I don’t know what it is about New York coffee, but drinking it is like drinking liquid caramel. There is nothing bitter about the experience (bad coffee is bitter); just sweet liquid goodness. Of the small shops sampled on this trip, Jittery Joe’s really stands out.
Jittery Joe’s is well known in Georgia, where it’s primary location puts it in front of local personalities, artists, famous musicians and comedians. One of their first forays out of Georgia is into New York where the only Jittery Joes in the city is found on 216 East 45th Street in Midtown.
One thing I kept wondering as I wandered from coffee shop to coffee shop with enthusiasm: why is coffee in New York so much better than anything I have tasted in a place like Calgary or even Montreal? Is it because the coffee is being made at sea level, or in an environment that contains salt in the air (the sour dough theory: you can never get the amazing sour dough you find in San Francisco outside San Francisco because so much of the environment inadvertently goes into the making)?
When asked, the barristas tell me it’s because many of the smaller coffee shops are micro-roasting. Instead of roasting large batches of beans in a central location like many of the chains, Jittery Joe’s roasts beans in small batches on site as needed. There is a quick turn around from roasting to grinding to the coffee you drink so you get the best taste possible. There’s also an art and skill to roasting that is generally not observed when doing large batches.
All I can say is that at the end of my trip, it is incredibly disappointing to head back to the land of Canadian coffee.
Tan’s coffee here does the same. They go to South America to buy their coffee and roast it right in the shop. You can also buy bags of roasted coffee and take them home.
I had absolutely fantastic coffee this weekend at Communitea Cafe in Canmore, Alberta.
I *sheepishly* renege my comment about Canadian coffee.