Which Coffee Shop?

To most, a coffee shop isn’t just a place to have coffee. A center of social interaction, people file in and out throughout the day: in the morning to grab a pick-me-drink, during the afternoon to relax, and in the evening as it gets chilly. I grew up around coffee shops; my parents always took me there for hot chocolate as a child when we would leave on our way out of town. Some are busy and brisk and noisy and crowded and hip and popular and mainstream. Others are simple and quiet and small and home-like and artsy and quaint and relaxing and out of the way. Though in the same arena, ACRE, a small, new coffee shop downtown and Peet’s a locally started chain are very different.

I never really liked coffee much. Latté. Mocha. Frappuccino. It was from a different adult world. As I grew up and watched my grandfather, and then my father handle a coffee machine with ease, I found myself drawn to the scent, the streamed milk, the hints of peppermint, or hazelnut or chocolate or vanilla or caramel, the smell of ground coffee and always the sweet smell of sugar. A coffee-milk, coffee, foam, or whipped cream, a little chocolate and cinnamon-was perfection.

Quiet, charming, relaxing-ACRE offered a respite from the bustle of downtown. The walls of the ACRE are simple, with artwork spray-painted or drawn cardboard. A long table promoted a sense of community and encouraged the people, plugged into their computers, their minds racing away, focused on their work, to speak to one another. Smaller tables with old styled gooseneck-like lamps provided a more intimate space. A counter lines another wall with stools to sit at. Warm large coffee mugs for lattes left a telltale brown circle on the smooth tables while espresso in small cups on matching saucers sat steaming nearby.

At three, the college students with their JanSport backpacks and brown book bags sat in groups at tables, heads bent together, chatting before classes. The click of computer keys, the sipping of coffee, the quiet voices chattering broke the silence. There is a mutual sense of focus and concentration that fills the air. By four, there was a stream of people shuffling in and out, street musicians, artists, students, and occasionally a parent with a little child. A mother and daughter sat down to talk about their day, a woman with reading glasses poured over a manuscript, and little boys shrieked and chased each other around the front of the shop. By five, it was near empty, the people who were left plugged into their computers, peering at their screens.

But if there had been more people, if the noise level had been louder, if the grinding of the coffee and the blender crushing coffee had been insistent, if there was a it would have been Peet’s.

Unlike ACRE, a small business, Peet’s is a chain and well known. It produces a brisk environment, perfect for a coffee before work, or a stop on the way to San Francisco. Many chairs and tables are ideal for groups of people to meet and the wide range of pastries and coffee appeal to many customers.

In the morning, men and women dressed in business suits sped in and out, iPhones and Blackberries in hand with two or three four-cup coffee holders. Mothers with young children in strollers, high school and college students and teachers on their way to work grab coffees in a cup to go. During the afternoon, men laze around outside talking and smoking, women get together to discuss their lives, real estate agents meet potential clients over coffee. By evening the people who trek in and out are less hurried and everything is slowed down.

Peet’s was busy, ACRE was idle; Peet’s was brisk, ACRE was relaxed; Peet’s is a commercial business, ACRE is a local business; Peet’s was loud, ACRE was quiet. Both are coffee shops but promote different environments, but the drink ties them together. Coffee shops continue to be a thoughtful place for me, an escape from the fast pace of my life. Whether I want the coffee to be a fancy mocha or a plain espresso, in a quiet atmosphere or a loud atmosphere.

--Maya B.