On Demand
Coffeetown
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
While New York is undoubtedly part of the culinary vanguard, it's only recently that top-notch coffee has come to the city. Even so, many New Yorkers will never relinquish their bodega brew. Liz Clayton, coffee blogger at Twitchy.org, recently wrote about the history of NYC coffee shops in Edible Manhattan. She assesses the state of brew culture in New York City.
What's your favorite cup of Joe? Are you still loyal to your bodega brew or do you savor every sip? Why is New York behind other cities when it comes to coffee? Comment below!- About the Brian Lehrer Show »
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Ithink WE've been conned into doing arabica beans alone. recently had some Filipino Coffee which blended Robusto & arabica. Robusto has twice as much caffiene. good jump starter, need to drink less.
Bring back robustos.
Remember the old commercial with the tag line: "motor oil is motor oil." I love ANY cup of coffee that's less than a buck, and eschew Starbuck's $3, $4, or $5+ cup of mud that people carry around like cool, hip badges of honor.
A shout out to Yummy Coffee, which roasts and sells great coffee and donates all profits to autism organizations.
Other great coffee in and around NYC: Gorilla, Stumptown, Coffee Labs, and Irving Farms. Stop getting Starbucks people!
To all coffee crazed people - any cola drink from a fountain (not from a can or bottle) will produce the same effect. Coke or Pepsi with breakfast is amazing. Why aren't there any IHOPS, Denny's, or other breakfast-related restaurant chains invading Manhattan?
Fairway has some great fresh roasted beans at affordable prices. 4.99 a pound for the french roast @ red hook, superb quality as well, better than any bean I've bought from $tarbucks.
ethiopian blends are my favorite!
i work on the west side and like Joe's on Waverly, Cafe Angelique on Bleeker and Grounded on Jane.
Personally - couldn't be more excited that serious coffee is finally hitting the city in full force! So excited, in fact, that I went ahead and created a website dedicated exclusively to the burgeoning NYC Coffee scene - http://nycmugged.com - check it out!
I like Southside in my neighborhood, near Greenwood Cemetery.
I love Oren's if I'm out, and I buy Richard's Rockin Roast from Forager's in Dumbo (Brooklyn) to make at home. Both are strong, aromatic, and really get me going.
My fav cup is from Cafe Grumpy, Abraco or Joe and the Art of Coffee. All great picks. For home-brews, it's hard to beat Zabar's for value and consistency.
Oh, and my favorites are
1) Abraço
2) La Colombe Torrefaction
3) 9th Street Espresso
- absolutely can't go wrong with any of these
Orens
http://www.orensdailyroast.com/
Cafe Regular on 11th Street in Park Slope has the best coffee in New York, hands down and also the cheapest in the neighborhood which says a lot.
Cup And Saucer on Canal and Eldridge. Classic coffee shop, lovely owners and staff, cool space.... They are unfortunately moving because of a lease issue....worth visiting before it's too late.
Ice coffee with cream is great.
Starbux sux!
(I like Dunken Donuts, coffee in Italy and street cart coffee.)
Gorilla coffee is by far the best coffee I've ever had. They make amazing coffee drinks, the Latte's are perfect.
Try Abraco (7th between 1st and 2nd) if you want life-changing coffee. Also, any shop using Stumptown as a roaster will always be awesome. To be fair, I definitely respect cart/bodega coffee for what it is (but no sugar please).
Stop with the Starbucks, please. It's burnt and terrible, with a ridiculous price tag.
NYC has awful coffee: it is too weak and it tends to be brewed with the most acidic coffee beans, originating from Colombia. (No offense to that wonderful country.) I read an article in the NY Times many years ago about why there is no good espresso in NY; it proffered that the problem is in the water. The same water that makes bagels and pizza in NY so good makes coffee so bad.
Andrea, what are you drinking? ;)
What better coffee culture is there than Italy? There it is mostly we tourists who "linger" over coffee - the Italians drink coffee standing up, then are on their way.
NYC has so many great coffee alternatives - some of them affordable. None are from Seattle.
For coffee out I invite you all visit "Bonjour Montclair" (Montclair, NJ). For beans at home, I really like Starbucks [!] espresso roast, both caf and de-caf.
