My First Specialty Coffee Experience
I’ve Never Been More Confused
Originally publised on Wordpress March, 26 2016.
The first time that I ever went to a specialty coffee shop was about two years ago. How long ago that seems now. The coffee shop was named Shenandoah Joe. They supplied much of the beans for different shops around the town of Charlottesville, VA — home to the University of Virginia. GO HOOS! Anyways, back to coffee.
My friend and I walked in, and I looked up at the menu. I was so lost. Who knew there were so many options for the same drink? After giving up on the menu, I simply said to the barista:
“I’d like black coffee.”
“Would you like a pour-over?”
“I don’t know…I just want black coffee.”
“So you want one of our drafts?”
I thought to myself, why is she asking me about beer?
“I want black coffee.”
“Ok. Here are the two coffees we have on draft today. Which one would you like?”
“I don’t know…I’ll take the Mandheling, Sumatra I guess.”
After getting our coffee, we sat down outside, and my buddy Seth tried his best to explain what just happened. That’s the moment when I learned what a pour-over was. Ahhh…what a great memory!
Since that day, Seth began to disciple me in all things coffee. It was all so interesting to me, even before I even liked coffee. Later on, Shenandoah Joe became Lawrencia and I’s favorite place in town, where we could be seen every Wednesday morning sipping on Costa Rican and Sumatran pour-over brews respectively.
Do you remember your first trip into a specialty coffee shop? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below.
