As a growing number of retailers provide the ability -- and increasingly a bit of pressure -- to tip employees, resistance -- verging on outrage -- is growing.
I have been hearing the frustration and even feeling it myself sometimes, as the option/expectation is emerging in unexpected places. My completely uncorroborated theory is that one factor has been the increase in contactless (or limited contact) devices at points of sale. I can envision one of those little flippy iPad screens being installed on a counter and the store manager saying, "Sure, why not?" when told that a tip prompt could be included. Maybe this never happened -- my only basis for thinking it did is that I have seen a lot more of these devices post-plague than I did before.
In her story "Got tipping rage? This barista reveals what it's like to be behind the tip screen," NPR journalist Tracey Vanek Smith offers more reasons for the shift in tipping expectations. More importantly, she provides important insights into the growing frustrations on both sides of the transaction. This has everything to do with inflation generally and the pressures on businesses to pretend it does not exist. These are essential insights in the study of post-covid cafés, especially the independent ones that are the focus of this blog.
Finally, through her discussion with barista Dylan Schenker, listeners learn a bit about the challenges and triumphs of the profession.
I have been going to Mykonos Café and Bakery for the past two years with my family and it's the perfect place to enjoy time with others or by yourself. The large seating area creates a welcoming environment that you won't want to leave! Booths, comfy chairs, and tables are found all throughout the café. I love coming here to do homework, and the hospitality of the owners just makes that all the more enjoyable.
The coffee is decent, and they utilize a local roaster that operates out of Upton, MA called Red Barn. The cold brew is a highlight drink if you're a coffee drinker, but they also offer teas and local bottled milk. There's not a lot of information out there on how Red Barn sources their coffee, so you'd probably have to ask the roasters themselves to find out.
While the coffee isn't bad, the real highlight of Mykonos is their baked goods. Offering a variety of Greek, American, and other European desserts, the choices feel endless. All the desserts are made fresh by the bakery and are reasonably priced for how delicious they are.
The atmosphere, sweets, and amazing hospitality truly make Mykonos a special place to get a cup of coffee. I would and have recommended Mykonos to my friends and family, and you should definitely stop by too!
Proximity to a Dunkin' Donuts
Mykonos is about a 3 minute drive or a 5 minute walk to the closest Dunkin'.
Prime Roast Coffee Company is located right in downtown Keene NH. It is a busy atmosphere, where most people take their coffee to-go. However, there are a few tables with chairs you can sit at. There were a lot of dark colors inside, and bright lighting creating a very cool, unique atmosphere. The staff was very helpful and friendly.
They have all different kinds of coffee that is labeled from where it is (such as: Guatemalan, Mexican, Columbian, etc.) They offer different kinds of coffee beverages, at different kinds of roast levels. There is also a super cool wall on the opposite side of where you order with a multitude of different kinds of syrups. I got and iced caramel coffee, and I really enjoyed it. There are also different food options you can get, that change day to day. The hot 'regular' coffee is self-serve.
Prime Roast has their own roastery located at 660 Marlboro Road, Keene, NH 03431. The building used was built in the 1840s.
The closest Dunkin' is 5 minutes away. There is also one sourced at 6 minutes away, and 2 more sourced at 7 minutes away.
This semester I was pleased to be able to conclude our Secret Life of Coffee Honors Seminar by hosting class at Cloverfield, a.k.a. Casa Hayes-Boh, a.k.a. our house very close to campus at 41º75’07” N 70º58’31” W.
This allowed us to share old-house stories, Latin American art, and most especially a few coffee tricks that are a bit difficult to try at school. Having been thwarted in various, nearly successful efforts to install a roaster on campus, I roast most of the coffee for this class -- and all of my classes -- in a 1-pound countertop Behmor drum roaster.
Before demonstrating that process, however, I dusted off my vacuum press. It is a crazy-looking contraption, slightly scary to use. But it makes remarkably smooth coffee. Here is a Bodum company demo -- note the preparer's fearless use of long-sleeved, white clothing. I use my vacuum pot so infrequently that I reviewed this video before the students arrived.
They had seen a similar pot in use -- improperly -- in the inadvertently hilarious 1961 video This is Coffee, in which the coffee boils vigorously and dangerously for far too long and is stirred with a metal spoon.
