Once a 'Regular'

I read an article this morning on things that consumers tend to overpay for on a daily basis, one of which was coffee. The point of the article was that the money you spend on a cup at a Starbucks adds up exponentially over the course of the year and that you could save hundreds or thousands just by making coffee at home. I made the mistake my first year of law school of getting my coffee out in the city more than I would make it at home. And it does add up.

It is rare these days that I don't brew my own, but I do occasionally like the "local" cup of joe. There are two kinds of local coffee in New York: Deli coffee and coffee shop coffee. Deli coffee is remarkably uniform throughout the city, and strangely enough all shop owners use the same brown and yellow cups. The large cups at Delis are still slightly smaller than the smallest Starbucks cup. And there is no half and half. Whole milk. The shop owner always pretends to have just run out of half and half, but we all know what's going on. But hey, if I had to pay the rent for a deli in the city, I would be trying to shave every penny off of overhead too.

Then there is the coffee shop coffee. These beat Starbucks and Duncan's every day of the week in my book. They have comfortable furniture. The walls may contain exposed brick. The muffins and black and white cookies are truly homemade. Even the grumpy line of pre-caffeinated zombies on there way to sky rise offices are, well, a little less grumpy.

Coffee shop coffee reminds me of Athens, Ohio, where I attended Ohio University. That college town is home to some of the best homegrown coffeehouses on the planet. And for a few years, I was a "regular" at many of them. Perks is a closer replica of "The Central Perk" from 'Friends' than anything I have found in New York City. The Donkey is like being in the house of your favorite professor -- you can't help but want to do something studious or discuss the obscure political problems of a country you nor any of your friends will ever visit. The Front Room (RIP) provided a place to always bump into old friends between classes, a place to watch infant musicians take the stage before their first audiences, and a place that reminded you how familial a 20,000+ student body could be. My brother tells me there is a new place called Bibliotech which I must try next time in town.

The thing that you don't get at coffee shops in NYC are "regulars." There are just too many coffee options. Too many uniform brown and yellow kiddie cups. There are probably more "regulars" at certain bars in the city than at coffee shops. More often than not in this town, we all brew our own.