By Clay McCuistion



The University Daily Kansan

(10/23/00)

Coffee odyssey

Kansan features editor Clay McCuistion barges through six coffee shops—and lives to tell about it

By Clay McCuistion

features@

Kansan features editor

Six cups of cappuccino. Three hours.

That was the task I set myself Tuesday evening, on a whirlwind tour of late-night coffee shops in downtown Lawrence. I’d spent time in a couple of them, but perhaps I was missing the very best atmosphere, the very best group of people or the very best cup of coffee.

In one evening, I decided to sample all the Java emporiums in the Massachusetts Street area. I would have the same drink—a small cappuccino—at each.

This is the account of my evening’s travels. The different shops are not rated in any numerical, or particularly logical, system. Instead, I’ve assigned each emporium a descriptive adjective that describes the essence of my experience there. Additional information is attached, depending entirely on my whim.

Bourgeois Pig

6 East 9th St.

I began here at 7:45 p.m., with high expectations. I’d heard the name of this combination coffee shop and bar bandied about, and was looking forward to experiencing the ambience.

The inside of the shop was small, but the bar area was attractive, and the bartender/barista sported a pompadour, beard AND sideburns. The cappuccino was the most expensive of the night—$2.75 for a small cup. Kudos to the music selection though, which included Neil Young, the Beatles and Bruce Springsteen.

The coffee looked great, and was in a stylish little black mug. But there were grounds in the brew, which gave it a distressing texture.

“You won’t get better than this,” the server told me after passing over the cup.

I certainly hoped I would.

Descriptive adjective: Gritty

Strange old man count: One

Preparation time: One minute and 15 seconds

Java Dive

10 East 9th St.

Taking a cue from Perkins, this shop was brightly lit, cleanly furnished and stuffed with prepubescent-looking undergrads.

That’s also why it was disturbing.

Coffee shops, at least in this reporter’s mind, aren’t meant to have bright paintings on the walls and quiet, reserved studying taking place. Cigarette smoke is supposed to billow across the room, choking anyone who dares to inhale deeply. The tasteful, smoke-free Java Dive just seemed way too normal.

While waiting for my cup of cappuccino (the longest wait of any shop I visited in the evening), I ran across Kansan sports columnist Chris Wristen, who was there for some coffee and study. The Dive is Wristen’s shop of choice, for the same reasons it unsettled me. For some reason, he likes a quiet, positive atmosphere in which to do his homework.

The coffee itself was pleasant and foamy, an entirely competent cup. And I can’t dislike any store that tapes up a Hilltopics page (last week’s photo essay about coffee shops, to be precise).

Wristen wished me luck, and I moved on.

Descriptive adjective: Perky

Strange old man count: Zero

Regular old man count: One

Number of visible piercings on server: Four

Preparation time: Three minutes and 30 seconds

Henry’s

11 East 8th St.

My coffee shop of choice. That probably disqualifies me from providing a truly objective review, but Henry’s offered a nice combination of style and substance.

Chatters can chat, students can study and the strange old men can regale each other with half-remembered anecdotes. Exemplary baristas brew their concoctions with the concentration of fine artists and European-style furnishings litter the shop’s cozy interior. Plus, lots of people I know go there.

The coffee was the smoothest I’d had to that point, a pleasant blending of the espresso and milk necessary for a good cappuccino, topped with the thickest layer of foam yet. Unfortunately, I was beginning to overload on caffeine by that point, and spent most of my time in the store writing notes about the brands of cigarettes customers were smoking.

I spent a good deal of time speaking with Stan Handshy, Erie sophomore (who happened to be smoking Marlboro lights). He was drinking straight black coffee from a mug the size of a backyard swimming pool.

“I don’t like to bastardize my coffee,” he told me.

I nodded. It was time to go.

Descriptive adjective: Eclectic

Strange old man count: One

Preparation time: One minute and 45 seconds

Café Nova

8th St. and New Hampshire

The new kid in town, this cyber café contained few people when I dropped by at about 9:30. The inside of the café was nice, however, and my cappuccino there was served in the only transparent glass mug I saw during the night.

The drink tasted oddly nutty, but not unpleasantly so. I took a sip and looked around.

The café contained six internet-connected computers, free for customers’ use. Generic alternative rock music played at a low volume. Lamps on the tables were iMac-translucent. The place only lacked regular customers—an obvious crowd to define it. This unassuming business had much potential.

Or so it seemed to me.

In the interests of full disclosure, however, I must admit my jitters were pretty bad by this point. The three previous cups of coffee weren’t making me perky, but instead nervous and paranoid. Being only two-thirds done with the journey by this point, I considered calling it quits. In the interests of science and a complete article, however, I steeled my nerves and continued.

Descriptive adjective: Translucent

Preparation time: Two minutes and five seconds

Java Break

17 East 7th St.

The coffee shop you should go to if you want to feel cool. Of all the shops I visited, the Break—more than any other—reeked of alterna-hipness. There was an odd assortment of rickety furniture, old concert posters on the walls, and cases full of mismatched paperbacks.

My coffee was produced more quickly here than anywhere else—probably because the shot of espresso had already been made. It was hot, foamy and beginning to be indistinguishable from every other cup of coffee I’d had.

Multiple rooms were the Break’s main drawback. A visitor couldn’t instantly see who was there—one had to walk around the three different rooms and endure the cold stares of those who wanted to be left alone. The shop also attracts a younger crowd—thanks both to the coolness factor I mentioned and being open 24 hours a day.

Still, the Java Break epitomizes everything a college town coffee shop should be—from servers dressed all in black to nervous freshmen trying to concentrate on psychology homework. It’s a testament to the store that this carefully cultivated atmosphere managed to percolate through my caffeine-addled brain at all.

Descriptive adjective: Groovy

Number of strange looks from customers as I peered owlishly in various

rooms: 20 (estimated)

Preparation time: 30 seconds

La Prima Tazza

638 Massachusetts St.

A pleasant end to a night full of caffeinated hyper-ness.

I was rattled by the time I entered the store. It was 10:30, and five cups of charged cappuccino were blazing their way through my system. The experiment, such as it was, needed to end. Right there.

Thankfully, La Prima Tazza was the last open shop I could find in the downtown area. Any more might have driven me finally, irrevocably bonkers. As it was, the brightly lit and spotlessly clean store soothed my frayed nerves.

I ordered my sixth, and final, cup. I sampled it, and nodded agreeably as instrumental jazz played over the store’s speakers. Any powers of comparison I may have had were weakened by the coffee-flavored fuzz coating the inside of my mouth.

Three other customers—working on math homework—were in the store. I sipped on my cappuccino and smiled. I had survived the night. I had survived the coffee. I had survived crowds of angst-ridden twentysomethings. But most importantly, I’d seen a cross-section of late-night coffee culture in Lawrence.

Had I learned anything?

Absolutely.

Drinking six cups of cappuccino is insane.

Descriptive adjective: Pristine

Preparation time: One minute and 30 seconds

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