The Birch Coffee Review

I don’t think that I am really all that particular about coffee, when it comes down to it. I do prefer coffee flavored coffee, to use the expression of comedian Dennis Leary. If offered a choice, however, of one kind of coffee or another — or one coffee made one way as opposed to another made a subjectively better way, I will probably lean toward the “better” coffee. That being the case, I will admit to being a bit of a sucker for store signs that make me laugh. I was walking to the office a few weeks back and I saw that there was a new coffee bar on 62nd street, on the Upper East Side called Birch Coffee — and I walked right past it until I read the chalkboard sign that was sitting outside and laughed out loud — and then walked right back.

“The sign got you, huh?” a gentleman asked — he was sitting at the bar that faced the wide open front window. I’m sure that I couldn’t have been the only person to do a double take at the funniness of the joke. (Mind you, it was just funny enough for me to laugh at the time but not funny enough for me to write down!) Though I didn’t take a photo of the joke that day, I did manage to take a picture of my drink — a cold brewed coffee with soy milk.

The coffee was a hit — it had all the right flavor notes I wanted and was a rich and welcome flavor. It is entirely possible that I could have had it without any soy milk at all, but I thought it made a nice additions. This morning I returned, punch card in hand (they offer a free drink of your choice after getting 9) and got another iced coffee — this one was made with a large glass device that slowly processed the water over the coffee grounds and took twelve hours to make a full batch. Next up — a growler (large bottle) for my office? That goes for twenty dollars and may be a bit much if I end up being the only person in the office who drinks any.

I will say this — I loved the utter simplicity of this place. They have a couple dozen drinks, some pastries, a little on the merchandise side (strictly coffee related) and that is all — they aren’t trying to fit everything but the kitchen sink into the store. They do just about one thing and they do that one thing very well. I will be happy to return to Birch again.