Cup of Coffee from Huck Finn's

Item Purchased: Cup of Coffee
Location Purchased: Huck Finn Restaurant / 3414 S. Archer Ave. / Chicago, IL
Price: $1.20 + tax

Review: Diner coffee is a thing of mystery and beauty. Mystery because you never know if it will be watery and weak or singed and strong. Beautiful because, along with the endless refills, the liquid is ever changing. An early refill throws off the balance of sugar and cream and you must treat the chemistry with a careful hand and keen eye. Will the hurried waitress tend to your empty reservoir, or is she too busy helping the other diners?

Regardless of the outcome of the coffee itself or the frequency of replenishment, the best thing about diner coffee is that it is always there.

Since Huck Finn's is open 24 hours a day, this is especially true of the coffee at Huck Finn's.

Oh, and in case you were wondering... It was weak today, but the waitress was on her game!

Rating: 3.5 / 5

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Cup of Coffee from Bridgeport Bakery

Item Purchased: Cup of Coffee from Bridgeport Bakery
Location Purchased: Bridgeport Bakery / 2907 S. Archer Ave. / Chicago, IL
Price: $1.00 + tax

Review: Those of you who read the site regularly may want to get your tape recorders handy, because what I am about to say may shock you...

This may quite possibly be the worst cup of coffee I have ever had the displeasure to put into my mouth.

That's right... I said it. Bring on the Starbucks, Folgers or Starbucks/Folgers blend any day! This was quite offal (pun intended).

I appreciate a good cup of coffee, but I've also been known to enjoy a cup of watery swill more than the average bear.

Don't get me wrong, Bridgeport Bakery is good at doing what their name says they do... Bake! A coffeeshop, they are not. I've had lecture-hall vending machine coffee that tastes like it came from a silver pot when compared to this stuff.

BB's coffee is self-serve and sits in a diner-style glass pot atop a hotplate warmplate lukewarmplate room-temperature-plate by the entrance. After pouring it yourself and fixing it to your liking, if the smell doesn't hit you, the first sip will. Cold, bitter and watery with a bit of a dull cardboard aftertaste. Is this simply a leftover pot from last week's morning shift that got lost in the kitchen?

Oh the things I will do to wake up.

Never again. This was so bad, I had to buy a gutrot Coke to get the taste out of my mouth.

Stop in at Bridgeport Bakery for a pastry or bread loaf, but for your own good, stay away from that light brown liquid they call coffee.

Rating: .05 / 5

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Small Coffee from Eat, Drink & Surf NetCafe

Item Purchased: Small Coffee
Location Purchased: Eat, Drink & Surf NetCafe / 246 East 14th St. / New York, NY
Price: $1.75 + tax
Purchased on: 02/01/07

Review: This quaint new coffee shop in Manhattan's East Village may still be finding its personality (it was formerly a copy shop and only became a cafe within the last month), but the coffee, price and personality of the owner makes up for it.

Though the coffee is a bit on the high end in price. It's also on the high end in flavor. Earthy complexity and low acidity makes this a great place to stop on your way to your day.

And with free wireless access, you can kill a few minutes rearranging your "Top 8" before heading into the office. You know, important stuff.

Rating: 4 / 5

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2 Small Coffees from Coffee Beanery

Item Purchased: 2 Small Coffees
Location Purchased: Coffee Beanery #254 / LaGuardia Airport / Flushing, NY
Price: $1.50 + tax ea.

Purchased On: 02/03/07

Review: You'd think, since I was on the east coast, that I would run to my beloved Dunkin' Donuts, which are everywhere. Nope. When in Rome, look for something Roman that you'd never find back home in Chicago. That's what I always say. (Okay, I've never said it, but, whatever)

Of course, Rome is part of the global economy, just like the rest of us, now. What I mean to say is that the coffee at Coffee Beanery is nothing I haven't had back home at a local Caribou coffee shop. Though I am not sure of the exact roast or blend I received, both cups were a lighter roast, and when mixed with the cream and sugar I add to every cup of coffee I drink, I'd place this coffee right along side the Caribou blend coffee I drink so very often.

Yes, I rate the Caribou blend rather high, but since this is simply a doppelganger of something I've had many times before, the Coffee Beanery gets a solid average score.

