A Table in the Corner of the CafeA Table in the Corner of the Cafe | A Table in the Corner of the Cafe

Ellipsis Coffeehouse // Chicago, Illinois

Drew Moody — Tue, 14 May 2013 16:19:37 +0000

I was sitting at a table, in the corner of a cafe, along with a couple of friends talking about coffee and business. It was last Fall, and the air was crisp, the leaves were just beginning to change color, and Jennifer Chen, Chris Zimmerman, and I were coffee crawling up and down the CTA Purple Line – starting in Highland Park at the recently-opened Madame Zuzu’s, then working our way down through Glencoe and Winnetka, before ending up in Evanston. “My dream job is to be able to write, drink coffee, and travel,” Jenn confessed. “Yeah – get in line,” I replied. We laughed. Chris said, “I’ve always wanted to own my coffeehouse… But not like this one.” We laughed again. At the time, Jenn had just started working at Gaslight, I was wrapping up a stint with Northwestern University, and Chris has been a longtime barista and trainer at The Brothers K in Evanston. But he wasn’t satisfied; and he wouldn’t be until he was the owner and manager of his own space, where he could be free to make his own destiny and his own coffee. “What sort of progress have you made to making that happen?” [...]

The post Ellipsis Coffeehouse // Chicago, Illinois appeared first on A Table in the Corner of the Cafe.

Sol Cafe // Chicago, Illinois

Drew Moody — Fri, 10 May 2013 15:35:55 +0000

After spending a couple years living less than a mile away from what I lovingly refer to as Chicago’s coffee corridor – where some of the best coffee spots in all of the Midwest are located – I, sadly, moved north. The likes of Passion House, Dark Matter, Buzz: Killer Espresso, The Wormhole and Halfwit, Gaslight, Intelligentsia, and Counter Culture’s training lab were all within a stone’s throw from my front door. And, oh, how I drank all of their coffee and ate their delicious pastries and took up valuable real estate on their couches and chairs and barstools watching YouTube in their establishments. Then, I moved to the barren landscape of Chicago’s northern-most neighborhood, Rogers Park. And I never drank coffee again. Not really, but I’m certainly spending less money at coffee shops. See, Rogers Park is sort of an up-and-coming neighborhood. At least it thinks it is. While this part of Chicago is mostly residential and home to the most diverse population of Chicagoans, it’s also experiencing a small boom (maybe more like a pop!) in the local business scene. It seems like every other month for the past year that I’ve been living here, a new locally-owned small [...]

The post Sol Cafe // Chicago, Illinois appeared first on A Table in the Corner of the Cafe.

Bow Truss Coffee Roasters // Canopy Blend

Drew Moody — Wed, 08 May 2013 15:24:04 +0000

A few months ago, Rogers Park’s coffee scene very suddenly got a whole lot better and a whole lot more legit with the addition of Sol Cafe (which I’ll be reviewing soon), just to the east of the Howard Street Red Line stop. Since then, Rogers Park improved even more with the addition of Ellipsis Cafe (which I’ll also be reviewing in the very near future). Sol currently alternates their coffee selection between Bow Truss Coffee Company and Passion House Coffee Roasters, which is pretty darn cool. So, as a special preview of the Sol review, today I’m checking out their current Bow Truss offering. Welcome to my Table, here in the corner of Sol Cafe in Chicago, Illinois. Today we’re sipping a cup of Canopy Blend, from Bow Truss Coffee Roasters – also in Chicago. Feel free to pull up a chair. Unfortunately for us, Bow Truss is one of those companies that doesn’t practice the utmost transparency on their website, so I can’t tell you much about this coffee (i.e., where it’s from, which farms are represented, who grew it, etc.). I can tell you, though, that it is a blend of South and Central American coffees; the [...]

The post Bow Truss Coffee Roasters // Canopy Blend appeared first on A Table in the Corner of the Cafe.

Bad Coffee > No Coffee?

Drew Moody — Fri, 03 May 2013 15:06:50 +0000

Acclaimed-director and coffee lover David Lynch was once asked to explain his obsession with the beloved brown brew. He responded by authoring an op-ed piece on The Huffington Post‘s blog entitled “Obsessed: Coffee” (of course he did). In this post, he makes a bold statement (no pun intended): “Even bad coffee is better than no coffee at all.” By all accounts it certainly does seem that David Lynch does have a borderline unhealthy obsession with coffee; started drinking it at an early age, has several cups per day (at one time in his life, apparently, he was known to have upwards of 20 cups of instant coffee per day), even went so far as to tie his name to a coffee. I recently saw an ad for David Lynch Signature Cup Organic Coffee, by the way. It doesn’t really make one want to go out and buy the coffee, unless one prefers their cup with a bit of cream, sugar, and unadulterated paranoia. I share Lynch’s said “obsession” with coffee. I love the stuff. The difference between Lynch and myself, though, is that coffee’s function in my daily routine isn’t completely utilitarian. Don’t get me wrong – I need that first [...]

The post Bad Coffee > No Coffee? appeared first on A Table in the Corner of the Cafe.

Madcap Coffee Company // Luis Reinoso Colombia

Drew Moody — Thu, 02 May 2013 14:46:57 +0000

Not so long ago, I drove up to GR to have a coffee meeting with the founder and CEO of Mighty in the Midwest and my new best friend forever, Cliff. We had a lot of really great conversations about everything ranging from the cultural impact of social media, web and mobile app design ideas, careers, marriage, parenthood, literature, and the wonderful, wonderful, wonderful world of craft beer over some absolutely incredible coffees. We both started our morning off with the Kiriyama Burundi and we were both floored. But the conversations kept going – what were we to do? One can’t conversate over an empty coffee mug! That’s when Madcap roaster and recurring barista champion, Sir Ryan Knapp came riding in on a silver steed, approached the two of us, and heavily recommended their brand new Colombia – a coffee that he said was one of the sweetest coffees he’s had in 2013. That’s high praise coming from a Knight of the Round Table in the Corner of the Cafe. Welcome to my Table, here in the corner of Madcap Coffee Company, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Today we’re sampling a cup of their Luis Reinoso Colombia. Feel free to pull [...]

The post Madcap Coffee Company // Luis Reinoso Colombia appeared first on A Table in the Corner of the Cafe.