Coffee! ……. RIP

I have been on a year+ coffee ( americano) binge.  The bespoke roasted coffee craze hit NYC later than some, Seattle, SF, but it hit hard.  When Phil and I were making All is Bright Blue Bottle was the go to and I drank my body weight in their New Orleans cold brew.  That cold brew, served with milk, sweet and chickory? is still a great drink but literally poisons you with caffeine.  After Blue Bottle, which I pronounce DOA at this point ( too corporate), I went to grumpy’s.  They made a great americano for a while but were inconsistent.  I had a city wide tasting with Peter D. from SF and he rightly rejected most of my places and chose Abraco on 7th st as his fav.  I agree, they are really good, really smooth, very consistent, and not too caffeiney.  Plus they are ten times nicer than all the others.  The Stumptown on 8th st is very consistent and very good, maybe too caffeiney at times.  I am intrigued by their cold brew NITRO but it showed up too late in the game for me.  For what it’s worth I will say that I think that Four Barrel in the Mission in SF is the best coffee in the free world on most levels.  I tested Vivaci from Seattle on a return trip there and it has not held up so Four Barrel wins.  Sadly I have dropped from two a day down to maybe two a week.  It became very clear that coffee was not really my friend.