coffee

Judging Coffee Houses – Cafe Collage

By Prince Of Petworth

When Mid City Caffe closed I assumed folks would head to the Peregrine nearby. I totally forgot about Cafe Collage which went under new management way back in March 2009. Cafe Collage is located right next to Cafe St. Ex at 1346 T St, NW. Their Web site says:

“Our quiet location is the perfect place to catch up on some coffee-infused study or work time, fuel your brain with our Da Vinci Tea St. Special Grilled Veggi, or treat yourself to our renowned Picasso roast beef and cheese sandwich. You can also take advantage of our basement quarters and have an intimate conversation with several family members and friends without being packed against a series of wi-fi users. (Although we do have room for you, too…)”

Looks like they also quote a previous PoP commenter who is a fan. I don’t know why I always forget about this place. You can see their full menu here. And I now see:

“We now feature beer & wine! A glass of house wine, domestic, or imported beer costs only $3.”

Any fans?

The 5pm Post – “Special coffee cupping, free espresso giveaways and discussion with top coffee roaster” Sat.

By Prince Of Petworth

From an email:

“What: Special coffee cupping, free espresso giveaways and discussion with top coffee roaster
Where: Pound The Hill, 621 Penn Ave SE, Eastern Market Metro
Who: Head Roaster of Kickapoo Coffee (2010 Micro-Roaster of the Year), Owners/Baristas from Pound, Coffee Enthusiasts
When: Saturday, 11/5, 2-4pm

As you may know, we are the only shop on the east coast that carries Kickapoo Coffee and we’ve become one of their largest clients. Kickapoo, selected as the number 1 micro-roaster in the country in 2010 by Roast Magazine, is a small buy very high quality boutique roaster out of Wisconsin who is dedicated to fair trade, organic coffees. The owner and head roaster of Kickapoo, Caleb Nicholes, is stopping over in DC on his way to meet with some new coffee growers in Ethiopia and is spending the afternoon at Pound giving away espresso and conducting a cupping to allow coffee connoisseurs and newbies alike to be able to recognize and appreciate the subtle differences from one roast or region of coffee to another.

Caleb will be at our store starting at 2pm and we will conduct the cupping at 3pm. In order to join for the cupping, people interested must email us at [email protected] to get on the list as cuppings are done with a limited, intimate group. But the free espresso is for everyone that comes by and they will get to taste up to three different espressos from Kickapoo and chat with the head roaster himself!”

Dunkin Donuts Finally Opens at 14th and U St, NW

By Prince Of Petworth

“Dear PoPville,

The new Dunkin’ Donuts on 14th and U St is NOW OPEN! I pass it every day, and I have been waiting months for it to open up. According to the notices that have been on their windows, they’d been training their staff for quite some time. So I was delighted to see that it was open this morning. The staff is super nice, but you can tell they’re still brand-spanking new and so are just a bit slow (they’re still learning).

And I think there is a special going on? I was running to catch the circulator, so I didn’t stay to find out what it was. But I bought a medium coffee and a flatbread sandwich and I only paid $3.05! So I think maybe the coffee’s free with purchase of a sandwich or something?

In any case, I’m happy Dunkin’ Donuts is in the neighborhood.”

This can be a pretty divisive topic – but I’m with you – this makes me very happy.

New Coffee Shop Coming to Georgia Ave. in Pleasant Plains?

By Prince Of Petworth

Thanks to a reader for sending this potentially sweet news that word on the street is that a new coffee shop could be on the way to the old building at 2904 Georgia Ave, NW (at the corner of Harvard.) It’ll be great to see this old building get fixed up. Though keep in mind that Sankofa Cafe is located nearby at 2714 Georgia Ave, NW.

More info when it becomes available.


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Mid City Caffe Closing Oct. 1st in Logan Circle

By Prince Of Petworth

First Sparky’s Cafe closes then Cafe 14U and now this…

Yesterday at 5pm I got the following sad press release:

“Logan Circle’s Mid City Caffe has announced that it will be closing for business. The final day of normal operation will be September 30, 2011 with limited hours of operation on October 1. The café was opened in 2009 by a pair of entrepreneurs who turned the interior of the former auto-body shop into a comfortable environment for the neighborhood’s residents to work, relax and socialize.

Unfortunately, the second-story location outside the downtown core proved underperforming. Limited accessibility restricted morning commuter and daytime foot-traffic, and while the café was blessed with a coterie of dedicated regulars, ultimately the volume simply was not there.

