Brewed to Order

Stumptown Coffee in New York is roasted in Red Hook, a five minute bike ride from where I live. They recently opened a storefront there which attracts the coffee connoisseur, the coffee crazy and coffee curious (me). You can order a variety of bean types and brewing methods, most of which I've never heard of before. I know nothing really about coffee, beyond the bean and the usual drip coffee technique. I ordered my coffee with this "siphon" brewing technique, which, as you can see here, looks vaguely illegal. It also apparently takes a good deal of time (he described it as the most complex and unstable of the techniques) and costs $4.25. My girlfriend takes her coffee with milk and sweetener, but it was pretty apparent that you don't go to this kind of coffee place and "taint" it with that kind of thing. We didn't even bother asking, though we overheard some other people ask and they were told "it's coffee only, no milk, no sugar." It also seemed to attract some interesting and perhaps overly eager customers. One of them tried to impart his knowledge about coffee to the barristas and spent the rest of his time pacing the around the store with his coffee, breathing it in like it was some kind of religious experience.

In any case, the coffee is pretty good. I recommend it. Though the "pour over" technique is simpler and tastes just as good.