A Look Back: Los Angeles Coffee Culture (Part 1)
It was around 2006 when I discovered the world of coffee that existed beyond diner breakfasts, Starbucks’ caramel macchiatos, and indie cafes that put more effort into their poetry nights than their coffee prep. It all started with a blog post I’d read about the Aeropress. That review led to a purchase, which spiraled into...
Budin Coffee – Greenpoint goes Nordic
Last weekend I made the trek to Greenpoint to check out Budin, a new Nordic-themed cafe bringing several of Sweden and Norway’s finest roasters’ wares to these shores. There are two menus here – one labeled “Specialty Coffee” that has the likes of Tim Wendelboe, Koppi Coffee, and Drop Coffee. You pay Scandinavian prices for these imported roasts,...
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...
Box Kite Coffee
Box Kite Coffee has finally opened up their permanent East Village location after a soft-launch pop-up at Maslow 6 wine bar in Tribeca earlier last year. The bar is run by Cora Lambert and Erik Becker of RBC NY fame, that renowned multi-roaster cafe that closed in 2012. They build on that concept at Box Kite,...
Crema – Denver, Colorado
It seems like I keep hearing about how awesome Colorado is. People moving there. Others visiting and coming back with stories of craft beer flowing like water, delicious food, and gorgeous country. So when I recently had a business trip that took me to Denver, hyped was an understatement – I was looking forward to...
Four Midtown Manhattan Cafes You Should Be Visiting
I recently met up with Steve Rhinehart (the guy behind the Counter Talk blog) to explore a few cafes that have popped up this year in Midtown Manhattan, an area that used to be a coffee dead-zone. There’s still a lot of room for improvement as these cafes become more established, but things are looking...
Toby’s Estate’s new Flat Iron cafe, with Strand Books at Club Monaco
Toby’s Estate has opened its first location in Manhattan in an interesting partnership, together with beloved indie book store, Strand Books, all inside a giant Club Monaco clothing store off 5th avenue that’s lit up brighter than an Apple store. I checked out the cafe on their second day after opening, and was lucky enough...
Intelligentsia Logan Square
Chicago’s Logan Square is now home to one of Intelligentsia’s newest cafes. A low bar with stools sits in the middle of the shop, with sparse white, angular booths at the windows. The back wall is covered with a birds-eye drawing of the neighborhood. The shelves are stocked with magazines. The diner style counter seating...
Bikini Bar – Tribeca, New York
Tribeca’s Bikini Bar is now collaborating with Everyman Espresso, at least until August 31, bringing together coffee and (non-alcoholic) cocktails befitting the mid-century surf & tiki-themed space. “The mission of the pop up, Everyman at BIKINI BAR, is to challenge the public’s conception of what is possible with coffee by pairing coffees with nontraditional ingredients. Another...
Sweetleaf Coffee & Tea, New York
Sweetleaf Coffee & Tea opened in 2008 at their original Long Island City location and have held the mantle as the best cafe in Queens ever since. They’re among my favorite cafes in the city, blending indie character and eccentricity with an uncompromising attention to detail in the pursuit of great coffee. Every espresso shot...
Intelligentsia Coffee, Highline Hotel NYC
Following in the footsteps of Stumptown, which entered the New York market through their swanky cafe at the Ace Hotel, Intelligentsia has just opened their first outpost in the city nestled in the lobby of the High Line Hotel in Chelsea. The space is currently deceptively small, with just a few bars and couches in...
A Roadtrip to Coffee in Reno, Nevada
Reno, Nevada, calls itself the ‘biggest little city in the world,’ so I shouldn’t have been surprised during a recent road trip to find not one, but two specialty coffee roasters had set up shop – Hub Coffee Roasters, and Magpie Coffee Roasters. Better known for its gambling industry, I came to town expecting what...
