KC Perky

I’ve been stalling on reviewing K-City Coffeehouse because I really hate giving bad reviews.  Today was my third, and finally, somewhat positive visit.  But before I get to what’s changed from when this was Eljay’s, let’s visit on what’s the same: nearly everything but what matters.  The tables, chairs, deco, corkboard, lamps, cash register, espresso machine… all the same.  All originally good, all still good.  Atmosphere preserved.  In fact, background music selection… better!

Events are finally getting rolling here again.  I’ll forever miss the jazz trio + wine nights Eljays had, and who knows, maybe they’ll return to K-City yet.  Tonight is an open mic poetry night.  This Saturday noontime will feature a solo musician.  So glad to see it picking back up.

Word is that their lunchtime paninis are awesome.  I can’t speak to that myself, but if any of you have had their paninis, please post a comment.

Now, on to the less-good and more fundamental stuff.

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I haven’t been very proactive in reviewing coffee shops in the last many months, but today’s coffee shop experience was just too good to not post about.  But before we get to that…

Eljays closed.  Sad, truly.  But good news: a new shop K City is moving in and opening in December!  This coffee shop is not to be confused with the comic strip by Bruno, http://www.brunopieroni.com/kcity/.

Savvy closed.  Sad, truly.  But they’re reopening.  There’s new furniture in there and they have new signs n whatnot.  Yaaay!

Back to this morning’s awesomeness.

A ‘new’ shop opened in what used to be Planet Cafe on Broadway.  They call themselves Coffee Wonk.

As you can see from this picture of their front door, there’s a tiny little sign in the middle of the cup.  Briefly it says, “This house is a safe space.  Actions or language that perpetuate sexist, racist, homophobic … will NOT be tolerated.”  So, you can tell this coffee shop is very much a continuation of the previous Planet Cafe, shooting for a similar vibe.  Just inside the front door is a chalkboard that seemed to indicate to me that they are open 24 hours a day for 4 days of the week (similar to YJ’s).  The new Coffee Wonk also looks very similar inside to Planet Cafe: Read the rest of this entry »

Looks like the coffee economy is picking up a bit!  More new places to try:

Phil’s on 63rd (where Max’s Autodiner used to be)
Petra Coffeehouse in Raytown
The Steamin Bean in Blue Springs
Zombie Joe’s is still in a holding pattern on opening, but they have bumper stickers!
And of course, all those places in Waldo are getting rolling, particularly One More Cup

A place out in San Fran, Trouble Coffee, has been serving an interesting drink, Cold Press Coffee.  Any baristas around here up to try to make it for us?  If so, hit back in the comments and we’ll come try it:

…cold press coffee which is ground espresso beans soaked for 24 hours and hand-mixed three times & then all the grounds settle & you’re left with this rather amazing, never warmed mellow drink. Almost a liquor in flavor. Strong as shit.

And last but not least, by total surprise, The OC Register (newspaper in LA) put us on the short list of coffee shop websites.  Let’s hear it for KC getting cred!  Whoo hoo!

And now, with no reason to mention them other than I like them:

Black Dog Coffeehouse.

We all love our coffee.  And when somebody gives you something you love, sometimes it rubs off.  I’m talking about the Barista Crush.  We’ve all had one.  I was talking to a barista this morning who admits to have had her own crush on a barista earlier in her life.  Which is why Kristin Chenoweth’s song is so amusing (see below).

What’s better though, is the viral response to her song, “Taylor’s Response”.  This man has the first singing of the song on YouTube, presumably he wrote it.  However, below you’ll find the funniest performance of the response, this one done at an Epcot Center concert.

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In order of discovery!

Coffee Art

Coffee Art is alive and well in KC, and here’s proof.  I unfortunately have no idea what shop Lesa and her sister were drinking at, but, yeah.  What a beauty.

Starbucks is trimming management.  They claim no baristas will be laid off, but I suspect it is only a matter of time till branches start to feel the pinch.  Its unfortunate, but I fear coffee shops in general will be feeling the pinch of this economic down turn, more so than any other type of food service.

How Coffee Works.  A brief history of coffee, how its made, how decaf is made (worthless), and everything else.  There’s a collalary documentary on Discovery channel some times if you want to watch it.  Pop quiz: Which is the only US state to grow coffee?

Coffee, as told by napkins.  Back in December a NYT guy had a lot of fun telling a coffee story, illustrated by drawing with coffee onto napkins.  This is old news by now (2 months is forever on the internet), but if you missed it, the illustrations and story are pretty amusing.

Twitter brews up business.  Hey KC coffee shop owners, want to improve your customer’s experience?  Try what this shop did: allow ordering via Twitter.  If anybody does this, please, please, PLEASE let me know @mildweed (or this post).  I will SO tweet you some orders, as would the rest of the Social Media Club of KC, probably.

Boozefish goes MORE European with “Le plaisir de jour” (aka Boozefish Brunch).  Now on Saturdays, you can get very special espresso along with authentic crepes.  Of note, its only from 10-2, so don’t wake up toooooo early on Saturday.