Those who have seen the Coffee Maven in his natural habitat will not be surprised that I neither measured nor stirred the coffee yesterday. Usually I do stir with a wooden chopstick though, as I did both times that I used the pot today.
Thankfully, one of my students took a couple of candid videos of my efforts yesterday -- these are not scripted as instructional, but you can notice a couple details here that you might not see in the Bodum video.
Part 1 (video by Anna Dykhof):
Part 2 (video by Anna Dykhof):
My main motivation for creating this blog post was to share some photos I made during the visit, because of another omission during the brewing process. I forgot to show the students what the filter in this device looks like. In fact, it does not look like a filter at all. I am amazed that it works and even more amazed that someone even thought of this as an option. It is a little bit difficult to describe, but these three photos provide some idea.
First, the overview. This is a plastic disk at one end of a chain with a small spring at the other end. The idea is that the spring holds the disk snugly against the bottom of the "upstairs" part of the brewing vessel.
A close-up of the disk shows that the bottom has a series of very small grooves:
This disk rests against the smooth neck of the brewer. In this photo, I moved the heavy rubber ring down a bit so that the glass can be discerned:
These grooves allow coffee to be drawn down through the neck of the vessel without bringing any grounds at all with it -- as long as a suitable coarse grind has been selected (as it has). Not only does this work, but it does create a very effective filtration and creates a coffee that is full-bodied and smooth. I made a couple pots worth on the day after our class visit.
Roasting
And now, the aforementioned roasting.
We began with 15.9 ounces of green coffee -- right at the capacity of the Behmor and measuring about 2.5 cups by volume.
I placed the coffee in the Behmor's basket. It could hold a lot more of course, but filling the capacity is only about 20 percent of the volume of the basket, because airflow is key to safe and even roasting.
We roasted for about 18 minutes, which is the default setting for one pound of coffee. At about that time, we got very quiet, so that we could listen for the sound of the coffee cracking as the roast completed and the beans expanded. This is a bit difficult to hear, but an important way to time a roast. One the crack was underway, we switched to the cooling cycle and the coffee continued to tumble in flowing air for another 12 minutes.
The result: 13.5 ounces of coffee (as moisture was driven off during the process) measuring almost 4 cups (as those beans had expanded). The whitish lines on many beans are sugars that are visible at this roast level.
Roasting/brewing/tasting some fine coffees left us all smiling!
BONUS: Tasting-event photos
Prior to the roasting/brewing demonstration at Casa Hayes-Boh (aka Cloverfield), our penultimate class meeting was a small but impactful variation on the end-of-course tasting event that has been the culminating event in this class since I started offering it in 2007.
I took a couple of photos from a distance.
Jennifer MacCallum of our Honors Program took better photos up close. Thanks for sharing these, Jen!
Where does coffee come from? A lot of places, including some that are likely to be surprising. We spent a lot of the semester talking about differences and similarities among coffeelands.
Coffee can be brewed in many ways, each with its own appropriate grind level (coarseness/fineness).
A bit more detail on the grind options.
In this course, we always discuss the various ways that coffee can be processed before it is exported. This semester's class was fascinated by the effect this has on flavor and made that a major part of their research.
This was a small but motivated group who spent all semester using geography to learn about coffee and coffee to learn about geography. (Not shown: one student whose contribution was an interactive presentation on a laptop.)
Empire Tea and Coffee is a small cafe, located right on the water in Bristol, Rhode Island. It has a main "bar" area where you can order lunch, snacks, and drinks (even boba!), a table in the back with cream, milk, and sugars, and a row of small booths, each fitting two people.
The booths have 2 seats each and are elevated off the ground, attached to the wall and are a good 1 person wide. I thought they were very cute! Because of the small space and seating availability, Empire Tea and Coffee seems to be more of a "grab and go" style of coffee shop, although, if available, the booths looked perfect for studying!
The baristas at Empire were very kind and when I asked them about the coffee they served, they answered all my questions without hesitation and gave me all the information I needed without the need to ask follow up questions! This Empire location is a branch of the main location, which is located at 22 Broadway St in Newport. Their coffee is single origin (although they didn't say where it was from), and was roasted at their own roastery, which is part of their original Newport location. I also found out that their roastery had tours available!
