New York's Best Coffee | NYC Mugged

The ‘bucks top heresy

Jesse — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 20:54:34 +0000

Pro-tip: A $4.75 tall cup of Starbucks Reserve Jamaica Blue Mountain brewed by hand in a Clover machine tastes exactly like every other cup of coffee they make.

No related posts.

Starbucks Spelling

Jason — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 16:19:06 +0000

Iced coffee for “Ben.” At least they make good coffee…

http://starbucksspelling.tumblr.com/

No related posts.

Kopi Luwak at the Limelight

Jesse — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 18:33:26 +0000

Have you seen today’s Groupon deal for New York City? Jezalin’s Gifts in the Limelight Marketplace is offering a cup of “rare Kopi Luwak Arabica Coffee” for $10. That’s right. Ten bucks for one cup of coffee that they list as a $29.99 value. Which means, by my powers of extrapolation, that this gift shop I’ve never heard of in one of New York’s most storied drug dens of yore normally offers a $30 cup of coffee on their menu, certainly an enticing proposition for the tourist set. I would go on about the craziness of that price point, but our web host is charging us by the bold tag here at NYC Mugged and I have a few more points to cover.

Now, as any good coffee nerd knows, Kopi Luwak is made from the beans of coffee berries that pass through the digestive tract of the Asian Palm Civet, a small Malaysian animal that is arguably the world’s foremost coffee connoisseur. I’m not sure who first thought it would be a good idea to make coffee out of rodent poop, but, hey, oysters happened, too, and that’s not a bet I would have staked. My question is: where do you draw the line on what you’ll pay for “rare” coffee? I’m seriously considering forking over my lazily-earned scratch to sample what may as well be a cup of unicorn tears for all its verifiability. And why should I buy it from a shop that also sells sports gift baskets? Isn’t this a job for Cafe Grumpy or Stumptown, two esteemed local coffee joints whose beans I will happily pay $15 for 3/4 of a pound? That’s 20-something cups for half the price of one half cup of normally priced Kopi Luwak at Jezalin’s Gifts. So, then — is this a journey worth taking, or do you ignore it on general principle?

Would you pay $30 for one cup of coffee? $10? Will you buy today’s Groupon deal?

No related posts.

Mango Affogato

Marshall — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 17:40:07 +0000

via coffeegeek

No related posts.

Thursday Night Latte Art Throwdown at Dora

Marshall — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 19:46:26 +0000

Dora just opened in the Lower East Side in December, and has already lined up an informal weekly cupping and will play host to their first (of what will hopefully be an ongoing series) latte art throw down. Head over this Thursday, February 17th to join in on the fun. Sign up starts at 7, pouring commences at 8, and with a $5 entry fee, liquids will be provided.

I haven’t had a chance to make it over yet (it’s been too cold!), but seeing Alice Gao‘s amazing photos, it looks like Dora is indeed, quite a-Dora-ble. Hopefully I’ll be in attendance this Thursday.

No related posts.

Inspiration

Marshall — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 23:33:46 +0000

Lovely pic. Sadly, I have no idea who shot it, or from whence it came.

No related posts.

Brew are you?

Jesse — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 17:59:16 +0000

I’m chagrined to report that the Manual Brew Down event at RBC last night was pretty lame, at least for everyone not directly competing in the Brew Down or partaking in the free beer (which, truthfully, might have been just myself, my faithful spouse and one sad-eyed girl sitting near us who left, sensibly, after about half an hour.) My expectations for the evening were something akin to an open tasting, but the only people enjoying coffee (that I saw) were the brewing judges. Good job, judges! You picked the right side of the counter to be on.

Perhaps I expected too much out of this event, but I do think it would have been reasonable to make some coffee available to people at a coffee shop gathering. And FYI, I just exercised all of the self-discipline available to me in not using sarcastic CAPS in that sentence.

In conclusion: RBC, I’m not mad, I’m just…disappointed. P.S., confidential to the sad-eyed girl who left early — you didn’t miss anything — except perhaps a George Lopez-alike barista looking VERY pleased with himself — which is definitely something, but probably not the thing you were looking for.

Enough of the bitter beans, though! (Feel free to use that.) While I was perusing Amazon this morning looking for ways to dispose more income into coffee and coffee-related items, I came across this fantastic product description for the Hario Coffee Grinder Mini-Mill:

Enjoy the taste of freshly ground coffee at home any time! Since ceramic mortar, no odor, metal rust. The coarse powder is adjustable simply by turning the knob and also, you can calibrate the amount of ground through the transparent bottle. When not in use, you can store the ground without handle. Secure design makes women less fatigue and easier grinding. Easy to clean with disassembled parts, Slim design saves space.

Hario: Secure design make women less fatigue, since 1937.

No related posts.

Bean down so gosh darn long

Jesse — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 22:17:09 +0000

I’m totally psyched to head over to the Manual Brew Down at RBC later tonight and do some in-depth reporting, so much so that I skipped my usual afternoon coffee in favor of — wait for it — a decaf chai tea latte! What? I know, right! Why didn’t I just go and join some sort of a hemp-based sun cult instead? Well, probably because I intend to drink as much artisanal coffee as I can handle tonight without getting sick. My guess is, everyone’s gonna be totally psyched by the end of this thing. Equal parts psyched and drunk, on account of the beer. It’s going to be like a Four Loko party, except no one’s tongue is going to be purple, except for mine, and I’m not telling you why.

On that note, let’s watch a very sexy French Press video compliments of the folks over at Sprouted Kitchen.

a french press method from hufort on Vimeo.

No related posts.

Manual Brew Down at RBC

Luisa — Sun, 16 Jan 2011 18:00:11 +0000

Do you pull a mean shot of espresso, make a killer macchiato, or pour the very best of pour-overs? Here’s your chance to show off those mad barista skills and win prizes at the first ever Manual Brew Down! Coffee enthusiasts and baristas can sign up and have their coffee chops judged by Katie Cargulio of Counter Culture Coffee, Christopher Van Schyndel of Barismo, and Mike Jones from Third Rail Coffee.

You’ll also get to test out the latest in coffee tech, including a sneak peek at the new Luminaire LB-1.

Lots of coffee and free beer (!) will be served all night.

Details:
What: Manual Brew Down
Where: RBC NYC 71 Worth Street
When: Thursday 1/20 at 7:30pm (sign up begins at 7:15pm)

No related posts.

Enjoy a Coffee Dinner at Craftbar – Updated

Luisa — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 22:20:54 +0000

Tom Colicchio is teaming up with Dallis Bros Coffee to host a 4 course “coffee dinner” on Thursday, January 20th at Craftbar. The folks behind Dallis Bros Coffee have been in the coffee roasting business for close to 100 years, and are based in Ozone Park, Queens.

We wonder if coffee pairings will be offered along with the meal. If you can manage to sip a cup of coffee while eating coffee cured hamachi, we salute you (honestly, we’d be slightly scared).

View the full coffee enhanced menu over at Grub Street NY.

A rep for Dallis Bros & RBC NYC has informed us that to make a reservation, RSVP to tsperduto@craftbarnyc.com or call 212-254-2056, ext.11. Also, the dinner will be executed by Craftbar’s Chef de Cuisine, Lauren M. Hirschberg.

Please post details if you attend!

Awesome Image of David and Martha Bear Dallis Courtesy of Kent Hanson/DallisBrosCoffee.com

No related posts.