| Independents
do it without chains: Enjoy your locally-owned coffeehouse. Bumper sticker in the Malaprop Cafe ~ Asheville, NC |
|
| Independents
do it without chains: Enjoy your locally-owned coffeehouse. Bumper sticker in the Malaprop Cafe ~ Asheville, NC |
|
| Massachusetts In the spring of 2007, I taught a course entitled The Secret Life of Coffee, in which I challenged students to find interesting local coffee shops and report to the entire class about the coffee and the atmosphere. The Massachusetts section of this page includes some of their favorites, in addition to my own. Bridgewater, Massachusetts is a small college town that has a dozen franchised coffee/donut shops (including two Dunkin Donuts and one Starbucks on the campus of Bridgewater State College) and several independent shops, each with its own character and loyal clientele. Because we are in New England, even the McDonald's has good coffee -- Newman's Own Fair Trade coffee from Vermont Coffee Roasters. Of the twenty or so places to get coffee in this small town, however, one deserves special mention: Rockin' K Cafe on Broad Street (by the train tracks) is operated by the Kunkel family, and is completely committed to excellent, fairly traded coffee. I enjoy some other local shops, but nothing in town tastes better, and we know that the farmers have been treated fairly. Parking is free right in front of the shop, and it is a short walk from the Bridgewater State College campus. The menu includes all kinds of organic sandwiches and yummy pastries. Also near the college in Bridgewater is The Better Bean Coffee Company on Central Square, which has good coffee, friendly service, and a pleasant atmosphere. On November 6, 2007, the proprietor of the Better Bean and I are both featured in a brief television news story about coffee prices. Ironically, the story is really about the increase in robusta coffee, which both of us avoid! In Boston, the Mary Baker Eddy library is a great refuge -- a place that celebrates ideas. Within the library is the famous Mapparium and a Hall of Ideas. The Mapparium is a 30-foot glass globe that visitors tour from inside (an admission fee is charged). The Hall of Ideas is a high-tech work of art and philosophy, featuring aphorisms from the world's great thinkers. Research and reading space is also available. Such intellectual resources are an ideal setting for Quotes café. It looks something like an ordinary museum cafeteria, but it serves wonderful, healthy food, and organic, fair-trade coffee from Green Mountain Coffee Roasters. (I am, by the way, a big fan of aphorisms.) A new local favorite is the Streetside Cafe in Middleborough, a few miles south of Bridgewater. I recommend it mainly for the atmosphere: it is both a hub for local regulars and a very welcoming spot for new visitors. The cafe serves Boston-roasted Victor coffee and has free wireless internet. Pie in the Sky in Woods Hole (part of Falmouth, on Cape Cod) serves only 100 percent organic Dean's Beans, along with great food made fresh on the premises. Owner Erik is the first coffee-shop proprietor to seek me out because of this web page. The shop is as good as he told me it would be -- terrific coffee properly prepared and good, healthy food. The shop is tiny, and is located just next to the Steamship Authority docks for Martha's Vineyard.
 Of all the shops visited by my students, Kiskadee Coffee in Plymouth generated the most enthusiasm. Mikaela (who took this photo) was impressed by the family-owned business with its own roastery, knowledgeable staff, excellent baked goods, and great atmosphere for chatting or study. She visited the main shop at 18 Main Street in Plymouth. A second shop is located on Rte. 53 in Hanover, at Merchant's Row.  I very much enjoy the South Coast area
between New Bedford and the Atlantic, and have had the good fortune of
attending -- and even speaking at -- a number of events at
UMass-Dartmouth. Whenever I am in the area, I stop in at Mirasol's Café
on Route 6 in Dartmouth, just a bit north of the campus. This place has
it all -- Peruvian pride, Jim's
Organic Coffee, a
variety of teas, and
excellent food for every taste. Prices are very reasonable, the decor
splendid, and the owners pay
attention to detail, environmental concerns, and justice issues. It
even has good Latin American music
playing softly at all times, special events, and free wireless.
Caution: The coffee is brewed to the correct temperature of about 204
degrees; if you are not used to this, be careful!
