New York Coffee Photo Essay with Kalle Freese

A while back right before the ’13 World Barista Championship, Finland’s national champion, Kalle Freese, visited New York. Naturally, we had to do a coffee crawl to see what the city has to offer. We couldn’t do everything in the short time available, but fresh from Scandinavia, the photos below document the adventure that was had. There was some good coffee, a fair amount of average coffee, and a handful of undrinkable cups. The stand out, considering every place we visited that day, was Everyman Espresso in Soho. Miles above the rest in terms of balance and clarity, they expertly served us two coffees from Counter Culture. Given the rest of the town’s middling performance, it just goes to show how much further there is to progress in terms of quality control, training, and consistency — but that rant is for another post. Check out the pictures below for a peek into a very caffeinated couple of days in the city, and hints at what reviews are coming in future blog posts :)

This busy Stumptown location at the Ace Hotel always has a massive line. I’ve had some delicious, and some mediocre coffee here, but it’s a fun scene and nice looking spot.

Sausage! Calamari!

I’ve had some great coffee at Gasoline Alley, above, but unfortunately it wasn’t the best when we stopped in.

Sadly mediocre Cup of Excellence coffee at Gimme. Tasted unevenly extracted.

The always enjoyable Sweetleaf in Long Island City, with some amazing cocktails. I wish I lived walking distance from this place.

Below are a few shots from a place called Kinfolk Studios in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The space is amazing, and the coffee service tries hard though it could use some fine tuning to reach its potential. Nevertheless I loved the space and enjoyed the service at the bar.

The Wythe Hotel, below, is rumored to have quite good coffee service. But by this point, we were beyond caffeinated and opted instead for the (incredible) Bruery Saison Rue.

The view from the Wythe rooftop bar is colorful…

Tribeca, above.

Kaffe 1668. Solidly average, with very tasty food.

Everyman Espresso, Soho, above. A must-visit, we had two amazing coffees here both roasted by Counter Culture.

That’s it for now, stay tuned for more long-form posts soon :)