Coffee Shop Talk - Week 2: thirty-thirty Coffee Co.

After a long tiring day at work, I was looking forward to a coffee badly.  I don’t like to over-caffeinate myself or I’ll get the shakes!, so I hadn’t had my favorite drink all day.  Our stop this week was, thirty-thirty Coffee.  This place always gets rave reviews from everyone I ask about it, so I was delighted that I was finally going to check it out with my gal pal, Emmy!

From the outside of the shop, it looks very comforting with people enjoying quiet conversations, however when I walked in, I was a bit surprised!  There was music playing quite loudly, yet students studying at the same time.  It was an atmosphere that reminded me of my days in Toronto, Canada; a very eclectic group of people.  I was still wearing my dress clothes from work and felt a bit out of place.

As we walked up to the counter, I noticed there was a whole back area to the shop.  The place was huge!  I was excited to choose where we would sit. I have a problem where I have to sit at the most appealing table, usually by a window.  We began to order our drinks from their somewhat small and relatively expensive menu.  I chose the ‘Miel’ that a friend recommended.  This frothy beverage was made with espresso, honey and cinnamon.  It was interesting to see the drinks being made, the baristas took their time to ensure the concoction was made perfectly.  I enjoyed watching it be created, I think it was part of the experience at thirty-thirty.  The barista also topped the Miel with a heart in the frothiness, I thought this was a super cute touch! 

Now to find our table J  As we walked more into the back area, I realized that there really wasn’t many seats to choose from!!  I was going to have a panic attack!  How am I going to choose the most perfect table from this small selection.  We made our way back to the front of the shop and decided to sit at the end of this huge, thick, wooden table made for six people.  But it was by a window!  We then just talked the night away until the shop closed.  Me and Emmy have no problems talking wherever we are.  One thing, I didn’t care for much was that they closed at 8pm during the week.  I thought this was much too early, especially with their main focus being on college students who study through the wee hours of night.

All in all, I think I was a tad disappointed with my experience at thirty-thirty Coffee.  I believe this had to do with my high expectations due to the incredible feedback I receive from other friends.  Or maybe it’s because I am getting older (ripe age of 28) and I now have a baby and think of him.  I don’t really think this would be a place I would bring my child.  Definitely, a student atmosphere – not an after work business coffee shop.

My ratings on a scale of 1 to 5 for this location are below:

Drink:  Miel

Flavor:  4

Service:  3

Cleanliness:  5

Ambiance:  3

Comments:  It ended up being a flavorful espresso, easy to drink – not very bitter.  However, considering it was an espresso it did not wake me up!  Maybe it’s because it was a very long day and nothing was going to zonk me into alertness.

Emily’s  ratings on a scale of 1 to 5 for this location are below:

Drink:  Ginger Molasses Latte

Flavor:  3

Service:  4

Cleanliness:  3

Ambiance:  1

Comments:  The drink was surprisingly better than I thought. It was based with a pretty smooth coffee and had a nice holiday feel to it. However, it was nothing out of this world or special, especially for the price. I did not enjoy the environment at all. Loud music and uncomfortable tables and chairs are not my type of coffee shop. Give me lite rock or jazz and some comfy seats and I am good to go.

Next week… look forward to Emily’s review of Gloria Jean’s Coffee at the Shoppes of Grand Prairie!

Coffee Shop Talk - Week 1: Caribou Coffee, Hyvee

Week one we decided to try Caribou Coffee located in one of the grocery stores in town called Hyvee. I had been to Caribou Coffee once before in my life. Quite a few years ago I went to one in St. Louis to meet up with an ex-boyfriend to catch up and try to bring closure to the end of our relationship. It didn’t go very well. It was not exactly a pleasant experience and it left a bad taste in my mouth for Caribou! I’m happy to report this experience was MUCH different! J

In my opinion, the best aspect of this coffee shop was the friendliness of staff and the variety of drinks. Right when I walked around the corner to its location, the barista greeted me and started talking to me about the different seasonal coffees they offered. At first, I thought it was your prototypical Starbucks-esque coffeeshop (Not knocking Starbucks – I’m a huge fan!), with drinks like pumpkin spice, peppermint mocha and salted caramel. After that she told me about the Caribou signature drinks, which included Berry White (raspberry vanilla), Campfire (chocolate with marshmallow cream), Ho Ho Mint (chocolate and mint), and Turtle, plus a variety of Lite lattes in those signature and original flavors! Additionally, one of my favorite aspects of Caribou was your ability to choose what type of chocolate they used in your drink. Not only did they have milk and white chocolate, but they also had dark chocolate. Maybe I am just naïve and many coffee shops have these drinks (or at least the capability to make these drinks), but I was impressed! I LOVE s’mores, so I went with the Campfire with milk chocolate. See pictures below. It was DELICIOUS. Of course it was extremely sweet, but I like sweets.

As for the cleanliness and ambiance of the store, it was what you would expect of a coffee shop located in a busy grocery store. They had a couple of tables and chairs, but it was not cozy and welcoming and there was no fireplace crackling to add to the experience. It was pretty distracting having the cashiers just 20 feet away and the main doors directly behind us. Let’s just say I would not suggest having a deep and personal conversation at this location! However, for all the negatives of having a coffee shop in a grocery store, the location ended up giving us some comic relief. There was one man in particular that walked into the store and hopped on to a mobile cart. He started driving through the tiny coffee shop (almost crashing into the car seat that held Stefanie’s baby several times!) and just talking with the barista. He left as quickly as he came, but several minutes later, he was back. This time, the basket of his cart was FILLED with bags and bags of grapes! All piled up on top of each other. Again, he drove through the coffee shop with his grapes, and again, had several near-misses with the baby. But shortly thereafter he drove off. A very short time went by when I glanced to the exit to my left and I saw the man with the mobile cart walking out of the store. No need for a mobile cart. And not one bag of grapes in tow. Not sure what that was all about but we thought it was pretty funny!

Overall, I really enjoyed our first Coffee Shop Talk experience! My ratings on a scale of 1 to 5 for this location are below:

Drink: Campfire

Flavor: 4

Service: 5

Cleanliness: 3

Ambiance: 1

I would definitely hit this place up for a great fancy latte, but I would not go there to have a serious chat or expect to be able to concentrate while reading or studying.

Stefanie's Rating

Drink: Medium Coffee with 3 creams and 3 sugars

Flavor: 3

Service: 5

Cleanliness: 3

Ambiance: 2

Comments: I found the coffee to be a little burnt tasting, bitter.  But I definitely loved that they offered free refills!

 

Thanks for reading and we look forward to updating you with next’s week stop:

Thirty Thirty Coffee with Stefanie

What a Great Idea!

Emily and Stefanie are two busy, young friends who met on November 28, 2011. Over the next several months, it was apparent to both of them they were two of a kind and their friendship grew. However, Emily transferred to a job in a different facility in April. Between spending time with their highly attractive (but also busy) husbands, their careers, and for Stefanie, a new baby, it was difficult to find time to spend together outside of their Instant Message conversations at work. They came up with the idea to meet up for hot drinks at least once a week to catch up on each other's lives and keep their friendship strong.  It then turned into the idea of visiting every coffee shop in the city of Peoria, IL, to review different aspects from taste, cleanliness to "ambience," and deciding which place they liked the most.  That coffee shop would then be 'their' coffee shop.  

Each week we will blog about our experience at that certain coffee shop and we will rate it on a variety of factors.  The coffee shop at the end of our hunt with the most points will be the winner!  Stay tuned for Week 1 of this fun adventure!