Note Coffee House and Lounge

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Note Coffee House and Lounge

22 Mar

The cold is finally ending, and the snow has finally melted. We hope this is the beginning of Spring, but we’ve been fooled before. To be honest, the cold has kept me inside for most of the winter and I haven’t really had the wherewithal to go coffee-house hunting. I’m sure many of you have felt the same. A few weeks ago I did finally emerge from hibernation, and was surprised to find that just last December, before the Siberian Express even began, a brand new coffee shop opened up right in my proverbial backyard.

That coffeehouse would be Note. Yes, that’s also the name of a wine bar in Midtown, but this place proffers uppers instead of downers. It’s located in a plaza near a Bass Pro; not the kind of place that makes me think of a nice, quiet cafe. I learned long ago to keep my mind open during this journey, and understand that the best coffeehouses can be found in the most unassuming places.

Note is memorable for two reasons. First of these is Linda, the owner of the shop. It took a brief conversation with her to see that she really knew her coffee. She was able to rattle off the three single-origin beans from South America and Africa that constituted the house blend with ease. Her stock of beans is visible on a counter in the back of the store and makes for some lovely viewing if, like me, you geek out over that kind of thing. Secondly, attached to Note is East Coast Vapor, a fairly lavish vaping store. Linda seems to feel that vaping culture and coffee culture mesh well. I actually agree with this. Same artsy people. I get it.

And how was the house blend itself? Really good actually. It was rather mild compared to some other house blends I’ve had recently, but it was very well-balanced. I typically go for a more robust flavor, but this was a subtly crafted coffee, consistent with what you’d expect from someone who obviously considers it her art. The three bean combination melded together well, the citrus nature of the African coffees nicely subsumed by the earthiness of the South American.

All in all, it’s a nice little place they got here. It’s tough to get to it from the main entrance; a huge amount of traffic volume and a labyrinthine plaza aren’t a good combination sometimes. It’s worth it to come though. There are apparently art events here too some nights; just informal creative jaunts. I like the sound of that, and I will definitely be making a return trip as soon as I’m convinced that no more vortexes of a polar nature will interfere with my adventures.