The Nespresso brand of espresso, lungo coffees are, to us, the best tasting. We became "addicted" to drinking espresso while on holiday in Rome and Florence and then, as a food writer, I "discovered" Nespresso. In my opinion, it is the best espresso machine and coffee on the market.
There is a Nespresso Cafe on Madison Avenue & 66 - 67th Streets and there is one located in the SoHo Bloomingdale's store on lower Broadway.
I have written an article about the style of Nespresso machine and coffee that we enjoy on my website at www.cookwithaloha.com at the "kitchenware products" link under "Food Wares".
NYers are very ignorant about coffee. They are unaware that it tastes better strong. They also know nothing about the different roasts - they call Starbucks "burned". Oy.
I go to Starbucks ONLY because it's consistently OK. Not dishwater.
If only diners would get decent STRONG coffee, I'd eat breakfast out. As it is, I stay home.
I buy my beans usually at Porto Rico Coffee in the Village, or sometimes Zabar's or Fairway.
Starbucks brews terrible coffee and I'm amazed at its popularity. They use inferior beans and roast them to death. They may say they're serving such and such a blend on a given day, but I can't taste the difference.
at home i drink Swedish drip coffee. best coffee in Brooklyn is Cafe Regular where Martin (from Ireland) serves up fantastic cappuccinos in real cups at reasonable prices and the cafe has great atmosphere.
Tinna
I spent a few months in Europe last year, and after coffee-drinking my way across Albania, Croatia, Italy, France, and Spain, I was loathe to come back to the pungent, muddy swill that passes for coffee in this city, where the battle between the "West Coast" wannabes in line at overpriced Starbucks and the last-resort, hold-your-nose and gulp it down product of Dunkin' Donuts is nothing but a losing one for all concerned. I just got an espresso machine at home, and I can now prepare fresh and delicious European style coffee at home for less money, and it's much better. I also make my own Vietnamese coffee, and I sometimes even partake of Greek/Turkish/Arabic style java. But the bodega brew? Good a pinch, maybe, especially if you're a penny-pincher, but what utter, tasteless trash!
I absolutely love Colombian coffee for it's rich smooth flavor. I dislike French Roast, too burnt and leaves a bad aftertaste in my mouth. My wife and I were arguing just 2 days ago about what French Vanilla coffee actually is, is French Vanilla coffee just French Roast coffee with Vanilla flavoring?
Cafe con leche, hands down!
Hands down, the best is Beaner Bar!!!
I think NYers use coffee differently than other US city residents. In NY, coffee is really used as a drug - it helps us keep up with the fast pace that only NY has. So, for many people coffee is a means to an end, and not an end in itself.
Folks in Seattle and Portland have much more time to linger and hang out. Coffee becomes a social event, not a drug.
That's why folks here drink Bodega coffee and are not as tied to boutique coffees.
I drink only good coffee - can't stomach the bodega stuff. Uptown, you can still get awesome espressos or cafe con leche's for $1. That's one of the reasons why I love living uptown. But my daily brew is usually espresso roasted organic shade grown fair-trade coffee made in my 15-bar pressure espresso maker at home. After visiting plantations in Latin America, I stick to the good stuff grown under organic conditions where I know the growers are fairly compensated for their efforts.
Iced coffee is a fun drink to get out with friends.
Yum!
McDonalds coffee isn't bad. But if you want GOOD coffee -- France or Italy.
Andrea: must run to WQXR-- The "ya' knows" have done me in.
Porto Rico still has the best selection of coffee by the pound, much cheaper than you'll find in any cafe. But I can't get enough of 9th st. espresso!
Macchiato on 44th between Lex and 3rd Ave....awesome!
Coffee is the single most important part of my morning-- after waking up! I used to make a stop at our local small coffee roaster -- Gorilla Coffee in Park Slope no matter how late I was-- the day isn't the same without that ahhhh.. It made me obsessed with the perfect roast.. in this recession, i decided to buy my own serious espresso machine ($1200 not including the grinder which is probably the most important part of the process)-- I figured this would be cheaper over the year than my expensive $6/day coffee habit.. and there is something in grinding a fresh espresso roast every morning.. hot or cold, there is nothing like it... it is part of my morning ritual.. grinding with my 8 month old in his bjorn .. watching the whole process!
