My Coffee Odyssey - District House

District House

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Fall is trying to find its way into Oklahoma so it is time to get #MyCoffeeOdyssey back on the road. Located in the heart of the Plaza District, District House is right where it belongs. It is squarely between Lyric theatre and the Thelma Gaylord Academy. I have no idea who all these people are in here, but it is easy to imagine they are artists, performers, and entrepreneurs. The layout is perfect. There is a small “café” area as you enter with seating at the bar and tables. The back room is a larger area with plenty of seating and tables where you can work, read, or just enjoy the coffee. The menu is pretty minimal so it is much more coffee house than café. The playlist is pleasant and unobtrusive. District House is certainly a coffee shop!

"Café" Half

I had whatever coffee they had brewed which was a pleasantly dark roast. The price point is not bad - $2.50 for a cup with $1.00 refills. On my amateur scale it is somewhere between Good and Great.

The "Back Room"

This is actually my third or fourth visit to District House. It is always a good stop with good coffee and a pleasing environment. It was busier today than it has been in the past; however, it does not feel “busy.” Almost everyone is working either solo on their laptop or quietly in groups. It is surprisingly quiet given how many fellow coffee drinkers are here. Interestingly, the music volume is perfect. It is just loud enough that people can converse but it holds down (or masks) voices. A big plus is that it does not have any moms with small children to deal with. You could spend an afternoon here and either get a lot done or simply relax. As I said above, “District House is certainly a coffee shop!” I approve and I will be back. Would I meet you here for coffee? Absolutely and I’ll but a cup. Give me a call.

Disclaimer: I am not a coffee connoisseur. I am just a guy who lies to drink coffee in coffee shops. I tend to think of my coffee in terms of Meh – Okay - Good – Great. Most coffee I drink is okay to good. It has to make an effort to get to Great or Meh. These are just my opinions. Take or ignore them as you wish. Read more about #MyCoffeeOdyssey at "How this all began."

My Coffee Odyssey - Coffee Slingers

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It is rainy and feeling more like fall this morning, so a trip to try Coffee Slingers seems perfectly appropriate. Maybe it is because of the weather or time of day but my first impression on walking in was, “Wow! This place is noisy!” The front wall is entirely windows and, with the lighting, it is pretty light in here. Coffee Slingers fronts onto Broadway in Automobile Alley in the central business district in Oklahoma City. Seating is not particularly comfortable which suggests the turnover is expected (encouraged?) to be quick. The customers strike me as downtown business folk having a quick coffee and business chat. There does not seem to be any food on the menu board which, I suppose, is a coffee shop plus; however, it does not seem like a coffee shop where one could go and get any serious reading or work accomplished. I suppose that means, by my narrow definition, this is not a coffee shop. It is a place to grab a quick cup of coffee. 

I was told that the brewed coffee would always be a medium roast so that is what I am drinking today. It was, I thought, a bit pricey. It was $3.79 for a cup and no refills. Hanging out for more than a cup (or two) would start to get expensive which, again, could be part of the business plan. As for the coffee, it was somewhere in the Okay – Good range, not the best on #MyCoffeeOdyssey adventures.

 

There are some upsides. There are no moms with little ones running about. If you like a Starbucks atmosphere but don’t like Starbucks it would be fine. If you work downtown or on Automobile Alley Coffee Slingers is convenient and certainly worth a visit. I do have to note, that as I sit here typing this the crowd is drifting out, the noise level is going down, and my experience is improving. I will need to revisit during my usual afternoon timeframe just to see. Would I meet you here for coffee? Are you buying? Then, yes. Give me a call.

Disclaimer: I am not a coffee connoisseur. I am just a guy who lies to drink coffee in coffee shops. I tend to think of my coffee in terms of Meh – Okay - Good – Great. Most coffee I drink is okay to good. It has to make an effort to get to Great or Meh. These are just my opinions. Take or ignore them as you wish. Read more about #MyCoffeeOdyssey at "How this all started."

