Beyond Buzzed
Our editor visited (and tried) 11 local coffee shops in a single day. So, how did it make her feel?
Coffee shops. They are where we go to spend an evening tucked into some worn leather loveseat, flipping through a magazine. They are where we go with friends to rest between stops on a day of shopping excursions. They are where we know we can work on our laptops all day without interruption. Oh, and they serve coffee, too. That super-affordable black sludge gift of the wake-you-up gods. There are tons of coffee shops in Springfield, and I visited 11 of them in one day, consuming heart-abusing caffeine the whole way through to find out what makes each spot stand out. You can five of my stops here, and the other six at 417mag.com. So bring them your bored, your broke, your haggard masses, longing for caffeine.
More Coffee, More BuzzKatie tried even more coffee shops in Springfield. Read the full feature here, at springfieldgo.com. |
Disclaimer: Do not try this at home. 417 Magazine does not recommend drinking caffeinated beverages at 11 coffee shops in one day. This writer risked her body and mind to bring you this story. It was a fun tour, but she has to admit… Feeling her pulse pound in her ankles was a little scary.
The Coffee Ethic
124 Park Central Square, Springfield, 417-866-6645, thecoffeeethic.com, free WiFi
How I Feel: Fantastic! Ready to start the day.
What I Tasted: A cup of house drip coffee and an asiago bagel with cream cheese, $4.12
I arrived at the Coffee Ethic just after 7 a.m., laptop in hand and ready to work. There was quiet folk music playing while I ordered from a friendly bearded guy. At this point in the day, my energy level was right at perfect, and I loved working on my computer while I watched Park Central Square wake up. Chatty customers who ranged in age from around college-aged to could-be-my-grandpa came in and talked the barista’s ear off, then they headed out with their to-go cups and baked treats. The menu at the Coffee Ethic has a limited but yummy-looking food selection (biscotti, muffins, bagels, cookies) and typical coffee house drinks. Next time I visit this spot, which is connected to the Park Central Branch of the Springfield–Greene County Library, I’m pretty sure I’ll order the French press coffee. But the drip was great and completely satisfying. Just the right amount of boldness without too much bitterness.
Hebrews Coffee
1604 E. Republic Rd., Springfield, 417-883-6200, hebrewscoffeespringfield.com, free WiFi
How I Feel: Mildly over-alert.
What I Tasted: Drip coffee and a pomegranate cremosa, $4.11
The clientele here is a little more southside-professional than the downtown crowd. At this point, I’m starting to have a bit of a caffeine high, but it’s not too intense. I’m just a little jumpy. I sat down at a table in the surprisingly big and kinda dark dining room with a drip coffee in one hand and a no-caffeine-at-all cremosa in the other to balance it out and possibly offset the jitters that I can feel coming on. The drip was the most bitter coffee I had all day, but it had a smooth and mild aftertaste. Not what I expected. And the cremosa was a lot of fun. It’s like an Italian soda with a splash of cream. The pomegranate flavor I got was fizzy and refreshing and not-too-sweet. Actually, I’m craving another one as I write this…
Kaldi’s Coffee Roasting Company
900 E. Battlefield Rd., Springfield, 417-881-5466, free WiFi
How I Feel: Nervous and nauseated with Jell-o Jiggler legs.
What I Tasted: A cup of drip coffee and the hummus platter, $6.40
I always feel at home inside Kaldi’s. No one seems to mind if you camp out in the one leather chair that has outlet access and work for hours and hours. Plus the food is great. I had the hummus/feta/pita/carrot/olive plate, which has way too much food for one person. (Did I not see the label that said “shareables”?) While a mixed crowd of lunch-breaking business people and college-aged studiers ate, drank and worked, I dug into the hummus. It didn’t help the coffee buzz, though, unfortunately. Neither did the cup of drip I drank, but it tasted good. I had the Malta, a dark roast with a rich and comforting flavor. I finished up and headed out, almost losing my knees as I got into my car. Jell-o legs: The caffeine was getting to me.''
Sinatra’s Coffee Gallery
601 N. National Ave., Springfield, 417-831-3737, free WiFi
How I Feel: Quite tweaked.
What I Tasted: The Scarlet Sinatra, $3.47
At this point, it’s 4:35 p.m., and my chest hurts. My abdomen hurts. Just a dull pain. I’m tired, yet every noise makes me whip my head around to see where it’s coming from. I’m having trouble typing. My fingers are moving faster than my brain, and in the wrong order. I feel scattered.
But hey, Sinatra’s is nice! Really, it is. My discomfort aside, I liked the place. It’s hyper-themed. The walls have Sinatra-era stars’ head shots, the menu has items named for Sinatra and his songs, the music of Sinatra and his contemporaries is playing, and even the WiFi password is a Sinatra nickname. (You get one guess…) In an attempt to give my heart a break before it explodes, I order the Scarlet Sinatra. It’s a rooibos latte. Rooibos is naturally caffeine-free red tea, and it has a somewhat sweet flavor without adding any sugar to it. So it makes a great latte. I was a little put off by the price until I saw the drink itself: It’s freaking huge! Served in one of those fish bowl glasses. Yowza. What with my shaky hands and impaired state and all, I could barely lift it.
Rendezvous
320 Park Central West, Springfield, 417-868-0110, free WiFi
How I Feel: Exhausted.
What I Tasted: The DaVinci drink and the Myron panini, $10.28
Rendezvous is just dang cute. It has brick walls, blackboard menus, drinks named after artists, an obscene number of Italian soda flavors (I had peanut butter and toasted marshmallow once: A fizzy liquid fluffernutter, and an experiment that wasn’t entirely successful), four distinct seating areas, a mix of dimness and natural light and tons of outlets for the computer-lugging set. As my coffee tour wound to an end, I met my boyfriend, Eli, at Rendezvous, and I ordered the DaVinci (a sweet flavored drink and the farthest from coffee-flavored coffee I could get... I was sick of it by now) and the Myron (a delicious chicken pesto panini). I sat down to eat in a booth near the coffee shop’s wealth of games. That’s what I love about Rendezvous: games. The coffee shop has shelves full of them. There’s Cranium, Rummikub, a variety of card games, Mancala and a bunch more. Once, Eli and I talked and played Scrabble at a booth in Rendezvous for almost six hours, and nobody even looked at us funny. I can’t remember who won. I considered starting up a little game of some sort while he and I ate our paninis, but by that point, I was beyond tired.
You’d think a day full of caffeine would keep you up at night, but I had been on a physical roller coaster. My heart still hurt, my hands still shook, and it had all just worn me out. When I got home, bed was the only thing on my mind. But I went to bed with a new knowledge of what our town’s coffee pickins are: I found a fantastic iced latte in an unexpected place, a perky little cremosa on Republic Road, a red tea latte that was too big to handle, and a whole bunch more.
