As a coffee drinker I've always wondered who in this town has the best cup. Where does one go to get the taste of sweet Nirvana that is the hot brown liquid of the Gods? You may call it a New Years resolution but I call it finally getting up off of my ass and going out into the territories to hunt and gather in the tradition of my forefathers.
Each week I plan to go to a different coffee house and seek out the best cup around. Since I live in the Kansas City area, my research will mainly be based on my findings here. Consulting the latest Yellow Pages, I figure I'll just start at the top and work my way down.
Today, I'm at Black Dog Coffeehouse in Lenexa. Upon entering, I am greeted by two guys behind the counter. I ask them for the specialty of the house and they start to look at their shoes and mumble something about making any drink on the chalk board behind them. Now, admittedly, it did say House Specialties across the top so they weren't completely outside their rights to treat me like a jack ass. However, once I refined my search and pressed them for what was good or a favorite, I noticed that the glaze over their eyes didn't really clear.
This is kind of like the look I used to get when I walked into a video store and asked for a movie that wasn't on the New Release wall. It's somewhere between the deer in the headlights and the look the dog gives you after dinner. They're startled by the approach and confused as to how they got there.
Realizing that I, the customer, was looking to them, the alleged knowledgeable source, for some guidance in this matter, they told me that the John Brown was a popular item. Having the answer I came for, I ordered a large after finding out that it's not necessarily a drink but more of a particular roast of coffee.
When I asked them what kind of coffee it was, the glaze came back. I was looking for Colombian, Ethiopian, you know, some kind of answer. "I think it's a medium roast, I'm not sure, I'm not really a coffee expert." Between the two of us, he's in more of a position to be an expert than I am. I'm just a frustrated, unemployed writer, this kid works in a coffeehouse. Coffee is his livelihood, it's just my hobby.
To be fair, I Googled John Brown coffee before starting this and ran across the roasters website. They had some information but no real knowledge about what I was drinking. As an industry insider though, I would think these guys would have access to information that the general public doesn't. They are the face of the product and have to be able to sell it and answer questions from people like me. Is this what happened to the video store clerks after Netfix killed off Blockbuster? Do I expect too much thinking that somebody who lives and dies by the bean should know something about it? Stay tuned folks, this is only the first chapter.
One quick thing before I go, despite what you've read about my experience, Black Dog is a pretty decent place, what the staff lacks in knowledge they make up for in courtesy and the John Brown roast is satisfying, however, the search continues...
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