coffee

where to get one?

leave your becan at the door.  don't worry, I'll take care of it.

I've given up trying to find good coffee in New York. I don't drink it at home, just the occasional cup when I'm out and about. Starbucks is OK but very bland. There are hundreds of these hip little coffee shops dotted around and they're all very delightful looking - the rustic interior, the huge chalkboard with arty looking menu, the delightful looking pastries, the cute little hipster chick behind the counter, the cool music. But then you taste the coffee and it's no different than the crappy stuff you get for a dollar in the bodegas. It's like they have no idea how to brew it. Which seems like the first thing you'd get right if you were opening a coffee shop. 

sharke
I've given up trying to find good coffee in New York. I don't drink it at home, just the occasional cup when I'm out and about. Starbucks is OK but very bland. There are hundreds of these hip little coffee shops dotted around and they're all very delightful looking - the rustic interior, the huge chalkboard with arty looking menu, the delightful looking pastries, the cute little hipster chick behind the counter, the cool music. But then you taste the coffee and it's no different than the crappy stuff you get for a dollar in the bodegas. It's like they have no idea how to brew it. Which seems like the first thing you'd get right if you were opening a coffee shop. 

I gotta wonder though if this is a case of environmental palate interfering with your impression. When I was in England I could not for the life of me find a drinkable coffee from London to Edinburgh (okay... I may have been able to find one in London if I looked harder but it was really only our entry and exit point so I didn't get to spend as much time exploring as I would have liked). The tea of course was spectacular but the coffee was like dishwater with a bit of coffee bean flavoring. None of the natives seemed to realize how utterly horrible it was.
 
In NYC (Manhattan specifically) most of the java rated between passable (from the deli's or other non coffee related places) to pretty darned good (the actual coffee houses).
 
I however have the Canadian coffee palate which leans towards light to medium roast (not as bitter, fuller body). This gets cultivated by "Timmie's" (Tim Horton's) coffee which anyone with taste usually rejects for better but similarly smooth brew's as they mature. I got spoiled by a little joint in my old hood that specialized in importing high quality beans and were a bean distributor for many of the high end restaurants in the area (which included little Italy). They had a little brew slinging counter where they did all the fancy traditional stuff like espresso, caps, latte's, etc but their straight up joe for the dumb Canucker's was pretty much like Timmie's except with good beans and properly brewed (which makes a HUGE difference of course). Those were listed as "Americano" IIRC and were the drip brew stuff they kept in the thermos dispensers (so as not to burn the coffee with an element which of course ruins it very quickly). Everything else went through the espresso/cappu machine... and cost way more.
 
Tons of other excellent coffee joints around the city too but that really was the best spot. Unfortunately it was a tiny little corner stand with very little seating and is was always CRAMMED. Fortunately they had a walk up window if the weather wasn't too psycho.
 
I also worked at one of the big "premium" coffee chains up here shortly. Kind of like Starbucks except their coffee wasn't bitter and burnt to the point of being undrinkable (SB beans are very high on the roasting scale and they likely do that because it masks the inferior flavor of inferior beans). These guys didn't do that but kind of went in the opposite direction where much of their blends weren't really roasted enough making them lack that bit of bite that let's you know you are indeed drinking coffee. Their darker roasts, aside from some of the occasional African blends, were really just crummy and likely then just masking the flavor of inferior beans they happened to snag on the market for cheap (they were always changing up their blends I think based on the price of beans from various places and acting as if it was being done offer an ever changing "variety" when they were just being cheap). I used to really like some of that chain's coffee until I worked there for a while and then just the smell of the place started nauseating me. I also started getting that "dishwatery" type taste from them which is disgusting. Not sure exactly what causes that but I think it's a combo of using unpurified tapwater mixed with the whatever chemicals they use on the beans to do whatever the frack it is they do to them in those mass scale operations. Funniest thing about that place was I had to study a HUGE manifesto about various beans, brewing styles and other crap so I could somewhat have an "opinion" for the snotty mall rats and suit and tie douches who used to come into the joint. All for minimum wage... and I got fired after the owners realized I was not actually the ethnicity they thought I was (I'm just kind of swarthy due to the frenchiness + aborigine thing... lol).
 
Anyhoo... my point is taste in coffee seems to be very subjective and I think it has a lot to do with where exactly you first started drinking/appreciating coffee. The stuff, for all intents and purposes, is completely vile but it's addictive and pervasive within society so once you get over the taste you grow to appreciate that taste. Dishwatery, bitter to the point of gagging, burnt to a crisp, whatever gets you your fix and gives you that pavlovian response to the ensuing caffeine kick to the dopamine centers is what'll likely taste "good".
 
As much as I love and have loved coffeee the sh*t was quite literally killing me. Massive heart palpitations, anxiety attacks, insatiable dehydration, IBS and other gastrointestinal distress... it was all bad so I had to essentially quit altogether. Now I drink orange pekoe tea for my caffeine fix and inner warmth which is far less brutal. It's weird but I guess the reason coffee causes so many more issues than tea is the harsh acidity.
 
I still crave the sh*t though and on the rare occasions I'm out and about and someone is slinging Joe I'll usually snag a cup... and one cup only. It's like freaking heaven... until about halfway through. Then I remember why I had to quit drinking the stuff in the first place... but I drink the rest anyway and suffer the rest of the day... happily. lol
 
 

It's a killer... especially for hyper spazzes like myself who are already vibrating at high frequencies. Used to drink gallons of the shiz. Bad idea.

