Stumptown Coffee Bar in Red Hook, Brooklyn

The news is out that Stumptown is opening a coffee bar in Red Hook next month!  Who would have guessed that the "world's best coffee", would be roasted and served in Brooklyn?  This is fabulous.  Oliver Strand shares the details here: www.nytimes.com

Cafe Grumpy & The Coffee Shop VS. Coffee Bar Discussion

Yesterday I was starting to gather my research for my write up on the success of the Grumpy Cafe owners Caroline Bell and Chris Timbell.  I remember reading in Cafe Life New York that they knew nothing about coffee when they decided to open Grumpy Cafe, and now they are in the three neighborhoods of Greenpoint, Park Slope, and Chelsea.  Grumpy Cafe was the place I would go to before the coffee shop boom came to Greenpoint.   No coffee shop is as spacious as the Grumpy Cafe in Greenpoint, it is a dream for those coffee fiend that use coffee shops as temporary offices.  I was surprised when I came into the Park Slope store because it was a sliver of an art space with a small coffee bar, definitely more of a place to grab your sophisticated cup, enjoy it, and then be on your way.  Well, look what I found in this morning's New York Times by Oliver Strand.  
www.nytimes.com

Coffee Shops in Park Slope, Brooklyn

Boneshakers in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn

It is a coffeehouse like Boneshakers in East Williamsburg that inspire me to write about coffee shops.  Just pass by and you will want to go in.  A bicycle in the bay window and a sign that says “Death Before Decaf” let you know that if you like to bike or drink coffee you are in the right place.  I like both and maybe they saw that on my face because the staff was enthusiastic about making me feel at home. 

The artsy café offers vegan and vegetarian dishes with names like, “Polish National Team”, “The Kevin Bacon” and other titles that cycle enthusiasts will definitely know. The coffee is from Gimme, the famous Brooklyn-based roasters and baked goods are from Champs, a family bakery that they just opened three weeks ago! 

Lively crowds begin rolling in at noon to devour the tasty sandwiches so come early to get that old relaxed East Village feeling.  Happy hour is Monday-Friday from 5-8pm. 

The world needs more coffee places like Boneshakers.

Boneshakers is located at 134 Kingsland Avenue, near Maspeth.   

(718) 963-0656

brooklynboneshakers.com

Atmosphere: 4.5 Stars

Coffee: 5 Stars

Food: N/A (Going back for more.  We will give final rating soon.) 

Service: Delightful

Price: $$

Butter Lane Cupcakes, East Village, NYC

 

We have always gone to the West Village for Cupcakes at Magnolia but not anymore, now we are heading to Butter Lane in the East Village when Diego wants a cupcake.  

Why?  He loves the frosting options.  And boy do these guys have frosting options.  They have matchless flavors like Blueberry, Maple Pecan, Cinnamon Honey, Espresso, Key Lime, French Chocolate, Caramel, Peanut Butter and more.  The cake options are regular Vanilla, Chocolate, and Banana.  We highly recommend the banana cupcake with cream cheese frosting and The Elvis.  Unfortunately, and this is a big unfortunately, they do not have specialty coffee so if you need your caffeine high you will have to settle for the regular drip coffee.  Don’t worry too much as they serve the Hairbender blend from “the world’s best coffee”, Stumptown Coffee.  Cupcakes start at $3 and they offers cupcake classes!

Butter Lane is located at 123 East 7th Street between Avenue A and 1st.  Take the L Train to 1st Avenue. 

(212) 677-2880

www.butterlane.com

Wondering who that strange kid is...that's Parker, Diego's friend from Massachusettes!

Atmosphere: 5 Stars (limited seating so make your visit short)

Coffee: 5 Stars (NOTE: They DO NOT serve specialty coffee.)

Cupcakes: 5 

Service: Nothing Extraordinary

Price: $$

Joyride Truck on Park Avenue, NYC

We are back in NYC!  We found this awesome JOYRIDE TRUCK ice cream truck that serves Stumptown Coffee on Park Avenue near 18th Street in Manhattan.  The Joyride Truck is normally on 27th Street and Park Avenue but sometimes he swings this way. 

www.joyridetrucks.com

Cafe M Bakery & Cafe on Fifth Avenue, NYC

M Bakery & Café near the corner of 32nd Street and Fifth Avenue is one of the more refreshing places in the midtown area of Manhattan.   The daily corporate crowds working in this part of the city have “chainy” places like Pax and Europa café and they lack access to coffee shops that feel like a room of one’s own.  M Bakery & Café is a great place for a morning visit with a newspaper or a post lunch pick me up.    They serve muffins, croissants, scones, cupcakes, cookies, tarts, macaroons and offer treats to take home like pancake and waffle mix, chocolate hazel nut sauce, keylime spread and more.  