My Coffee Odyssey - Vintage Coffee

Vintage Coffee

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Vintage Coffee reminds me a little of the coffee shop from years ago on Campus Corner in Norman. It is a bit on the dark side, has an eclectic, college campus sort of feel, and they serve really good coffee. In addition to good coffee there is a small selection of cupcakes and pastries for those times when you just must have something to nosh on. There are plenty of small tables spread among different rooms room one can read, work, visit, or just hang out. There are a couple of small “breakout” rooms that can be reserved for privacy. The baristas today are Joy and Ashton. They are friendly and the service is great. This is at least my third visit to Vintage and I can affirm that this is definitely a coffee shop.

Now, regarding the coffee. As always, I am drinking the dark roast, a French roast, if I am correct. The price is definitely right. It is $1.90 for a cup with free refills as long as I am here. That is a pretty good bargain. My coffee today was solidly in the Great! end of my simple coffee scale.

Vintage has not been overly busy when I have been here; however, I tend to visit coffee shops in the mid-afternoon which is not exactly prime time. The first impression is interesting. Don't be confused. What you are looking for is right through that green door. When I walked in the first time it almost felt as though I was walking into a private place of some sort. I suppose you are, in a way. Vintage makes you feel like you have escaped the world for just a bit. I really like this place. It has a comfortable feel that makes it easy to just be here. A big plus is that on none of my visits have there been any teens or people dragging small ones with them. Would I meet you here for coffee? Absolutely. In fact, if you called me for coffee, Vintage would be high on my list of suggestions. So, call me. I’ll buy you a cup.

Joy & Ashton

Disclaimer: I am not a coffee connoisseur. I am just a guy who lies to drink coffee in coffee shops. I tend to think of my coffee in terms of Meh – Okay - Good – Great. Most coffee I drink is okay to good. It has to make an effort to get to Great or Meh. These are just my opinions. Take or ignore them as you wish.

My Coffee Odyssey - Cuppies and Joe

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This is my second visit to Cuppies and Joe. Well, it is my third visit but my second coffee experience. On visit #2 they were so crowded there was no place to sit. On both occasions, I have been served by the same barista, Kate. She’s nice, friendly, and let me sample the brewed coffee to see which I wanted. (There’s more on the coffee below.) Her partner, Paige, also did a nice job. My first impression? When I walked in, it was like going to a friend’s house for coffee. There are cozy rooms that make one think living room, dining room, sitting room, and cozy little reading room. With a name that has “cuppies” in it, it is no surprise that there is a nice selection of cupcakes to go with your coffee. (I didn’t have one for this visit but I think I will take a couple home with me.) There is no big restaurant menu or food. There is good coffee and friendly, attentive, baristas so, you got it, this is a coffee shop and I approve! 

Now, what about the coffee? I ordered up a large for $2.00 and change because it includes one refill which is way better than that international chain out of Seattle. My first cup was a Haitian dark roast. For my refill, they had just brewed up a Brazilian which was delivered to my table. Both coffees were easily Good+ and the Brazilian might make it to Great. the Brazilian was the darker, more robust of the two.

If you have a good impression when you walk in you will be not be disappointed. It is a great place for coffee and perhaps a nice cuppie to go with it. Much of the crowd today seemed to have text books and notebooks spread out which, I suppose, reflects its proximity to OCU. Other pluses are no kids and (apparently) no high school teens. It’s a nice place to camp for a while and get some work done or just relax alone or with a friend. Would I meet you here for coffee? You bet! Give me call.

Kate and Paige

Disclaimer: I am not a coffee connoisseur. I am just a guy who lies to drink coffee in coffee shops. I tend to think of my coffee in terms of Meh – Okay - Good – Great. Most coffee I drink is okay to good. It has to make an effort to get to Great or Meh. These are just my opinions. Take or ignore them as you wish.

My Coffee Odyssey – Classen Coffee Co

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Classen Coffee Co opened recently and this is my first visit. My thought on walking in was, “I like this place.” The décor is eclectic and invites you to sit and hang out for a bit. There is plenty of seating inside as well as some nice patio type seating outside. They sell coffee, tea, and a selection of other drinks. There was no large selection of goodies from which to choose so, yeah, this is definitely a coffee shop. The baristas are friendly and attentive. 

I, naturally, asked for a cup of dark brew. It was, reportedly, an Indonesian mocha Java. My limited palate scores my cup a Good+, maybe closer to Great. I liked it a lot. The price list was reasonable.  

My first impression was correct. I sat in a comfy chair. I checked email. I read some of an ebook on my tablet. I like this place. Would I tell you to meet me here for coffee? Absolutely!! Hit me up. I am pretty available for coffee.

