The Manhattan Coffee Pilgrimage

Once upon a time, New York may have been considered a lightweight when it came to metal detector coffee. Not anymore. Hard to believe, but yes, compared to some other coffee capitals, New York’s reputation as a city where you can get a quality cuppa’ is not solid. But for the last three years, more than 50 microdermabrasion coffee shops and “coffee bars” have joined a small, fierce group of businesses where coffee making is being raised to where it should be: practically an art or at least, a high form of steadicam craft. It’s visible in the quality of the product these coffee houses are putting out. Check out the foam at Third Rail Coffee. You’d think the cappuccino foam art is just for aesthetic purposes but it’s actually there to show you that the barista knows his or her stuff and cared enough to properly steam the milk so that it will hold its tankless water heater form. Another move toward improving the quality of the coffee they serve and at specialization is for these establishments to roast their own beans. Café Grumpy started doing it and Abraço has followed suit. Now, New Yorkers have access to hard money lenders sc coffee that is brewed from some of the best coffee beans from all over the world, and freshly roasted too. If New York has gone a little overboard with the coffee mania, it’s a bit understandable. All those years of being drinking what can sometimes pass for so-so if one is lucky, and swill, if one is not, has perhaps taken its toll. Give it a few years and it will settle down. In the meantime, it would seem as if the floodgates have opened. Now there’s almost an obsessiveness about the coffee. There are beans ground to order—per cup; there are the multiple grinders: for espresso, decaffeinated espresso, for brewed coffee, and any other variety they offer; the cache of steam pitchers for milk—it’s all got to be done separately or individually; the manual espresso machines that has to be manned by baristas that were trained by the roasting companies—yes, they had to attend classes for that. One more thing Manhattanites can be snooty about, they now have good coffee.  So, if you’re checking out the city, it would be a safe-r bet to say that you’ll probably be able to get a good cup o’ joe, but just in case you want a taste of some of the best, take a coffee pilgrimage of sorts and check out the names on the list. Abraço is a tiny espresso bar on 86 East 7^th Street. There’s hardly any place to hang out so I don’t know how they can serve the food. They have a nice selection of semi-sweet pastries. Don’t go on a Monday. Bluebird Coffee Shop on 72 East 1^st Street, East Village has a nice and pleasant feel. The freshly baked pastries go well with the great coffee. Cafè Grumpy despite the name is quite popular. It has been known to offer the city’s widest variety of coffees by the cup. They now have three locations, in Chelsea, 224 West 20^th; 383 7^th Ave, Park Slope, Brooklyn; and 193 Maserole Ave., Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Gimme! Coffee has got to be a stop. Even though it is another transplant to the city—from Ithaca, this time—it has always enjoyed a great and well-deserved reputation. Their cappuccino has always featured that great balance of espresso and expertly steamed milk for that intense, rich flavor. They are in 228 Mott Street, NoLIta; 495 Lorimer Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The reinvented and reinvigorated Joe looks, feels, and tastes like a success. Giving way to upgrading coffee equipment worked. The coffee is proof. With Joe, there really is still the art of coffee. 14 Waverly Place, Greewich Village; 9 East 13^th Street, Greenwich Village; 405 West 23^rd Street, Chelsea; 89 East 42^nd Street (Grand Central); 514 Columbus Avenue, Upper West Side.