Rating: 2.5 / 5

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2 Bagels w/Cream Cheese & Small Coffee from Mike's Coffee Truck Express

Item Purchased: 2 Bagels w/Cream Cheese & Small Coffee
Location Purchased: Mike's Coffee Truck Express / Next to the Wyndham Garden Hotel @ 100-15 Ditmars Blvd. / East Elmhurst, NY
Price: $3.00 w/tax

Purchased on: 02/03/07

Review: People say that New York is an expensive place, but I beg to differ. At least, I beg to differ as long as my flight and hotel room are being paid by my employer. Dining out is a whole new ballgame, however. I'm no snob of elite eateries when I travel. It's cheap cheap cheap for me. I'm not one to balk at a street vendor, either. In fact, I welcome them with open arms.

Little did I know that there would be one of those mobile meal masters so damn close to my hotel (we're talking right next door!). Mike's coffee truck express can cook you a omelette or a frankfurter but all I needed was a stiff cup of caffeine and a breakfast pastry.

Bagels of all varieties decorate the front of Mike's roadside bistro, each wrapped in cellophane. All I had to do was pluck the sugarless donut of my choice and Mike & co. would toast, slather with cream cheese and re-wrap it for me. They even prepared my coffee just the way I asked before plunging both objects into a brown paper bag and taking less money than some homeless people get from me.

Not only are Mike's edibles on the cheap, but these bagels are true New York style... Huge! Nearly twice the size of any bagel you will find in Chicago and under half the price, Mike's is something out of a lunch cart fantasy. Even the coffee was decent and not watery as I had expected! I defy you to find me a breakfast as filling as this for under five bucks anywhere in Chicago.

Rating: 4.5 / 5

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12 oz. Starbucks Coffee from Potbelly Sandwich Works

Item Purchased: 12 oz. Starbucks Coffee from Potbelly Sandwich Works
Location Purchased: Potbelly Sandwich Works / Midway Airport / Chicago, IL
Price: $1.55 + tax

Review: I had a choice between McDonald's coffee or Starbucks coffee.

"Choice."

Yeah, right.

Potbelly's sandwich works is a great little sandwich shop with locations all over the Chicagoland area. Starbuck's is a decent coffee shop (in the physical sense) with horrible over roasted bitter product and locations all over the Milky Way... Including inside of other establishments' locations. They haven't quite secured their rooty tentacles in this Potbelly's location, but the seeds have been scattered by some sadistic rogue Johnny Coffeeseed. The outer shells of these seeds have started to crack and the Starbucks green is showing. This is apparant, in part, by the coffee sleeves that Potbelly's uses. Though a pale cardboard brown in color, these sleeves boldly proclaim that Potbelly's "proudly" brews Starbucks coffee. I'm proud to say that I am not proud to be drinking it. I am, however, not proud to say that I am a caffeine addict in the worst way.

From my blackened bitter tongue to you, I blow a sloppy overroasted kiss.

Rating: 1 / 5

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Small Roastmaster's Reserve (Changaimina) Coffe from Caribou Coffee

Item Purchased: Small Roastmaster's Reserve (Changaimina) Coffe from Caribou Coffee
Location Purchased: Caribou Coffee / 1328 S. Halsted / Chicago, IL
Price: $1.55 + tax

Review: Holy crap! A Caribou coffee blend I've never tried before?! Can it be true?

This particular roast is a light/medium roast that hails from Ecuador (which reminds me... Saskya, if you are reading this, send me your e-mail address!). The coffee has a flavor similar to Caribou's Colombian blend with a steady coffee flavor. What makes this blend so special is the peppery bite to it. On first taste, it may seem as if the coffee is a bit too acidic, but the bite of the coffee lasts throughout without lingering in your mouth like a swallowed penny (coughsbuxcough). The exotic spice is just what I am looking for in an average cup of daily coffee. Caribou's Changaimina delivers...but only for a few months, since this is their specialty winter blend.

I may just have to pay the stupidly expensive price for a pound of this stuff before it disappears.

Rating: 4.5 / 5

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Whole Bean Costa Rica Coffee from Bridgeport Coffee House (1 lb. bag)

Item Purchased: Whole Bean Costa Rica Coffee from Bridgeport Coffee House (1 lb. bag)
Location Purchased: Bridgeport Coffee House / 3101 S. Morgan St. / Chicago, IL
Price: $10.00 + tax

Review: During the week, I make myself a cup of Greek coffee. A single serving (actually, a double) for the morning crunch before I have to be at work is good enough for me. For those lazy weekends, when I lay around the house trying to convince myself to wash the dishes and do laundry, I like to have a full pot brewing. By mid-day, I'm as wired as a Google server. Unable to hold a dish, let alone wash it, not much in the way of chores gets done, but damn if I don't get something creative out of the cobwebby nooks of my consciousness.

