My wife and I had to meet with her agent last week. Because of her agent’s traveling schedule we agreed to meet in a small town not far from where we live. While there we needed to find a place to sit and chat for an hour or two. We asked a local if there were any coffee bars around and were pointed to a “cafe” just down the road. As we drove up it was evident this was a place that some in the coffee industry would never have gone. Myself included.
It was obviously an old restaurant/drive thru that suggested girls on roller skates were common a few decades ago. The color scheme was bright and cheery, but the outside signage left much to be desired.
I’m sure many of you can relate to the judgements we coffee snobs make when walking in the front door of anyplace supposing to serve coffee. The smells, the layout, the items on the menu and many other details speak to us about what we are about to experience.
The first thing that spoke were 4 pump pots on the self serve counter with Costa Rican, House Espresso, Decaf and Hazelnut on the tags. Crap. They think espresso is a brewed coffee and the airpots have been here how long? The second thing to murmur was the menu board. Catchy names like “Bacon and eggs”, “Breakfast special”, and “Tuna fish sandwich” were not any drinks I’d seen at the USBC.
The next thing I noticed was an older style espresso machine against the back counter, the business end facing me. I of course judged everything about the place and surmised there was no way in this place I’d waste my hard earned $1.35 for an espresso. So I ordered a brewed coffee (peer pressure made me do it - I was gonna get a Jones soda).
I was handed a diner mug and directed to the self serve counter with a “One refill only please” sign next to it. I half filled my mug with Costa Rican and topped it off with Espresso (she said Costa Rican was the most popular, but I needed strength and was scared so I blended). I sat down to our meeting and forgot about judging the coffee at that moment.
As I sipped my coffee I was pleasantly surprised. The coffee was fresh, had a nice flavor and body and was brewed at a decent strength (I’m sure my blending was the reason). For a coffee snob to admit enjoyment in such a situation, you know it had to be good.
As our meeting progressed I occasionally glanced at the girl behind the counter. Amongst the other things she was doing I noticed her take time to clean the espresso machine. She wiped down the drain tray, cleaned the group heads and gave the machine a nice polish. I was impressed. She brewed a nice cup of joe, knew how to take care of her equipment and when a customer came in I noticed she was always genuinely pleasant.
As our meeting went on I had my refill. It turned out to be an good meeting and it was bolstered by the fact that I enjoyed a good cup of coffee with the meeting. If I would have had more time I would have tried an espresso just to find out what I would have received. My guess is it would have been good (I really hoped it would have).
I tell this story for a couple of reasons:
- It was fun to be surprised - this wasn’t a place I would have normally visited, but I was surprised by a good cup of coffee served by a friendly face in a clean enjoyable atmosphere.
- It is a good reminder that for every one of us geeks trying to get our espresso machine’s grouphead to be stable to within 1/100th of a degree there are a dozen hard-working-lifetime-savings-invested-just-want-to-make-a-living coffee people.
- And if ever you think it’s only “all about coffee”, think again. If it weren’t for customers spending their 5 bucks daily you and I are rippin’ open one ounce frac packs at the local deli saying, “Yes ma’am” to a not-so-friendly lady signing our checks.
Filed under: Coffee
