We Are Courageous (For Trying This Coffee)
So, get this -- Cafe Gratitude has coffee. It's not brewed, but instead, per the cafe's menu, "infused for 48 hours in cold water." Organic beans, no less, from a company known as "Thanksgiving Co.", according to the server we spoke with.
We knew we had to try it. We anticipated something awful (though not as awful as our last adventure in coffee), and were looking forward to writing some wonderful headline like "Grateful Dread."
Well, truth be told, while it ain't like the coffee like we're used to, it wasn't so bad.
We sat down at the bar of the Harrison Street location. You know how it's sort of off-putting when everyone around you is way too friendly and way too interested in what you are doing? Well, color us put off. It was cheesy. It was a little creepy.
But then we settled in. People here are happy. By the time we ordered, we were digging the vibe. We ordered coffee; the server proclaimed us "courageous," which we found amusing even after we figured out that's what Gratitude calls its house coffee (as in "We'll have an 'I Am Courageous,' please."). They have little affirming/reaffirming names like that for everything on the menu. In fact, you can read more about the menu beyond the "I.A.C" in this account, detailed by our own SFist Sam. The I.A.C only set us back two bucks; it's three for a large. The small was really big, though -- points for volume, friends.
So, this "cold brew" coffee was poured into a mug, then heated via steam wand to an appropriate, coffee-like temperature. We were offered three options for sweeteners; we went with the "agave," after drinking most of it black.
First thought: "Mmmmmm, okay. That's interesting."
Not stimulating, but comforting. Not bold, but it tasted pretty fresh. Weak, like diner coffee, but not gross. Not a lot of flavor. Smooth. Easy going down . . .
It was freaking cold outside this weekend, and it was great to have something hot flowing down the esophagus. In fact it was what people who are less enthusiastic than we are about coffee might call "tea weather."
And this weird, courageous, cold-brewed cup of joe struck us as something just like that -- a cup of tea. Coffee-flavored tea, perhaps. Especially once we threw a little agave in there.
In total, we found it very hard to keep our cynicism up within these walls. The music was just right, the interior is cheerful, the staff more so. It was all a very pleasant experience. However, once we left the magic sort of faded and all bets were off. Cafe Gratitude is a very nice place for what it may call coffee -- and it wasn't that bad, but it wasn't something a trimethyldioxypurist would typically enjoy. We don't want pleasant, we want stimulating. Back in the cold, we decided we needed the real thing. Fifteen minutes later, at Ritual Roasters, we did just that.
Cafe Gratitude
2400 Harrison St.