Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Coffee Shops in Connecticut

Senior Bean: Below is a coffee shop submitted by Sarah Slabaugh from the Delaware area. This place has some of the BIGGEST Coffee Cups ever! Check out the picture I pulled from their site to the right! Pretty Cool. If anyone has been to this place besides Sarah, I would love to hear how the BLACK coffee taste. I hope to get up there someday.

“While we don’t have any in our area, quite possibly the best coffee i ever had was at the victoria train station in putnam, ct. the owners, a husband and wife, are constantly traveling to find the best coffee and espresso to serve. they learn your name rather quickly and make you feel at home each time you visit. it is decorated in a gorgeous range of antiques, including velvet covered chairs and beautiful gilt chandeliers. adjacent is a botique which sells handmade purses and other accessories.”

Putnam Victoria Station Cafe
75 Main St, Putnam, CT
(860) 928-2600.

Saturday, December 16, 2006

Coffee Shops in Coronado, CA

One of the best coffee shops I have been to in the San Diego area is in a small city called Coronado. It is about 10 minutes from the San Diego Airport and located on the main street of Coronado. Coronado is a small “island” that is 22 miles long. The coffee shop I am referring to is called the Cafe 1134. The address is 1134 Orange Ave!

Cafe 1134 serves excellent coffee drinks. The atmosphere is very elegant and sophisticated with an Italian design. Their regular black coffee and americanos are my favorite, but I am sure their specialty drinks are good as well. The service is wonderful as well. The first time I went to this place, I told the barista guy that I liked my Americano strong. He was one of the first coffee makers in San Diego to actually get what I was saying. Typically when I tell the staff I want my coffee strong, they just nod their head and say, “ok.” This guy was different. He suggested to me to try an Americano with less water and two shots of espresso. He said that if it was NOT strong enough, he would add a third shot for FREE! That was the best part. I came away from Cafe 1134 with a delicious 3-shot cup of coffee! I have been back several times since when I am in the area. They also serve food as well. I would not recommend the sandwiches. The bread is a little hard, but the desserts are to die for!

I cannot locate a web address, but they do have free internet. Just go to Coronado, turn left on the main street (Orange) and look for 1134! 

Thursday, December 07, 2006

Bean Wear’s First Encounter with Starbucks

No No...I’m not selling t-shirts to Starbucks. I just thought I would share my first encounter with a Starbucks employee as I was wearing my shirt. I must admit, I like going into Starbucks this time of year just because of the Christmas Spirit. I also like to see what kind of marketing ideas they are doing. It keeps my mind spinning with new ideas! The other reason I went to Starbucks is because my wife wanted an Eggnog Latte when we were Christmas shopping. I could not make one like I have before...so I had to go to Starbucks. Anyways, I march into Starbucks and proceeded to order my eggnog latte for my wife and 4 shots of espresso for me. Believe it or not, the 4 shots at 8:30 P.M did not do much for me! The guy at the counter looks at my shirt and comments on the Bean Wear: “Is that referring to coffee?” I forgot that I was advertising and wearing my shirt. Of course I told him about the shirt and the website: http://www.WearTheBean.com! When I told him to check out the site, he had a perfect response: “wear the bean...hmmm...yeah dude...but you are going to be drink’n the bean now!” He caught on quite fast to my slogan: Wear It, Drink it! He was a character and could not help but chuckle a bit.

I wonder if I will get my first Starbuck’s customer wearing the bean? 

Coffee Shops in San Diego County: Escondido

A friend from church recently told me she worked at a coffee shop called, “The Blue Mug” up in Escondido. I had heard of it once before but did not think much of it. The Blue Mug is just north of Downtown San Diego (about 30 minutes). I was in the general area today and decided to stop by and check it out. I was impressed! The colors and the overall design of the coffee shop was perfect. They really did a nice job of accenting most of the store with blue...but not too much blue!

One of the coolest features I saw was how they make their coffee. They are not like most coffee shops that have coffee sitting in a pot and getting colder by the minute. They brew ever cup of coffee with the old drip system. The drip system isn’t my favor, but you can control how strong you want it this way. I will have to dig up a photo of how they do it. It is fun to watch. They have BrewBar that can hold around 5-7 separate coffee filters at a time with the coffee mugs/cups underneath the filters. You first pick the whole bean coffee of your choice. Second, the staff grinds your beans and produces your drip coffee. You control the overall strength of the coffee (more or less water) by pulling the coffee mug out when it looks good enough. It was totally unique, and I enjoyed the experience.

The Blue Mug coffee shop has a great location in the downtown area of old Escondido. The downside is that it is not the busiest part of town. I went there around 1pm, and there was not a lot of action. I am sure their busiest time of day is first thing in the morning. It still amazes me how busy Starbucks can be ALL day long. I wish these smaller shops (like the Blue Mug) could really market their company better, because they are awesome! They have such good coffee ideas, but the general public just does not know about them.

The Blue Mug does not have a website that I could find, but here is the address:
122 S Kalmia St
Escondido, CA 92025
(760) 796-7540

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Coffee Shops in the Greater D.C. Areas

Senior Bean: Below is a report of coffee shops in the greater D.C. area, Maryland and Virgnia areas. These were given to me by Elizabeth Emery from Washinton D.C.

From the Words of Ms. Emery:

Java Green
This is a good coffee shop in DC. Not really a hang-out place, because it’s smack dab in the middle of the K Street area. But their coffee was the best I’d found since I moved out here.

Murky Coffee in the Washington D.C. Area: Eastern Market
Murky has two locations, one around Eastern Market in DC, and the other in Arlington, VA, right in the middle of the Clarendon area. I prefer the Arlington shop, because it’s more of a hangout. The coffee is good, not spectacular, but very good.

Senior Bean: Hmmm...I wonder what “not spectacular” means to Liz. Is it strong and fresh? What makes coffee not spectacular but “very good?” One thing is for sure, these coffee shops have got to get nice looking websites!

Misha’s
This is an awesome hangout. I love the beatnik atmosphere, and the big table in the back room where people gather to smoke, play cards, etc. First time I went there, I wasn’t impressed with their coffee, but the second time I was there with a friend, it seemed pretty good. It’s been rated well, so perhaps I didn’t know what I was doing that first visit.

Java Shack.
It’s a tiny place, also in the Clarendon area of Arlington, VA. I’ve only been there once, but it’s a very unique little place, and I enjoyed the coffee I had. The variety of people I’ve seen there have ranged from your mildly preppy D.C. rich white kids to some sort of funky-punk combination of folks gathered outside: obviously regulars, and everything in between.

In terms of coffee chains, I’ll go with whoever mentioned Caribou Coffee. They’re far above Starbucks in quality and in how their baristas prepare the coffee/milk, etc. However, they are a chain, so I’m pretty sure that’s not what you’re looking for.

Friday, December 01, 2006

Site of the Month Award: Placed 2nd

I am not sure who nominated my site for the Site of the Month award in November, but I do appreciate the loyalty. I tied for second place on Gawds.org Gawds is an association for web designers. They are on the look out for nicely designed websites among other things. Thank you once again to the coffee fan who submitted my site.