Maryland |
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Rhode Island
North Carolina It was in Nicaragua that I learned of various connections between North Carolina and fair-trade coffee. On a family visit in May 2007, I had a chance to see just how important good coffee -- and fair treatment of the farmers -- has become in this state. To me the most important is one that I have not yet visited: Counter Culture Coffee in Durham, which I actually learned about from a host family in San Ramon, Matagalpa. Some of the other shops I found in 2007 are mentioned below. Counter Culture has also produced a DVD of the 2005 Southeast Regional Barista competition, which shows the ultimate in caring for coffee from the field to the cup! One caveat in North Carolina: many are likely to be closed on Sunday, and perhaps also on Monday.  My North Carolina family roots include Cherokee ancestors, though
this connection is about seven generations removed. I was delighted to
find a fair-trade coffee shop in a cultural museum right in the center
of Cherokee. Coffee in this shop -- Tribal Grounds at Lift
Culture
House -- meets
four certifications: fair-trade, organic, shade-grown, and indigenous. The coffee is now
roasted on site (though they
started out with Counter Culture). The coffee is delicious, as are the
bagels. Service is friendly and the atmosphere quite nice. WiFi is
available,
although a fee is charged. Most other shops in the region have free
WiFi,
so this might chnage. My daughter had the orange cream smoothie (with
mango),
which she recommends heartily!The small city of Waynesville has a number of excellent coffee shops. I was especially interested in The Coffee Zone at 76 Waynesville Plaza, in a former bank branch located in front of a strip mall. About half the customers get their locally-roasted coffee through the former drive-up teller window, while the other half come in to enjoy the simple but comfortable ambience, conversation, and free wireless internet. The coffee here is excellent. Smoky Mountain Coffee Roasters on Main Street in Waynesville was closed during much of our weekend visit, but we had its excellent coffee in a couple of other shops in the region. The coffee is fair trade and/or organic, and this one shop is responsible for much of the excellent coffee sold in Waynesville and nearby towns. Asheville is a much more interesting place than the city I remember visiting as a child. The downtown is exactly what a downtown should be: a place with a variety of shops, restaurants, and people walking about. The best coffee shop we found is Malaprop's Cafe at 55 Haywood Street. For those who are tired of big-chain book stores, big-chain coffee shops , and the corporate music, this is a trifecta: a nice book store with an independent coffee shop and frequent live performances by local musicians.
New Hampshire In Gorham we enjoyed fair-trade coffee from Kaffé Magnum Opus and pancakes at the Moonbeam Cafe at 19 Exchange Street, near the train museum at the south end of the Main Street. It is a small coffee shop with a full breakfast menu and a devoted clientele . If you get there and the place is full (very likely on a summer weekend), leave your name and go browsing in the book store across the street or other nearby shops. Vermont Vermont is heroically loyal to local businesses, making it a good place to find independent cafes. Vermont is home to Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, making it possible to get a decent cup of coffee at any of hundreds of gas stations throughout the state. Green Mountain sells a variety of coffees -- even flavored coffee, which I can no longer tolerate. It is steadily increasing its organic and fair-trade offerings, which is why I met a GMCR delegation in Matagalpa in 2007. Thanks to GMCR, if I am somewhere in New York or New England with no independent coffee shop in sight, I have a new refuge (since I no longer drink Dunkin' Donuts). All McDonald's in the region sell Newman's Own organic, fair-trade coffee, roasted in Vermont! This one contract has increased the fair-trade component of Green Mountain's business from 30 percent to 38 percent. I was especially delighted to find Rainbow Sweets in Marshfield , where owners Patricia Halloran and William Tecosky provide an absolutely delightful atmosphere and delicious, European-style pastries of all kinds, along with empanadas, quiche, pizza, and more. They serve espresso drinks made with Peet's and Fairwinds coffee by the cup. The coffee is not the focus of this shop, but the Fairwinds is fairly-traded and good. Peet's, though not fair-trade, is excellent coffee. If you find this shop -- on U.S. Route 2 just a bit west of the village of Marshfield -- be prepared to enjoy Bill's energetic banter! California I have not been to California since I developed my coffee obsession, but a shop that deserves special mention is Barefoot Coffee Roasters in Santa Clara. Judging solely from the web site, its staff has an unparalleled dedication to coffee perfection. I hope to have a cup there some time! General Observations -- National and International
 National chains, of course, also compete on atmosphere, quality, and fairness in some interesting ways. Two items on NPR's Morning Edition November 26, 2007 discuss the approaches of three of the giants. "Ads Give Dunkin' Donuts National Appeal" compares the target audiences of Dunkin' and Starbucks. "McDonald's to Battle Upscale Coffee Retailers" describes the food chain's consideration of latte, including the possibility of a franchiser backlash. In New England, McDonald's has offered fair trade coffee from GMCR since 2005.
See Dr. Hayes-Bohanan's Environmental Geography for more on the world in general. See Dr. Hayes-Bohanan's Geography of Coffee page for more on the farmers, trade, fairness, and travels in coffeelands. See Dr. Hayes-Bohanan's County Map Project for quirky observations about most of the fifty United States. See the Department of Geography page to find out what the rest of the geographers are up to. |
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