Disclaimer: I am not a coffee connoisseur. I am just a guy who lies to drink coffee in coffee shops. I tend to think of my coffee in terms of Meh – Okay - Good – Great. Most coffee I drink is okay to good. It has to make an effort to get to Great or Meh. These are just my opinions. Take or ignore them as you wish.

My Coffee Odyssey

 

It began with a real conversation. 

Me: “We need to have coffee and catch up.” 

Friend: “Sure. When?” 

Me: “How about….?   (We agreed on a date.) 

Friend: “Where do you want to meet?” 

Me: (Pause) “I’ll get back to you.” 

I paused because I realized I wanted to go to a real coffee shop but I wasn’t sure where to suggest. There are plenty of places to drink coffee and there are coffee shops. They are generally not the same thing. I have launched My Coffee Odyssey to find and visit real coffee shops. I will write about my visits as they occur. When I visit a coffee shop I want a place to sit in peace, drink coffee, and read or perhaps visit with a friend. When I drink coffee, I drink it black and usually dark roast. That is what I am interested in. This is not a tour of muffins, bagels, quiche, cupcakes, or any other munchies that may be available. 

My Coffee Odyssey will evolve as it happens. I expect to learn and develop my notion of what a coffee shop should be. As a starting point, here are some of my thoughts on what I will be looking for. 

Most important, and my first comment in any report, will be the coffee. I will drink it black. It will be dark roast. It should be reasonably priced and may or may not include refills.  

A good coffee shop should be a little unique, someplace one wants to meet a friend to catch up. If it looks and feels like a chain store with a national advertising budget it just doesn’t make the coffee shop cut. 

Coffee shop patrons will generally be grown-ups. They are not after school or evening teen hang outs. They are not places where you expect to see (or hear) small children or infants. 

Coffee shops will almost certainly not have a menu for your table. The more service and food choices you have the less likely you are in a coffee shop no matter how good their coffee might be. It is a place to drink coffee. 

Starbucks is an easy example of a chain store that many people confuse with a coffee shop. On any given day, there is a contingent of teenagers and moms with small children. Every store is pretty much like every other store. They are a place to drink coffee. They are not a coffee shop. 

(Feel free to make suggestions in the comments regarding anything I have overlooked.)

This is a mission I have chosen for myself. I will write about my odyssey because it is what I want to do. If you are interested you can follow along. If you are really interested you can suggest coffee shops I should visit. If you are really really interested, you are welcome to meet me for coffee. When I tweet about my adventure I will use the hashtag #MyCoffeeOdyssey. (If you don’t follow me, @drcamey, on Twitter, you should.) Most of my visits will be around the greater OKC metro area but as I find myself in other areas I will be looking for good local coffee shops.

Motivation: It's All About You

Motivation: It’s All About You

(Something to Consider)

Walter Shaub resigned as director of the Office of Government Ethics earlier this month. As reported in the Wall Street Journal, his resignation came after his very public criticism of the current administration. There is plenty of room for disagreement with this administration; however, one of Mr. Shaub’s public comments caught my attention. In a television interview, he made the statement that, "America should have the right to know what the motivations of its leaders are…” My immediate thought was, “How can I know that? How can anyone know that? How does one assert that 'right'?” 

Motivation is a word that is tossed around as though people know what it means and understand what they are saying. Here is a note from one psychology discussion of the topic.

What is Motivation?

A motive is an impulse that causes a person to act. Motivation is an internal process that makes a person move toward a goal. Motivation, like intelligence, can't be directly observed. (Sparknotes)

As much as I might like, I cannot know with certainty what your motivation is for any action you take or any behavior you exhibit. In many cases, you may well not know yourself. Your motivation can be neither directly observed nor identified. I might draw an inference regarding what your motivation might be, but I cannot know it with certainty.

The upshot of this is that when you make an assertion about the motivation of a public, or any other, person, you are inferring their motivation based on what you believe it might be in the context of your life experiences and how you believe you would be motivated in similar circumstances. Your inferences about THEIR motivation reveals more about YOU than it does about them. Because, after all,

It's ALL about YOU and NOT about THEM!

Submitted for your consideration.

As always, your comments are invited and appreciated.