Cafe M Bakery & Cafe is located at 315 5th Avenue but it is really in between Park Avenue and Fifth Avenue near the 32nd Street corner.

(212) 213-8392

www.bakerym.com

Atmosphere: 4 Stars

Coffee: 3.5 Stars

Pastries: 3.5 Stars 

Service: Welcoming

Price: $$

The Vanillabeaners at Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Factory in Waterbury, VA

Here in Vermont they have coffee roasters like Green Mountain Roasters, Speeder & Earl’s Coffee Roasters, Vermont Coffee Roasters, sweet little maple farms like Bragg’s Sugar Farm, amazing cheese farms like Shelburne Farms and a ton more.  We wanted to show you all the coffee places we found AND all the ice cream stops too because it is HOT.  Sometimes while I am cooling off with iced coffee, Diego is cooling off with his favorite cold flavors. 

As the Vanillabeaners, we had to see how ice cream was made, so we hit Ben & Jerry’s super famous Ice Cream Factory in Waterbury, Vermont.   We had a pass to see the behind the scenes and learn how they make their amazing conconctions (photos in the inside of the plant were strictly prohibited).   After observing ice cream scientists, hugging vats of sugar, tie-dying, and visiting the graves of two coffee flavors that had died (Coffee,CoffeeBUZZBUZZBUZZ!- espresso roast coffee ice cream with espresso bean fudge chunks & White Russian-coffee ice cream with Kahlua coffee liqueur),we were pooped, and we had to get some of our favorite stuff.  Diego enjoyed Vanilla Bean ice cream and I had a caramel frozen latte with some Green Mountain Roasters coffee.

  

 

   

Cute Coffee Shops in Vermont

Coffee Classes in NYC

We think these coffee classes in NYC may be full but perhaps they will have more next month.  Check them out!  http://brooklynbrainery.com

We also saw this sign for coffee classes at Cafe Royal in Greenpoint a few weeks ago.  Café Royal is located at 195 Nassau Avenue, between Jewel & Diamond.   
(718) 349-8584

Vanillabeaners in Vermont...

Prepare yourself to keep up with us on our Facebook fan page because Diego and I are on our way to Vermont.  We will be Vanillabeaners in Vermont and then head to Boston for our regular coffeebeaner action.  We will be posting photos of the ice cream and coffee finds in Vermont in the Vanillabeaners photo album, and those of Boston coffee houses in the Bean Town album.  You can also become our friend on foursquare to see all the awesome places we check-into.    

Bluebird Coffee Shop in East Village, NYC

I found out about Bluebird Coffee Shop in the East Village from the “coffee man”, Oliver Strand, a writer that covers coffee in a great way for The New York Times.  Here are some photos of the place.  They serve Counter Culture coffee and all of their pastries are made in house.  Bluebird Coffee Shop is located at 72 East 1st Street between 1st and 2nd Avenue.

www.bluebirdcoffeeshop.com

MarieBelle New York & Mari's New York in the Limelight Marketplace

Before we met with family this passed week we visited Limelight Marketplace on 6th and 20th Street in Manhattan with our friends from Mexico, Max and Greg.   Here we found yummy coffee and chocolate products from that intrigued us all.

 

Mari's New York

Mari’s New York in Limelight Marketplace offers teeny tiny brownies made from scratch in six signature flavors (classic, classic with nuts, caramel sea salt, coconut, thai coffee, heat, and blonde bombshell).  The small size allows you to indulge and sample several flavors in a Tapas style.  Their new bacon flavored brownie is made with bacon jam and candied bacon on top and it is absolutely lively.  This one and the others can be purchased and eaten on the spot or placed in a little white box for a gift (individual $2.50, 2 piece jewelry box $ 7, ½ dozen baton box  $19).   They also offer delicious steaming coffee (Counter Culture) and teas flavored with their homemade syrups of the brownie flavors.  Thecoffeebeaners dare you to wake up with the spicy heat flavored coffee!

www.marisny.com  

 

MarieBelle New York

The extraordinarily warm service and elegant chairs invite you to step into MarieBelle, the chocolate store on the upper level of the Limelight Marketplace.  This sea blue café and chocolate shop invites you to taste some chocolates in a European style, sip tea, and share in conversation as you watch shoppers.  Greg and I tried the espresso and coffee flavored chocolates and the kids tried the madagascar, pistachio, and vanilla flavored chocolates.  Watch the youtube video to see how much we enjoyed the flavors.  We did have to leave shortly after tasting because the sugar really hit Diego and I thought that we were going to leave owing more than just the bill for the treats, but the place was a delight and the offerings were quite memorable. 

www.mariebelle.com