The closest Dunkin was 5 minutes away:
When I went, I ordered a cup of their medium Paradise blend. Mind you, I went at around 1pm, however the coffee was delicious, you would think the later in the day you go, the less fresh the coffee was, but regardless, it was really good coffee. My girlfriend, Kaelyn, went in with me and got iced tea with raspberry popping boba, and said it was some of the best boba she had ever had!
I would definitely recommend dropping by Empire Tea and Coffee if you're ever in Bristol, its quick, cheap, and very tasty!
This coffee shop was one that I had never been too. It is located in Boulder, Colorado right outside of the college campus of CU Boulder. I had mentioned to my friend pictured above that I needed to find a coffee shop that was a cafe style and so we came across Alpine Modern Cafe. This cafe housed a large menu with lots to choose from. Including different types of coffee's as well as food. The menu is featured below.
What I ordered!!
This was a late that my friend ordered as well as a chocolate croissant.
I ordered a black cup of coffee that was a mountain blend. I also ordered this amazing avocado toast.
I really enjoyed the atmosphere of this cafe as well as the food.It was a very busy time when I attended the cafe. I was there between 10:30 am to about 1:00 pm. I experienced the rush of breakfast and the continuation of lunch. The customers were in and out. The set up of the cafe was a large communal table and then individual tables surrounding the rest of the cafe. People were sitting down, taking out, and even sitting outside on the outdoor patio.
I talked to the baristas and they explained to me where they got their coffee from. It came from a company called Color, that is located in Colorado. This is a place that roasts the coffee, so all of the coffee was pre-roasted. They sold the coffee in bags that customers could buy. However their coffee wasn't freshly roasted or green coffee it was medium roasted. Pictured below is the types of coffee that they offer at Alpine Modern Cafe.
I would recommend this Cafe not only for its coffee which was tasty but also for its inviting feelings that it gave to its customers. This is not a chain cafe and it really was one of a kind. I would come back here if when I return to Boulder, Colorado.
This coffee shop was recommended by my friend Anya, who we (my roommate, Allison, and I) were visiting in Maine to celebrate her birthday. She knew of them for their pastries, specifically donuts, and apparently their specialty cakes (menu linked here) but because of this (and what I've been told about good food establishments vs. good coffee establishments), I didn't expect to review this shop. However, upon entering, I noticed The Cookie
Jar actually served an abundance of brewed coffees.
Their array of blends all originated from one company, named Coffee by Design, or CBD for short. They company, owned by Mary Allen Lindemann and Alan Spear, was established in 1994 in Portland, Maine. Both Mary and Alan lived in Seattle for some time, where they both found their love for coffee. They pride themselves on their coffee’s “traceability,” meaning that each blend can be traced back to the farmer or farmers it came from. Their list of farm partners is linked here, organized by region. More about Coffee by Design overall is linked here.
Overall, the atmosphere was very inviting. The shop was quaint as they offered seating areas and the lack of hustle-and-bustle often paired with a drive-through window made the environment strikingly calm. We arrived at around 10 in the morning, which may explain how empty it was. Each customer had the privilege of receiving an individual welcome by at least one of the employees, as the door was in the direct line of sight of the cashier and also the women preparing donuts. There was only one other customer in the shop with us, an older man, maybe late 50s, and he got his order to go.
As I ordered my small hot coffee, I made sure to ask the cashier which coffee blend she recommended. She was an older woman, in fact they were all older women, and I wondered if one of them was the owner, but I didn't think to ask. She told me that their house blend, The Cookie Jar Blend (curated specifically for The Cookie Jar Pastry Shop), was a sweeter coffee that I may enjoy. I took her word for it. The flavor profile and roast description are pictured below.
This coffee was considered a light roast in comparison to their other offerings. They kindly
offered self-serve cream and sugar; but I drank it black in order to analyze the flavor a little better. The coffee
tasted stronger than what we typically have in class, as I’m sure it was
roasted a little darker than what we’re used to and was very bitter. It was very acidic, and I didn't get the "nutty" flavor that was described on the label. I tried to research The Cookie Jar Blend on CBD's website and the closest blend I could find was their Coffeehouse Blend. Both have the same flavor profile and region of origin; however, the roast level is unique to each, with The Cookie Jar Blend on the lighter side.
I also ordered a cinnamon roll to test for myself Professor Hayes’ theory about good eats and good coffee; it definitely proves true. Allison's red velvet donut definitely was the best out of our three.