Beepster

sharke
I've given up trying to find good coffee in New York. I don't drink it at home, just the occasional cup when I'm out and about. Starbucks is OK but very bland. There are hundreds of these hip little coffee shops dotted around and they're all very delightful looking - the rustic interior, the huge chalkboard with arty looking menu, the delightful looking pastries, the cute little hipster chick behind the counter, the cool music. But then you taste the coffee and it's no different than the crappy stuff you get for a dollar in the bodegas. It's like they have no idea how to brew it. Which seems like the first thing you'd get right if you were opening a coffee shop. 

I gotta wonder though if this is a case of environmental palate interfering with your impression. When I was in England I could not for the life of me find a drinkable coffee from London to Edinburgh (okay... I may have been able to find one in London if I looked harder but it was really only our entry and exit point so I didn't get to spend as much time exploring as I would have liked). The tea of course was spectacular but the coffee was like dishwater with a bit of coffee bean flavoring. None of the natives seemed to realize how utterly horrible it was.
 
In NYC (Manhattan specifically) most of the java rated between passable (from the deli's or other non coffee related places) to pretty darned good (the actual coffee houses).
 
I however have the Canadian coffee palate which leans towards light to medium roast (not as bitter, fuller body). This gets cultivated by "Timmie's" (Tim Horton's) coffee which anyone with taste usually rejects for better but similarly smooth brew's as they mature. I got spoiled by a little joint in my old hood that specialized in importing high quality beans and were a bean distributor for many of the high end restaurants in the area (which included little Italy). They had a little brew slinging counter where they did all the fancy traditional stuff like espresso, caps, latte's, etc but their straight up joe for the dumb Canucker's was pretty much like Timmie's except with good beans and properly brewed (which makes a HUGE difference of course). Those were listed as "Americano" IIRC and were the drip brew stuff they kept in the thermos dispensers (so as not to burn the coffee with an element which of course ruins it very quickly). Everything else went through the espresso/cappu machine... and cost way more.
 
Tons of other excellent coffee joints around the city too but that really was the best spot. Unfortunately it was a tiny little corner stand with very little seating and is was always CRAMMED. Fortunately they had a walk up window if the weather wasn't too psycho.
 
I also worked at one of the big "premium" coffee chains up here shortly. Kind of like Starbucks except their coffee wasn't bitter and burnt to the point of being undrinkable (SB beans are very high on the roasting scale and they likely do that because it masks the inferior flavor of inferior beans). These guys didn't do that but kind of went in the opposite direction where much of their blends weren't really roasted enough making them lack that bit of bite that let's you know you are indeed drinking coffee. Their darker roasts, aside from some of the occasional African blends, were really just crummy and likely then just masking the flavor of inferior beans they happened to snag on the market for cheap (they were always changing up their blends I think based on the price of beans from various places and acting as if it was being done offer an ever changing "variety" when they were just being cheap). I used to really like some of that chain's coffee until I worked there for a while and then just the smell of the place started nauseating me. I also started getting that "dishwatery" type taste from them which is disgusting. Not sure exactly what causes that but I think it's a combo of using unpurified tapwater mixed with the whatever chemicals they use on the beans to do whatever the frack it is they do to them in those mass scale operations. Funniest thing about that place was I had to study a HUGE manifesto about various beans, brewing styles and other crap so I could somewhat have an "opinion" for the snotty mall rats and suit and tie douches who used to come into the joint. All for minimum wage... and I got fired after the owners realized I was not actually the ethnicity they thought I was (I'm just kind of swarthy due to the frenchiness + aborigine thing... lol).
 
Anyhoo... my point is taste in coffee seems to be very subjective and I think it has a lot to do with where exactly you first started drinking/appreciating coffee. The stuff, for all intents and purposes, is completely vile but it's addictive and pervasive within society so once you get over the taste you grow to appreciate that taste. Dishwatery, bitter to the point of gagging, burnt to a crisp, whatever gets you your fix and gives you that pavlovian response to the ensuing caffeine kick to the dopamine centers is what'll likely taste "good".
 
As much as I love and have loved coffeee the sh*t was quite literally killing me. Massive heart palpitations, anxiety attacks, insatiable dehydration, IBS and other gastrointestinal distress... it was all bad so I had to essentially quit altogether. Now I drink orange pekoe tea for my caffeine fix and inner warmth which is far less brutal. It's weird but I guess the reason coffee causes so many more issues than tea is the harsh acidity.
 
I still crave the sh*t though and on the rare occasions I'm out and about and someone is slinging Joe I'll usually snag a cup... and one cup only. It's like freaking heaven... until about halfway through. Then I remember why I had to quit drinking the stuff in the first place... but I drink the rest anyway and suffer the rest of the day... happily. lol
 
 

Hey beeps! I was just thinking - yeh yeh I know. Seriously I was thinking


You can't write a small post can you? Lol

I'd love to see a side by side vid of Danny and Beeps composing a post.

One could make that assumption upon first glance but there are subtle differences. Such as, Danny actually knows what he's talking about. ;-)

Hey Beep I like the long posts...
 
I was a coffee addict...still am. I drink it mostly for the taste now and not as a pick me up since it doesn't have that effect on my any more....I suppose I could buy pure caffiene on ebay in powder form. One scoop is like 20 cups of coffee....I AM kidding. That is a potentially lethal situation...especially for someone who hasn't built up a tolerance to caffiene.