Known particularly as a gathering place for the neighborhood’s freelancers and creative professionals, Mid City Caffe proudly served coffee from Counter Culture Coffee and Caffe Pronto prepared by an expertly trained staff. The café’s closing will leave a gap in the expanding, but nightlife-focused, Fourteenth Street corridor.

It has been a pleasure to serve the Logan Circle neighborhood and to be apart of the city’s burgeoning specialty coffee scene. While the ownership and staff are excited to move on to other opportunities, they will miss their devoted customers.”

Mid City Caffe, located above Miss Pixie’s (also likely moving in 2012) at 1626 14th Street, NW, opened up back in Aug. ’09.

Coffee fans will now have to head to Peregrine which opened up down the block at 1718 14th St, NW in May ’11.

Do you guys think that the neighborhood couldn’t support both Peregrine and Mid City or do you think “the second-story location outside the downtown core” was Mid City’s downfall?

Shaw’s Tavern to Turn into a Coffee House?

By Prince Of Petworth

Back in late Aug. we learned that Shaw’s Tavern would be closing at 520 Florida Ave, NW until they got a liquor license.

On the Shaw listserv this morning the CCCA President wrote:

“StevenMay of #ShawsTavern walked passed the casa and told me the jont may reopen as coffeehouse w/o ABRA license. They r working on sidewalk”

I thought Mr. May was no longer affiliated with the project but maybe he heard some scuttlebutt? As of 11am there was no update on Shaw’s Tavern facebook page.

Do you think Shaw’s Tavern reopening as a coffee house would be a good idea?

Peregrine Expands Bicycle Coffee Delivery Program

By Prince Of Petworth

From a press release:

“Peregrine Espresso is pleased to announce the expansion of our one-of-a-kind Pedaler by Peregrine coffee delivery program to include our new neighbors in Northwest D.C. Anyone who lives or works by one of our stores can have fresh roasted whole bean coffee delivered by bike right to their door.

Every Thursday our Pedaler by Peregrine bike heads out stocked with Counter Culture Coffee seasonal coffees and espressos to be delivered to our customers. The weekly coffee selection is accompanied by a detailed biography allowing customers to explore the story behind the coffee including information about the producer as well as in-depth tasting notes. The delivery service is now available to any home, office or business between Columbia Road and H Street NW, bordered on the east by 7th Street NW and on the west by Rock Creek Parkway. Delivery is also available in the Capitol Hill neighborhood between H Street NE and M Street SE, bordered on the east by the Anacostia River and the west by the Capitol building.”

For more detailed information on the Pedaler by Peregrine program or to sign up, please visit
www.pedalerbyperegrine.com or email [email protected].

New French Bakery, Caprice, Coming to Columbia Heights!

By Prince Of Petworth


Rendering for Caprice to be located at 3460 14th St, NW

Back in Aug. ’10 we first learned of plans for a :

“French coffee shop and bakery, with authentic French pastries and several varieties of bread– including real baguettes!– baked on site.”

It’s been a long year of anticipation but I am overjoyed to say that a lease has been signed and construction has begun on Caprice, a new French Bakery coming to the Allegro retail space at 3460 14th St, NW.

I sat down with the owners on Tuesday afternoon and have been smiling ever since. It is an insane coincidence that I’ve just returned from Paris so every time they explained a pastry or a baguette, I could actually taste what they were talking about.

So let me share some details first:

Construction is slated to be completed around the end of November.

There will be a small indoor sitting area for about 10-12 people and later in the Spring there will likely be a small outdoor patio area.

The Chef Baker lived in France for 20 years.

The bakery is locally owned by a family that lives 2 blocks away.

While there will be a variety of breads including real baguettes baked daily on site, the head Chef Baker also has a passion for pastries so expect to see Pain au Chocolate, Croissants, Macarrons, Petits Choux and more. In the future they will also offer soups and sandwiches. Think cheese and butter on a baguette. Ham on a baguette…

The hours will be 7am – 7pm though they could be extended if there is enough demand (see questions below.)

You can see from the photo about that there are actually two big spaces. They are both roughly 900 square feet with one being the public area and the other being the baking area.

So this leads me to a few questions that owners had for you guys: You can see that the baking area can be visible from the street so if you wanted you could actually watch the baking process – is that something you’d be interested in? Would you like to be able to watch the kitchen/baking area from the street.

Another question they had was about coffee – is there a particular brand you’d like to see served? Illy? Counter Culture? Something else?

Finally, how do you like the hours of 7am – 7pm? Are they good or would you prefer earlier? Later?

Stay tuned for more info/details as we get closer to the opening date.

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