Cold Process Coffee along the Hudson

Earlier this year I wrote about a coffee tasting that one of our friends hosted with a new line of gourmet coffee beans, Lamill. Well, I’m not going to say that my blog post gave our friend, Eric, the “press” and start he needed to take Lamill to a wider audience, but I will definitely let you think that if you want.

Eric recently opened Cold Process Coffee & Tea as part of the redevelopment of Pier 57. Pier 57 is a 170,000 square-foot covered, open-air public market. Business are housed  in recycled and creatively refitted shipping containers. The market is New York’s first large-scale concentration of year-round, affordable work/sell space for artisans and other small businesses. Cold Process Coffee & Tea made their debut last month and have plans to be there through October. There are currently 4-5 other booths in the space with room to add more.

Cold Process Coffee is a unique way of steeping coffee grounds in room temperature or cold water for an extended period. This lends well to an espresso based iced coffee with more flavor and certainly more caffeine than regular iced coffee.

On Saturday, Matt and I decided to run down along the Hudson River to Eric’s new “office.” As you can see from the pictures, it is an incredible space (much too hip for Matt and me). The only suggestion I would make would be to add some delicious treats to the menu.  The counter space looked a little lonely and I bet a homemade chocolate chip cookie and would go great with the iced coffee… now I wonder who you could ask to make you some (wink, wink).

It was very inspirational to see our friend taking a passion and turning it into a business. We were psyched to support Eric and definitely encourage anyone to stop by and get your daily caffeine fix. And who know’s — you just might wait in line behind a celebrity!

Flattered that Philip Seymour Hoffman visited Cold Process Coffee and Tea and like our Iced Latte #amazingactor

— Cold Process Coffe a (@ColdProcess) June 8, 2013

Guest Blogger – Chai Latte with Southern Charm

The past few days at work have been crazy (I know, there was a weekend squeezed in there, but still) so my sister graciously offered to help out today (and by offered, I mean, I forced her to). As you will probably see, she is the real writer in the family. She has countless journals filled with her writing from high school, college and beyond. Unfortunately she has directed her writing away from short stories and spends most of her time writing up swim practices. I have tried to encourage to her start her own blog, but between coaching 50+ college swimmers and taking care of her adorable dog, she doesn’t seem to have the time. Which is why I am so grateful that she was able to help out today! Enjoy.

Like many people I have a Starbucks addiction, unlike many people mine is far less caffeine driven and has a lot more to do with the routine; unsurprisingly after spending countless hours swimming back and forth over a black line I have become a creature of habit. When I lived in NYC I would get the same breakfast every day (sesame bagel with cream cheese) from the BEST bagel shop of all time, Absolute Bagels—it got to the point that I would walk over on a Sunday when the line was out the door and the man behind the counter would see me, make my bagel and let me cut the entire line—talk about perks of being a regular!

Now that I have moved to Virginia I have traded delicious bagels for delicious treats (aka chai and the occasional peppermint mocha). Nearly every morning after practice I go home, pick up Bexley Ann (my puppy) and head over to the Starbucks drive-thru; it has gotten to the point that when I drive up instead of placing an order I just say ‘good morning, it’s Abby’ and they know what I want and we spend our time chatting about the dog and other such exciting things. Because Bexley has been going to Starbucks since she was 8 weeks old, she gets super excited every time we pull into the parking lot and is quick to jump up on the front seat to stick her head out the window to say hi to the people who are working. When I don’t bring her with me both Bex and the baristas are disappointed.

I have come to know the baristas by name; and am even friends with a couple of them on Facebook. At least once a week I get a handwritten note on my cup from Dylan and Bethany wishing me a happy day and for the holidays they got me a card that had a buy one get one free coupon inside—like I said, my Starbucks is the best ever.

Now that my season is over, I have been heading over to Starbucks a little later in the day which has allowed for a little more conversation with the baristas—don’t really hit the morning rush when you are showing up at 10.30. I have come to learn that Dylan’s talents as a barista pale in comparison to her musical abilities; she is seriously amazing—

Needless to say, transition from NYC to Fredericksburg, VA was not easy, but luckily with the addition of the world’s cutest puppy and the world’s greatest baristas I am surviving and have a reason to get out of bed every morning. Cheers!

(Don’t worry – I have already yelled at Abby about phone usage while driving. She wouldn’t never do this again – not even for blog footage!)

click here for Abby’s last guest blog appearance