Coffee Journeys on Cape Cod
We are always searching for the perfect coffee shop when we’re traveling about. We still haven’t found it.
Maybe the closest I’ve found was the old Capitol Grounds in Montpelier, VT. It was in an old bank building and combined good coffee, good service and a uniquely good atmosphere, the latter a kind of intangible feel. They have since been forced to move, and the new place isn’t quite the same, though no fault of theirs. The most important thing with a coffee shop is the coffee itself. Besides being a good blend, it has to be fresh. Dunkin Donuts is still my favorite cup of coffee mainly because the coffee itself is very good (not the best, but very good) and, most importantly, they serve so much of it, it’s almost always fresh. They keep their coffee in the pots they’re brewed in, which is a key. Many shops have gone to DIY setups with pump carafes. -not a good idea for keeping an eye on the coffee and keeping it fresh. Another problem is the cream. If you take cream in your coffee (like me), then you want light cream, not half & half. Patricia and I have always been impressed with Starbucks. They have a nice atmosphere and their personnel seem consistently well trained and friendly. Kind of weird that you can go to a Starbucks in another city or state and it still has a familiar feel to them. The problem with Starbucks is the cream. The coffee is very good, but they have half & half instead of light cream. To me, that’s like going to a fancy restaurant, ordering filet mignon, and having the waiter plop a bottle of ketchup down on the table along with the meal…there’s something wrong with this picture…..
Since we go to so many coffee shops, I figured I would write about them from time to time, especially ones here on the cape. Leading off is Hot Chocolate Sparrow in Orleans. We had a horrible experience here last fall and I figured we’d never go there again. To make a long story short, the person behind the counter didn’t know what something was (I think Patricia ordered a Yerba Mate), even after it was pointed to on their menu, and then another worker denied that the cream had turned, despite the white chunks floating on top of my coffee. I think both workers may have been inexperienced high schoolers, but that’s no excuse. You wouldn’t see that at a Starbucks. So it was a late Sunday afternoon two weeks ago and we were driving around the outer cape looking for a coffee stop. We couldn’t find one anywhere, so we decided to try Sparrow again. To their credit, they were open and doing a brisk business (as usual for them). I wish other coffee shops would take note – yes, there are a lot of us coffee fanatics out there at all hours- take advantage of it. Their coffee was very good, despite using carafes. They also had light cream – great! The workers were knowledgeable and courteous. Another plus is internet access….and a big thumbs up to lots of community bulletin board space. The only negative things were the somewhat cramped spaces and the noise. Their machines seem very noisy. At the same time, sound in the place just seems to get amplified. I don’t know anything about acoustical engineering, but it always seems like places with vaulted ceilings seem louder. Odd because logic would tell me that the more ceiling space available, the more that sound could be dispersed. Anyway, if you’re traveling to the outer cape this summer and need a little coffee break, check it out. We were glad we went back….