Just bought a Capresso Burr Grinder (Model #558) for around $50. Now I grind my coffee immediately before brewing and it's amazing. I highly recommend the small investment. It should save you tons of money (and bad coffee experiences) over the long run!
I have two spots, which I think by far have the best coffee in the city:
Gorilla Coffee
and
South Side
Both in Brooklyn with a great atmosphere!
By the way it's eSpresso NOT eXpresso!! This is one mistake often made by American coffee drinkers that drives me nutz!!! And It must be said that a good cup of espresso is very hard to find in NYC. Usually it just tastes like burnt sludge.
Stu-
There is an IHOP in Harlem at 135th and Adam Clayton Powell if you feel the need. Very bad coffee, but I bet the coke is decent.
Ruth, I know the difference between "strong" and "burnt." Starbucks is definitely the latter.
9 th street espresso on 9th btwn c and d is ok as is gimme coffee on mott btwn prince and spring...
I can't believe that caller just unfavorably compared NY's coffee house scene to that of Raleigh, NC! Are you kidding? I've been to Raleigh many times; I didn't know they even had coffee shops down there at all!
The orange Mud Truck at Astor Place pulls one of the best espressos in town.
Also: Good to see that, as Cooper Union prepares to "pull down" the old academic building at Astor Place, the redundant Starbucks attached to that building -- the Starbucks on the other side of "the cube" already was there, before a second one was added -- has been shuttered.
the edible Manhattan idea of good food seems to jibe pretty closely to ideas of eminent gentrification.
the guest said something to the effect that NY'ers aren't so base as to worry about price when it comes to procuring a "good" cup of coffee...Based on that observation i do not know what city she is living in, but i'm sure as hell glad its not mine.
collect your cardboard sleeves and reusing your cups, yuppies.
I admit that being raised in a Greek house and having spent too much time in Greek coffee houses in Astoria, I have been spared of too much bad coffee out there.
I resent Starbuck's and Peet's for trying to pass off really low brow brew at a premium.
Any place in Astoria is pretty reliable for really good coffee: take N/W Athens Cafe [30th Ave./32nd Str] & Omonia Cafe [B'way/ 33rd Str.]
B/D/Q: 7th Ave/Park Slope, Blyn.'s: Tea Lounge, and Ozzy's but there are 2 others that are really good. Unfortunately I don't remember their names because I don't live there.
In Manh.: Ray's on Kenmare Str. [in NoLita]
OSLO ! ! , roebling and north 4th in williamsburg. hands down the best coffee around, they roast their own beans apparently too. iced latte is very very good.
Oren's Daily Roast has been roasting the finest Arabica coffee beans in New York since 1986. It's an insult to New Yorkers to suggest that our coffee culture needs rescuing. Oren has been selling only the best to New Yorkers for 24 years and has received many industry honors including SCAA Roaster of the Year. Stumptown et al might be fresh faces, but Oren's has been roasting fine coffee purchased directly from farmers for years.
I agree with Liz that we can't criticize what other people like to drink. However, if you prefer bodega coffee (TK CHEAP COFFEE) and care about food politics, you may consider that you get what you pay for. Most "third wave" coffee shops in the city (Grumpy, Abraco, Marlow & Sons, Southside, Gimme, Root Hill, Variety, etc. etc.), besides caring passionately about quality, use coffee from roasters that guarantee coffee farmers more $$ per pound than Fair Trade minimums require. Since you can never buy coffee in NYC that's made locally, my goal is to buy coffee that's sustainable in other ways--so that I can be sure that the farmers in far-away lands are getting paid more than fair wages.
And to Mrs. Bernstein--it's great when you don't have to add sugar to hide a coffee's bitterness. A properly roasted fresh coffee bean should not taste nasty! Coffee from these beans is actually naturally sweet.
I am in love with Gimme Coffee. Served in Brooklyn @ Gimme! on Lorimer & Boneshakers on Kingsland Ave. The iced americanos are consistintly perfect, rich and bold with out that bitterness you get from most iced coffees. so good, i will not go any where else.
