Coffee-Questing: A Mad Dash to Moon Doggie

-

Mid-November has been unseasonably warm---much to the delight of people everywhere grappling with the inevitable darkness that comes with the onset of winter, as well as the bleak darkness of the current news cycle. We can only speculate that among the 127 people killed in Paris last Friday, some of them were out enjoying a cup of coffee, while basking in the splendor of an unseasonably warm Parisian evening. It was in the midst of this everyday joy that tragedy struck. We also know that undoubtedly among those also killed by terrorists in Lebanon and Kenya recently, there were also many coffee-lovers.

While lots of commentary has been focused on the horrors of terrorism and the tenuous quality of day-to-day life, we will add to the cacophony by saying how precious life is. Even the opportunity to grab a cup of coffee from a renowned small cafe in Maywood, NJ on a balmy Monday night is special---a chance to simply be a coffee-loving human sharing a universally beloved brew on the first day of the workweek, well that's something wonderful.

A Moon Doggie Monday

On Monday, November 15, a friend of mine and a fellow blogger, George, suggested that I join him on a short trip from Montclair to Maywood to try the coffee at Moon Doggie. George is on a quasi-quixotic quest to visit the 98 coolest coffee shops in New Jersey (based on a NJ Monthly Magazine round-up). So far, he's hit about 35---and I was honored to accompany him to #36.



En route to Moon Doggie, George offhandedly suggested that I check the closing time. Experience has taught George that neighborhood coffee shops tend to close on the early side, especially during the week. We cut it close, but we were determined to get there before it closed at 5 pm. We made it with three minutes to spare.

Moon Doggie is an unassuming, independently owned neighborhood coffee shop in a pedestrian-friendly thoroughfare with head-on parking. Once inside, we noticed the eclectic decor and the comforting icons of coffee-drinking---mugs, pastries and muffins, mid-century consumer art and pop culture that celebrates the American coffee-drinking experience. Being Americans who like to drink coffee, we decided to partake.



Self-serve coffee for the coffee connoisseur

Once Dave the barista handed us our cups, we headed over to the deceptively straightforward coffee-dispensing canisters. George found the Guatemalan coffee to be flavorful and sufficiently hot in contrast to the New Moon Coffee, which was not hot enough. Nonetheless, the New Moon coffee was redeemed by its smooth, spicy body.

I agreed wholeheartedly with George's assessment, so I had a bit of both and left with a cup of hot Guatemalan. We also shared a pumpkin spice muffin, which was huge, homemade, healthfully concocted and the perfect blend of pumpkin and spice.



The takeaway

Overall, it was worth the hustle that it took to get there. In addition to the friendly neighborhood vibe and the accommodating barista, Moon Doggie gave us a warm spot to chill and enjoy a good cup of coffee, if only for a few precious minutes.

Next time you're in Maywood, check out Moon Doggie!




Comments

James Anthony said…
Caffeine content is affected by the type of coffee bean, roast style, how the coffee is prepared and the serving size. Espressomaschinen
March 28, 2022 at 2:13 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Coffee Prices Explode & Global Coffee Gratitude

-
Image
At the end of the Thanksgiving holiday, I am reminded of how grateful I am for coffee. Not only for its rich, soothing, energizing effects---but also because of its health benefits, including a reduced risk of diabetes, stroke, Parkinson’s disease, and depression. I am also grateful that increasingly the medical evidence is documenting these benefits with amazing contributions from European and American universities! I am also grateful that most of the coffee-drinkers I know can still afford to drink coffee and enjoy its benefits. That is not insignificant, especially when you consider that coffee prices are at an all-time high for the past 13 years. In fact, coffee futures have increased 44%. According to pundits, a constellation of factors are contributing to coffee's sky-high prices, including bad weather in South America and low stockpiles in the United States. But, there's something else: Increasing demand from coffee drinkers in emerging economies. The largest increase i
Read more

Happiness Is…Buying a New Coffee Maker & Getting a Refund for the Old One

-
Image
About a week ago, the unthinkable happened. One mid-August morning, my Barista Aroma TM 8-cup coffeemaker broke. It became essentially unusable. My first reaction was denial. The large rubber lip of the thermal carafe had become completely unhinged. I tried to meld it back together, but this coffee maker was almost 4 years old. Indeed, if ever there was ‘planned obsolescence’ this was it---because it was definitely NOT abuse. Over the years, I have loved that coffeemaker. On some cold winter mornings, I would practically coo at it as it competently brewed my coffee. I loved many of its features. It’s black and silver sleekness, the gold mesh flat filter, the fact that I could yank the carafe away from the case before it finished brewing in order to pour myself half a cup. I loved the shushing sound it made as it brewed, the strategically placed water canister, and the digital read-out. Ours was a warm respectable relationship informed by my primal addiction to coffee.
Read more

Who is Juan Valdez and why I drink instant coffee

-
Image
Instant coffee gets a bad rap. But like it or not, instant coffee---a freeze-dried, powdered concentrated form of coffee--- is coffee. And like other types of coffee, it is full of antioxidants. The obvious downside for many people, however, is that instant coffee has a different flavor profile than traditionally brewed coffee. But that does not mean that it can’t be good. In fact, there are now second- and third-generation instant coffees that have gained a following.  However, this post is NOT about the most au courant instant coffees. This post is about an old-school, first-generation instant coffee. Specifically, Juan Valdez Café instant coffee (which I recently received as a gift from good friends). The Juan Valdez Café brand represents coffee produced by Colombian Coffee Farmers---500,000 strong, who are devoted to continuing a coffee-growing tradition that many say produces the best coffee in the world. Amazon reviewers tend to rate Juan Valdez Café coffee with 4.5 to 5 stars (
Read more