Comments on: Intellivenice and a digression

By: t o n x

t o n x — Mon, 25 May 2009 20:26:48 +0000

Jake - I started to reply to you on the seating question, and it has practically turned into a whole blog post. I think I’ll roll it into another intellivenice post with some more detail about how i think the flow will work (in response to MikeWhite on shotzombies).

By: Jake

Jake — Sun, 24 May 2009 19:46:05 +0000

Can you speak a little bit about the seating? To me it seems detrimental to not offer table seating when you want people to stay and enjoy their drink. Or is the idea that the benches allow more people to sit and enjoy without the commitment of taking a full table?

By: Darin Arrick

Darin Arrick — Sat, 23 May 2009 22:12:43 +0000

“So, until the barista community becomes a bunch of grumpy old men/women demanding that people sit down and drink their coffee out of ceramic cups, public opinion won’t change.”

Well, here’s a 37-year-old barista who demands ceramic. If I go somewhere and they default to paper, my mental coffee professor fails them automatically. It’s up there with blackened beans and 16oz double cappuccinos. And I’m pretty grumpy. Educating and convincing the public—who are less interested and less involved in coffee than any barista—is exceptionally difficult.

By: Anne Nylander

Anne Nylander — Mon, 11 May 2009 14:41:44 +0000

Glad you posted this! Next up, bourbon blog (which, btw, I would actually love to read).

Has intelligentsia gotten in touch with Marketplace? I bet the opening/coffee during the recession/fight against the mclatte would be enough of a story. Mr. Zell has gotten really good at making his case.

By: true

true — Wed, 06 May 2009 23:32:36 +0000

Nick, I’m working on that grumpy old man/ceramic cup thing, and it’s working out better than expected.

By: bfortch

bfortch — Wed, 06 May 2009 19:40:34 +0000

The elimination of tables and chairs and ad-hoc seating, combined with making better use of vertical space, is something I haven’t seen coffeehouses really explore. I’ve been inspired by this little place in Barcelona owned by Camper (yes the shoe company) http://www.flickr.com/photos/prosales/18490637/ and http://www.flickr.com/photos/stefancyber/59290438/

Its great to know that there is a growing buzz for this type of coffee in my homeland, a city that is otherwise still sadly dominated by chain & coffee mediocrity.

By: Nick

Nick — Wed, 06 May 2009 19:28:37 +0000

I’m going to say a couple outlandish things.

1) Americans are addicted to coffee, at least culturally. If it’s not an addiction, it’s an unhealthy relationship. I’m currently in Italy, and while they do drink a lot of coffee, it’s always in moderation. I’ve yet to get a caffeine buzz here. My flatmate was just in Seattle and she said that the doubles were too big for her. The average American drinks enough coffee to develop a caffeine dependence very quickly, and if there’s no coffee, the headaches come. Anything that endangers a cheap and plentiful supply of caffeine is a threat.

2) No matter how good the coffee or the service is, I don’t think that people will ever be comfortable with young people in casual clothes serving a product of this quality and price level. It’s as if people under 30 cannot possibly be experts on anything, even if they have put in the time. This is incredibly frustrating, because I think most of the USBC competitors fit that description - they’ve all put in the 10,000 hours or whatever to learn their craft.

The other thing aspect of this is paper cups. Paper delivery system does not equal high quality.

So, until the barista community becomes a bunch of grumpy old men/women demanding that people sit down and drink their coffee out of ceramic cups, public opinion won’t change.

By: aaron

aaron — Wed, 06 May 2009 19:12:08 +0000

Heard the piece yesterday, too. First I thought, “How did he get a latte from McDonald’s and a latte from Starbucks into the studio (or together in one place with a mic) and into mystery cups so fast?” Second, I was reminded that to so many casual coffee consumers, more expensive necessarily means “specialty” and specialty necessarily equals froo-froo beverages.

There’s a misconnect. Frilly drinks prices are trending downward, a la McD’s and Dunkin, while carefully sourced single origins are still trending upward.

Is this the beginning of the divorce between s.o.’s and caffeinated milky sugar bombs or are they forever linked–thanks in part to skin deep journalistic analysis?

By: Deaton

Deaton — Wed, 06 May 2009 18:54:14 +0000

Great read and all I will say is I can’t wait for the cafe to open!

Make sure you keep bloggin!!!

By: eric perkunder

eric perkunder — Wed, 06 May 2009 18:12:26 +0000

Coffee of the kind you get from Intelli is a ridiculous bargain. Direct sourced, hand roasted, and retailed by staff that will spend as much time as you need explaining or even sampling the coffee for you–it is hard to think of any other industry that goes to such lengths to ensure the quality of their product and the satisfaction of their customers. Nice post Mr Tonx!

Eric Perkunder