Wired Waldo.  Finally back to KC coffee shops specifically, Waldo is about to explode with coffee shops.  Silly me, till this article was published a couple days ago, I only knew about one of these.  As far as I can tell, there are only a few parts of town with this kind of density: Downtown, Crossroads, 39th St / Westport, The Plaza, and JCCC.  Something tells me that Waldo doesn’t have the kind of coffee traffic to keep all 3 alive.  Location, location, location, people.

Also, I’m posting some map updates right now.  Thanks for all the tips Kay, Darrell, Mike and Bret, keep ‘em comin in to scott@kcperky.com:

Bean Counter Cafe, 9019 S Highway 7, Lee’s Summit, MO 60464
Dean & Deluca, 4700 West 119th St, Leawood, KS
Kansas City Coffee Company, 1807 East 123rd Terrace, Olathe, Kansas 66061
Java Crossing, 8830 West 95th Street, Overland Park, Kansas 66212
Latte Land, 7224 W 135th St, Overland Park, KS 66223 (Where Beanology used to be)

Its getting hard to keep up with all the Latte Land locations.  They’re possibly the city’s most successful local coffee chain.

Hi you coffee and tea fans!  I know I’ve been lax in my blogging duties… to be honest it’s been a little intimidating.  I decided to kick off my first blog with a place I really like, even if it’s a coffee place mostly.

Dunn Bros Coffee is a nice place to chill, fortunately for me it’s also a great place to work.  Since I work for myself, I’m always on the look out for a free wi-fi connection, quite music, and a good cup of tea to settle myself into an afternoon’s work.  Dunn Bros Coffee has that and more in their two locations (8975 Metcalf & 535 E Red Bridge Rd).  I prefer the Metcalf location with more room and tray tables for the comfy chairs, but the Red Bridge location is doing quite a business as well.

Dunn Bros Coffee also roasts their own coffee on site in small batches every day.  This affords you fantastic quality and freshness, whether you are having a cup in the store or buying beans to take home to your own Bistro.  Being a “Tea Chick” myself, I did not partake in the roasted goodness, but got a favorable report from the friend that I met there.  The tea while not being loose leaf is made by Mighty Leaf and tastes pretty good.  You might have to take the quality into your own hands however, since Dunn Bros like most coffee shops does not understand what it takes to brew a truly great cup of tea.  I’ve included some pointers below to help you out.
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Old-ish news: A Cup Above, on Barry Rd, has closed.

New-ish news: Friendly Bean Coffee has taken their place!

I suppose between this and Rev!, it means that my previous prediction was wrong: Church-based coffee shops are just as prone to failure as all their secular sisters, despite their 501(c)(3) status.

Hello Perkites and Perkoids.  Christmas & New Years have passed, and I’m still alive.  AND with a TON to post about.  Let’s get right to it:

Zombie Joe’s Coffee is opening soon down at 87th & Farley (near 87 & I-35).  Despite the font on their website, I am still inclined to go drink their coffee.

Drink a Latte has been open for about a month, just west of KU Med at 39th St & Rainbow Rd.  Very friendly, comfortable, and great wifi.  The coffee isn’t bad either!  Despite the plethora of coffee shops on 39th St, this shop stands a chance, mostly because of its location: on a high-traffic street and the closest shop to the hospital.

Coffee Break down near Rockhurst and UMKC is hosting an open mic night every second Friday of the month.  That makes the next event February 13th.  Go check it out.

Eljay’s Coffee House down in the River Market is hosting a ton of events, oft on Thursdays
- First Fridays with live jazz, including vocal jazz
- Improv Gym every Thursday night and some Saturday afternoons
- Currents Book Club every Thursday night
- Wine tastings every Thursday evening

The rumors are true, Waldo Coffee Cup may have passed away, but ‘One More Cup’ has picked up the slack and has brought coffee back to Waldo.  Can’t keep a good location down.

I’ve been tipped off to Stewart Town Coffee over in SE KC.  Anybody know if it actually exists?  5806 Brighton Ave, KCMO.

A new southland coffee meetup group just started yesterday.  No, not by me, silly.  By some fellow named Gene.  Bottoms up to Gene!

And last but not least, KCPerky had a baby!  ChiPerky.com is now up and running in Chicago, covering the scene there!  If you’re from Chicago or know somebody up there, show ChiPerky some love and subscribe to their blog :)

First off, remember the old Habitat shoe store on 18th, just a stone’s throw from YJ’s and around the block from Mildred’s?  They’re looking to put a coffee shop in there.  Don’t ask me.  But anyways, they’re doing market research.  Go tell them what you want in a shop there with this survey. [via]

In old news, Danny O’Neil of The Roastarie is one of the best coffee tasters in the nation.  Its true, the internet says so.  All that aside, I’ve been meaning to go tour the facilities of The Roastarie.  They have tours every Saturday at 9AM.  Its true, the internet says so.  I was thinking about organizing a KC Perky outing to go tour together.  Are any of the readers of this blog interested in meeting other coffee-minded people to go take this tour?  Shout back in the comments.

I always have trouble writing about a coffee shop I visit a lot.  I fear that my frequency has biased my opinions on a shop, that the good times with friends had there affect my opinions of the character of the shop itself.  I’ve finally come to realize, that’s OK.  As noted in the post Roman Coffee Shops, community is just as important as the other three axis of coffee (those being coffee quality, service, and atmosphere).  So with no further ado, …

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