Me and Scotty walked down to the new Starbucks. We're adament Greyfriar's loyalists but alas the Greyfriar crew has snubbed the idea of making new stores and relied more upon www.rarecoffee.com and whole selling the java instead of opening the neighborhood coffee shop on every corner. Strouds in the Chattanoogan serves Ian's Brew but alas it doesn't taste as good as the home grown stuff for some weird reason and closes at 3 PM which is just dang annoying. So if you need that cup of coffee for the afternoon pick up you have to go to the Greyfriars competitors.
And, I don't like Chattz, they're basically a bunch of hacks from what the Greyfriars crew has told me. I've only had one cup from there and it tasted a bit like an arm pit as far as I could tell. So I don't trade with them.
So Scotty and I took a break from the Corp. world to get some java at the new Starbucks that opened up at the Reed House. I must say the coffee wasn't bad, it was typical Charbucks, but not that bad. I enjoy a charbucks every now and then. My theory on coffee is that American coffee is like charbucks, over roasted. Its my idea that Americans like their coffee a little over roasted or if you will, well done. Greyfriars has been accused by some coffee snobs of under-roasting their coffee and thus in their opinion, that is bad. To me coffee is like a steak. You can order it rare, medium, or well done. Charbucks is the well done and it tastes good for being well done. Greyfriars tastes good too, though it has a strikingly different taste that brings out different flavors that the medium and well done roasts tend to destroy. So to me there is no real way to roast, its sort of depends on whats your cup of tea.
Back to the adventure to Charbucks
What worried me more about the coffee competition for Greyfriars, was the fact that the shop is freakin huge. Greyfriars pretty much has the corner on the market for late night coffee shops for covenant students, pot heads, and socialist intellectuals that don't know anything. I mean all those folks hang out at Greyfriars and it provides a nice mix of odd personalities. Well Starbucks' place makes Greyfriars interior look like the underground bunker Hitler died in. It was pretty plush and was steakin huge. As big as my house for the most part. Though Greyfriars still has them beat on the free refills, and for students, pot heads, and socialist intellectuals that don't know anything---free refills will always keep them all coming back.
So Greyfriars still has the market on the free refill thing which is cool.
Oh, and while on the topic of Chattanooga Coffee shops: Rembrants i in my mind has always been kind of lame. The coffee is alright, nothing to plop down a buck fitty for. The deserts are good in the sense that they're fancy, but they don't taste good. Like a lot of fancy food it goes too much for visual taste and lacks the pallet impact that i desire. Plus they have that lame-o flazamo refill bucket where you're supposed to drop a few quarters in for a refill on your joe, yeah right. I've never paid for a refill there. I don't necessarily feel bad about it because frankly I feel their product isn't even worth a buck fitty and it certainly isn't worth 25 cents for a refill. Sometimes I'll plop a pennie, other times I just jiggle the coin box to get the desirable sound that makes them think i paid. Plus they make flavored coffee which I find to be an abomination and against both the laws of nature and physics, which are somewhat interchangeable.
There is also that Perky Pirana, i went there once b/c i was at the aquarium and in need of caffine. Wifey got a espresso mocha drink that tasted like my shoe and i got a cup of joe that tasted like Joe's shoe. It was the worst coffee i think i've ever had...
Stone Cup: Its ok, I like the one out at the mall cause its always hard to find a coffee shop to hang out at malls. But I liked it better when it was the Blue Angel, that was a cooler name. If they changed it to Stoners Cup that'd be funny.
Then there is the newbie on the block, well starbucks is techinically the newbie but... Bad Ass coffee. Which to me is just distasteful. Not because the word "Ass" offends me, it doesn't. But a friend of mine who is a former school teacher pointed out the problem from a teacher's view, and also from a parents. As parents/teachers we teach our kids not to say bad words like "ass" you sort of try to break kids into those type of words and hope they can make it at least till high school or so before they use it in their daily vernacular. Well He being a former teacher who used to take his third graders to field trips to the aquarium pointed out the fact that if you go to the aquarium from say Calvin Donaldson you would most likely drive right bye BAD ASS COFFEE... and imagine a bus full of kids reading that sign and trying to keep them from saying "Ass"... it'd be impossible.
School KID: "ASS!"
Teacher: "hey stop that!"
School kid: "But the sign says and i was just reading the sign...."
I mean who was the moron that let that name pass...? Corker, were you "Corkin' it" when they asked you to allow that??? And don't give me that its named after a donkey crap, because frankly it won't fly with me. Because if it was named after a donkey then call it "Donkey Coffee,' "Mule Coffee," or "Wannabe Horse Coffee." Anyway, from what i hear their coffee is crap anyway.
Any who, Now where did I put those folgers crystals??
Posted by holtonian at May 10, 2004 07:08 PM | TrackBackI think you' Re right on target with the seating issue
being a factor in competition. It' S near impossible to get
a seat in Greyfriar' S on a weekend night, especially enough
seats for a group of friends. The new Starbucks is obviously huge, I
could tell that just by driving by. Something that' S bugged
me about the local coffee business is that no one is really open all
that late. On Friday and Saturday nights there should be a place open
until 1 or 2 am. I' M sure there' S a market for
it. Overall, Greyfriar' S is definitely my favorite, but
Rembrandt' S does have one great distinguishing feature --
the huge patio. Nothing like a hot mocha outdoors on a cool night.
Sitting outside at greyfriars is impossible for all practical purposes. There are the same squatters sitting out in front of greyfriars as there were almost 4 years ago~! I commend these people for their utmost devotion, but I wish they'd be a little more considerate on the outside seating.