Bridgeport Coffee House is the perfect place to stock up on brain cleaning seeds. Their coffees are locally roasted, not too dark and more affordable than the more recognizable names in the legalized drug market.

The Costa Rica blend from BPCH is a medium roast that drinks like a light. Inner flavors of the coffee bean become full and bloom in your mouth. The slight earthiness reminds you that you are drinking coffee while the smooth and crisp finish prepare your palette for another cup. A perfect coffee with a midrange price for a perfect guy with a midrange... uh... nope... can't tie that one up poetically.

I guess I need another cup.

Rating: 4.5 / 5

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Coffee from Bridgeport Coffee House

Item Purchased: Coffee from Bridgeport Coffee House
Location Purchased: Bridgeport Coffee House / 3101 S. Morgan St. / Chicago, IL
Price: $1.29 + tax

Review: People who say Bridgeport is a desolate area of Chicago with no character have never been down to Bridgeport Coffee House. Spend just a few minutes at this tucked away neighborhood establishment, and you will not only see a destination for the locals, but a comfortable hangout that any visitor will want to come back to. Bridgeport is a more diverse neighborhood than its rap would suggest, and the crowds at Bridgeport Coffee House are a great representative of this. The owners and workers are always friendly, remembering and referring to their customers by name, sharing a story or two, or just asking how your day is going with a laid back genuine tone that is all but gone from coffee shops in the city. Did I mention that there is also free Wi-fi access for students and bloggers like myself?

If all of that isn't enough to get you down here, Bridgeport Coffee House is also a coffee roaster. Even though they have only been in business a little over two years, the owners invested their passion and money into their own commercial grade coffee roaster. Roasts are made fresh every day and are available by the cup or the bag. Coffees are less expensive and more delicious than most other roasters here in Chicago (or Seattle, for that matter) and usually a light-to-medium roast with none of that charred coffee flavor people have been duped into enjoying. The flavors are full and the aroma will make you feel as if you are inside of one of those commercials where it is the best part of waking up. Of course, coffee is always the best part of waking up for me.

Rating: 4.5 / 5

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Cup of Coffee from Eleven City Diner

Item Purchased: Cup of Coffee from Eleven City Diner
Location Purchased: Eleven City Diner / 1112 S. Wabash / Chicago, IL
Price: $1.70 2.25 $2.50 + tax

Review: Finally! A Chicago diner that uses Intelligentsia Coffee to keep the local businesses in... well... business and does everything right to meet my coffee standards. The Intelligentsia blend is not only a lighter roast, but Eleven City manages to keep their coffee hot instead of warm. Have you ever noticed how the waitresses at your local greasy spoon work up a sweat just by refilling your cup of coffee continuously? That's because their coffee burners are old and the circuits are fried and if the waitress didn't continuously freshen you up, your coffee would be as good as iced.

Not so at Eleven.

When I got my coffee this morning, I worked out my sugar/cream ratio, filliped the remaining sugar from the counter to the floor and took a sip. I then had enough time to finish reading the New York Times cover story about the transitional fish fossil found by scientists (as a result, I think everyone in the world stopped believing in god, by the way), flip to Gene Pitney's obituary, read half of that article, talk with the waitress who used to stop into my restaurant and finish reading the obit before taking another sip. Guess what? The coffee was hot! Not warm. Hot!

Light roast Intelligentsia at greater than room temperature? Jesus (who evolved from a fish, obviously)! Eleven City Diner needs to trip up soon or I'll still have to believe in creationism and contend that the limb-stump fish was all part of Xenu's plan. As far as breakfast joints go, so far this one is heaven-sent.

Rating: 4.25 / 5

Note (05/03/06): Price was raised to $2.25.

Small Discovery Blend Coffee from Caribou

Item Purchased: Small Discovery Blend Coffee from Caribou
Location Purchased: Caribou Coffee / 1328 S. Halsted / Chicago, IL
Price: $1.50 1.55 + tax

Review: This is the darkest of Caribou's light roast coffees and it boasts itself as being carefully roasted in order to subdue its acidic qualities. Usually I don't believe that mumbo jumbo on any package, but either this time it is the truth or acidity never entered the equation here. Regardless of what the honest to goodness is, this coffee is extremely satisfying, with no sharp bites or lingering bitterness. What you get, or discover (cue slapping of knee sound), is a simple and tasty coffee with a bit of a caramel tone to it.

Rating: 4.5 / 5