deliver minimal competency. There were two espresso machines and the staff was hired to look and act friendly. I ordered an espresso and the barista said, “What size?” I said a double and we were both confused. The barista pointed at some bucket sized cups and said that I should choose one, and I said that I just wanted shots and asked if they had an appropriate cup. They did not, and wanted to give me espresso in a large cup, which of course would have made the drink cold to quickly and vaporized too much of the flavor with the increased surface area. They really wanted me to have an Americano, which for some reason must be what they call espresso.
I went to this place in the East Village called Café Pick Me Up. I ordered a doppio and finally, the barista said, “Okay, that’s a double espresso.” I was so happy! I pay for the coffee, and then he pours a tea for a friend who was with me. I was excited for my coffee, and then he grabs this little pitcher which in a normal coffeehouse would be full of cream. He puts a ceramic espresso cup on the counter in front of me and starts pouring “espresso” into it from the pitcher, and as he is pouring he counts off, “Single… double.” Prior to this I had other experiences which I am not mentioning and if I had not consistently been treated bizarrely before I would have thought that this was a joke. I drank it all so that I could better understand what it is like to live in New York City, and I am sure that was the oldest espresso I have ever had.
There are a lot of lame coffeehouses in NYC which can make okay espresso. Also many coffeehouses have no wifi so it is inconvenient for me to visit them if I cannot also plan to stay a while and do some computer chores. With the rent costing what it does here I wonder why so many people would pay to open a business then do nothing to make the interior welcoming or have character. Espresso does not taste as good when one drinks it in a room with plain walls at a plain table with a boring coffee bar.
I am making a list of good coffeehouses in NYC and sharing information about them. Here are some places which I have enjoyed.
- Kaffe 1668 – great coffee and great atmosphere
- The Roasting Plant – great coffee prepared by Javabot
- Indian Road Cafe – the closest place to my home, live music, special section in the cafe for coffee drinkers with laptops
- Everyman Espresso – great coffee, needs redecorating
- Porto Rico Importing Co. – I am not sure what management is thinking at this place. They have many types of coffee and do roasting but they have no place to sit and enjoy espresso. This place is fun to visit because of all the coffeebeans lying around.