I apologise for item #46. I thought my comment wasn't being processed . It turns out my computer is slow so I double clicked by accident.
Since I'm here a Shout out to ESPRESSO 77 in Jackson Heights--WHOO HOO [77th /37th Ave]
Mira Cali on 46th street of of Queens Blvd. in Sunnyside, Queens is the place for a cafe con leche con uno a sucre, por favor--if you wish a micro vacation during the work day.
Latin musica plays on the speakers and the smiles of the two prettiest barista's in Queens meet you as you walk into the store. The baristas greet you by name and take the time to teach you Spanish.
But, it's their coffee that is the focus. One sip and I am Cartegena, Columbia, listening to the waves roll of the ocean and inhaling the deep scents of the olive skinned beauties walking the narrow sidewalks. The flavor reminds me of crushed almonds grown in the red clay highlands.The sugar is prevelant, but not overpowering.
My wife used to think I was crazy about raving how the cafe con leche at Mira Cali was the highpoint of my day. But, then--she had a cup and finally we have something in common besides our leaking refrigerator.
All this Brooklyn testimony - now one from Queens: A shout out for Espresso 77 in Jackson Heights! Great coffee, fresh baked goods from a small Astoria bakery and great atmosphere. It's our own version of the trendy shops in Park Slope. Grateful that they moved out here and are bringing great coffee and a gathering place to the hood.
Now that I've read all the comments I wanted to let Ruth and Jackie (and any one else out there who still believes that NYC has bad, weak coffee) know that there are TONS of great, independent coffee shops in NYC today. I was just in Europe and can tell you that any one of these NYC cafes make better coffee than the average Slovenian or London cafe. (Though the coffee scene in London is changing rapidly, too) [Full disclosure: I write about coffee.] See here for a list of cafes in the city that offer free tastings (Ruth, they aren't diners, they have better baristas than diners could ever hope to have:
http://www.hannahmwallace.typepad.com/hannahs_clips/2009/05/coffee-culture-in-nyc.html
NYC is behind other cities because it is lacking the ambiance.. for example if you seat down in a coffee shop in Portland oregon, you will have plenty of space to seat relax. seats are comfortable and workers are happy to be there in their coffee shops.
coffee shops are not over crowed with people wanting to go out out of it and rushing.
I love NYC and I feel bad that we cannot have a great coffe shop.
Anyone who says NYC is behind other locales on coffee must be a newbie. Chock Full O Nuts was a caffeine junky's fix long before Starbucks. Oh, that heavenly coffee! And date nut bread with cream cheese, more heaven. Chox was even more ubiquitous than Starbucks is today. And it was real coffee, not supersweetened, hyperfatted melted ice cream. My recipe: Fairway espresso ground for espresso but measured and brewed like coffee: one scoop of coffee per cup.
Steve from Staten Island where is Mud coffee 5$ a small is actually 1$ and quite good . stop hating and give it a try.
xo
I agree that NY has been behind the curve of good coffee until recently. I was surprised when I traveled to Australia at how good the coffee was almost everywhere I had it, especially in Melbourne. Coffee here in NYC is very uneven. You can go to the newer specialty places like Joe or Grumpy and get excellent brew, but then order a simple espresso in even some of the better italian restaurants and get something undrinkable. Sure water has something to do with it, but I think it has much more to do with the beans. I think most places don't handle them like they should. They should be roasted no more than a week ago, and should be ground right before making the coffee. Beans that have been sitting around for months and were ground yesterday make lousy coffee.
Prospect Perk Cafe, corner of Sterling PL @ Flatbush ave In Brooklyn is serving Fairly Traded Organic coffee from Equal Exchange. By far the best taste in the neighborhood!
For more info check out www.prospectperkcafe.com
Cafe latte at the French bakery chain, Le Pain Quotidien, is worth seeking out. Its super strong and hot. You can even ask for it minus the foam. I usually go to the one on Seventh Avenue by 18th St. (The person preparing the coffee makes a difference.) They do sell bags of their coffee beans, too.
Nearly all Cuban, Dominican, Puerto Rican eateries serve great coffee too.
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