I’ll be the first to admit, my caffeine addiction is getting out of control. My favorite part of the day is coffee on the way to work and I spend my weekends planning adventures around coffee. But what’s not to love about it. It comes in so many forms and pairs well with just about anything. So on my caffeine oriented adventures, I’ve needed to stretch out my radius of coffee shops. I enlisted the help of an acquaintance with suggestions of coffee places to review, so I’m working my way through them. First on the list, Birch coffee.
Connected to a hotel, Birch coffee is the kind of place I could pass by without even realizing it’s there. When I visited I almost missed the entrance because the doors are draped with heavy black velour curtains. But what awaited inside was this creamy soothing latte. When I have the time to enjoy it, I prefer a latte over coffee. The bitterness with the creamy texture of milk sends me sailing and sometimes a little bit of sugar. The latte at Birch was perfect for my attempts at drinking lattes without sugar. I can go without it in my coffee, but sometimes the bitterness of a latte is too much and needs a bit of sweetness. Learning to enjoy the bitterness and experience of a latte as a whole is something on my list to do as I try to refine my caffeinated taste buds.
With a freezing day outside, the quiet ambience of Birch is definitely the sort of hideaway most people in this area are looking for. With a more refined hipster feel, there’s a quiet ambiance of people chatting and a few people on laptops tapping away. Ample seating for the size of the place, I found a little bar stool to sit on and enjoy my lunchtime break from the hustle and bustle of package exchange shopping for Rochelle. I almost ordered a blueberry muffin until this little guy caught my eye: a goat cheese and apple muffin. An odd combination but savory and tangy at the same time. The apples all were at the base of the muffin which was a slight disappointment but still delicious overall, especially if you love cheese as much as I do.
Overall, I enjoyed my experience at Birch coffee. The ambiance is really what sells the place though, with interesting music selection and happy counter baristas rather than your glum ones that are sick and tired of everyone ordering soy lattes. As amazing as the muffin was, I feel most of the connection I felt with this place was in the ambiance. Great for meeting up with friends and taking a break from the busy touristy area of the Flatiron district, but I wouldn’t go out of my way for just a coffee on the go.
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That cup is way too small to justify it as a latte.