Maybe Coffee Houses Don’t Travel Well

I’d like to ramble a bit about the concept of coffee houses and the need for more independent coffee places. I love coffee houses … or, at least, the atmosphere of coffee houses in Europe. Misha’s – a coffee house in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia – tries to get close to that type of environment. It’s a meeting place, a hangout, a source for free WiFi. And, its coffee is freshly roasted and delicious. Coffee drinks are expertly prepared. Misha’s unfortunately has a rundown, dirty look, and it’s very noisy. Forget reading.

While there are terrific, independently owned coffee houses scattered across America, there are not many in the Washington, DC, area. I don’t know why. Maybe we’re in just too much of a hurry to take the time to appreciate the idea of a great coffee house.

Starbucks, by contrast, feels more like McDonald’s – highly commercial, fast food, okay coffee, noisy and trying to be everything to everyone by selling everything from WiFi to breath mints and CDs … and delivering inconsistently prepared coffee drinks. There’s a Starbucks on nearly every corner in DC. Starbucks doesn’t qualify as a coffee house, in my book. Caribou Coffee, another chain, has no personality, no appeal, no clear brand. It’s just dull.

The idea for gathering places to drink coffee originated in the Middle East centuries ago and was embraced by Europe where coffee houses have become legendary for such things as places of intellectual discussion, intrigue, personal refuge and love.

But, we want to take something good and milk it for as much profit as possible. In the case of chains of branded coffee houses, it hasn’t seemed to work out very well. “Publicly traded” doesn’t translate well into a place of charm, discussion, intrigue, refuge or love … or at least not on an ongoing basis.

Where am I going with this? Well, I live and work in north Arlington, Virginia – just west of Washington – and we badly need an independently owned coffee house. There is none … not one.

Related posts:

1. The Perfect Coffee
2. Station Coffee: A Promotion for All
3. Glass Houses
4. 04.08.08: What’s Starbucks Up To?
5. Andy Grammer

Category: Featured, Personal notes