I'm Stumped: Coffee Love & Addiction

Due to some popular demand - [or as I called it "Can you please share some of your great finds in the city?" regular requests from my NYC and non-NYC friends] - I've decided that they were right, I should write about my finds. There is just no reason why I shouldn't talk about both great and - wacky - finds I stumble over in the great city of NYC...

Here's one of my latest great finds that keeps on waking me up in the morning...


Ok, I've already talked about my favorite finds for a second hand store and a 3-buck hot soups, and I've been talking about things I find in the world of fashion... So, how about coffee?

Isn't it the biggest addiction there is? I often wonder, why there are statistics on drug and sex addiction, but no, really, statistics on coffee addiction? This IS addiction, and I'm so damn loving my addiction!

Just the thought of giving it up - [along with wine and sushi] - during pregnancy makes me, kind of, reconsider having kids at all. OK, I'm joking, of course. I just hope they'd come up with a 'pregnancy coffee' in time for mine. I'm counting on you - inventors, scientists, doctors, researchers, developers, mixologists! I really do...

In the meantime, I've just discovered a new coffee brand - [thanks to someone who has recently learned about my addiction...] - that I fell in  love with from the smell alone. I actually spent half of the evening smelling the package - [I'm sure that looked very 'sexy'] - because as much as I love coffee, I do not drink it past six p.m. However, the delicious smell of it drove me crazy...

The "Hair Bender" is my new coffee addiction (photo: left)

My new discovery is "Hair Bender" beans by Stumptown Coffee Roasters. It's truly unbelievable coffee.

So, here are 5 things I've discovered about Stumptown Coffee Roasters:

1. First of all - those guys are so damn creative with the whole 'packaging and marketing' ideas. Everything from the coffee bag and 'capsules' to coffee cups and in-store decor appeal on a very new level to me. It's funny, it's cozy, it's very easy on an eye...

2. The staff looks stylishly hippie and do know a thing or two about the coffee and not only - they dress super stylishly funky, check out the hats! The staff does not want you to forget that they are still Portland punks at heart - (Stumptown is a legendary Pacific Northwest roaster], despite the fanciness of their NYC location and patrons...

3. The stores are not a chain - [hello Starbucks...] - there is just one coffee shop and it's located in the lobby of the urber-hip hotel: Ace Hotel that is on it's own a rather sexy place - [couples, take a note!] They don't offer seating, but that's OK, because they have an agreement that you could hang out with your coffee on the premises of the hotel, which, by the way, look sooo fashionably cozy...

4. They are not cheap, neither are their in-store utensils: check out the cool brown cups!

5. Yes, many small moms-pops coffee shops would 'draw' some kind of a figure on top of your cappuccino - [mostly leaves and hearts - no Picasso, sorry] and offer some muffin and/or banana bread to go with it, but Stumpton's staff would go far and beyond, they'd actually sell macarons, like their Red Velvet macaron. And you do know the story about 'me and macarons', don't you? The short version of it: since my first trip to France in 1994, I've been an 'M-AA' - [ak Macarons Addicts Anonymous]...

Their pastries are made next door, which means? Yes, they're not just delicious, they actually melt in your mouth because they are so fresh and didn't experience the long 'transportation' logistics...

They say their signature espressos are to die for...