Posted by: kposey at May 11, 2004 11:23 AMI was hanging out in greyfriars one evening. I was sitting inside on my laptop and there was some guy pissing on the other side of the window right next to where i was sitting. that is why i dont like going to greyfriars anymore. because i saw that guy doing that. also the last few cups of coffee i had there tasted "ham"my. i suspect they must be brewing their coffee with little slices of smoked meat, to achieve that sort of unique flavor. kudos to those guys.
Posted by: Randy at June 2, 2004 02:22 AMYou should try the new place on Frazier called The Mezzanine. They hired some greyfriers people to open it and run it so the taste is truly the same and the atmosphere is AWESOME. They have this cool second level where you can look below to see what the people are doing below you. The parking is great cause it is RIGHT there. It's the back part of that cyber cafe called CyberLAN. The atmosphere is totally different. They also have free wireless internet. Check it out and they give you your first specialty drink free and have frequent buyer cards.
Posted by: Nellie at June 2, 2004 10:14 AMTwo random thoughts for Holton:
1. "Visual taste" is a brilliant coinage.
2. I'm an enthusiastic convert to Aretha Frankenstein's on Tremont Avenue, just off Frazier. A wonderful outdoor patio, a quiet, green residential neighborhood, open from 7 to midnight, and the coffee's fine, I guess. I mostly drink their beer, as real men ought. What's with the "getting some coffee at midnight" thing, anyway? If it's past sunset, you should be drinking beer. Or Scotch. I firmly believe this.
Posted by: mesh at June 2, 2004 02:02 PMI got tired of posing and spending my hard earned money in overpriced coffee bars so now I grind my own coffee (Eight O'Clock, Folgers, whatever's on sale) at home. Tastes just as good, cheaper, & w/o the posing and status seeking.
Posted by: whatevah at July 6, 2004 08:41 PMAh, the current coffee community of Chattanooga. Bad Ass is dissolved, no longer selling two-dollar cups of over-roast, claiming it as Chattanooga's finest.
Greyfriar's has become a cornerstone for those of us downtown, who have a penchant for random cups at any hour on the day. I used to frequent Stone Cup right across the river, as well as Rembrants, situated one block away from my apartment. Stone Cup used to brew the strongest dark roast around, and many didn't like it; these people are the ones more likely to rave about Rembrandt's new on-site roasting facilities, and they will admit that though you can see straight through the sometimes rheumy-looking pour, Rembrandt's coffee is not a bad cup. I beg to differ, and know that they moved some talented on-site glass blowers to make room for their version and vision of ground-bean perfection.
I used to grab a cup of Rembrandt's in the morning for school. The walk along the river is a nice way to face the morning, and got me through the longest of morning classes. But I was passing a little coffee shop on utc's campus, so one day went in. I discovered that Coffee Crafters brews excellent coffee, and reluctantly began to admit that this brew was among the very best examples in Chattanooga's catalogue...
Whatever one's opinion on Chattybrews, I will say that Chattanoogans know their coffee, the coffee-roasters are experts in this field, and their differences represent varying ideals of perfection. It's a beautiful thing.
I work... or worked at Aretha Frankenstein's. It burnt down last night, so you might have to find another spot to hang out, Mesh.
Posted by: Cole at April 2, 2006 01:56 PMI also agree that Greyfriar's is the best that Chattanooga has to offer in the line of coffee, but why no mention of The Mudpie in North Chattanooga on Frazier? Ther also serve a decent brew and it's a fun place.
Posted by: John at April 4, 2006 02:58 PMI cant believe Aretha Frankenstein's burnt down. Not that I really cared for it that much.
Why cant any coffee shop in chatt stay open until 2am? Im a late-nighter and it sucks to have no place to go get out of the house and enjoy a cup of coffee.
Greyfriars is nice but its so...scene-y. Im the type of person who just wants to go get coffee, dont need to talk or fit in to a scene, just get in- maybe stay a minute, get out...that's why Starbucks is nice...I cannot stand how people who drink coffee at some of the places just get wrapped up in coffee as a lifestyle and judge those who go in for coffee. Its just coffee to me, nothing more. weirdos.
Being a card carrying Greyfriars loyalist I won't even acknowledge the other compeditors sludge that doesn't even qualify as driveway sealant. One thing about coffee shops though...I do like convenience and I liked the idea a guy in jackson, MS had...a double decker London bus as a coffee shop...it's mobile, diesel, scenic, very british islesy which goes with the Greyfriars theme... but a little cramped...still it's cool.
Posted by: OBSCENE GENE at April 7, 2006 09:11 PMdude. who cares this much about coffee anyway? get a life.
Posted by: the cynic at August 27, 2007 01:22 AMI posted this three years ago... thanks for the well timed input though... you brought a lot to the table...
Posted by: holton at August 27, 2007 07:20 AMI tried some coffe from a new roasting co at the Chattanooga Market last Sunday. Great flavor. Sumatra was great. They roasted it the day before. Wow what a difference being that fresh makes. Check it out, you won't be a hater.
Posted by: Jack Black at October 31, 2007 09:17 PMI would go to Stone Cup but, they take 20 minutes to heat up a bagel. Meanwhile the guy with pink hair behind me keeps twirling his tongue ring, I can hear it clicking and it has already made me nauseous. I haven't even gotten to the coffee yet.
I'm just sticking to the shit they have at my office. Yeah, it's got mold but, it's good.
Posted by: Chris T. at October 31, 2007 11:25 PM