Our Cup of Coffee Could Be Your Life: A Semi-Irregular Review of Coffee in the District
Frequent contributor "Robert" continues his quest for the perfect cup of coffee in DC. Check out his last post here.
Photo: Swings on E. Street before it was relocated to 17th and G St. NW.
I was planning on checking out two coffee shops this week, but I was distracted by the arrival of my friend’s new puppy and the Super Bowl. I did, however, make it down to M.E. Swings Coffee on 17th and G St. NW for a Tuesday afternoon fifteen minute (cough*hour*cough) break from work.
Despite the sour vibe emanating from the White House just around the corner, the coffee at “Swings” is ripe with flavor. The sign above the counter bears a quote by Talley Rand, an 18th century French diplomat, describing his concept of the perfect cup of coffee: “It must be pure as angel, strong as love, black as the devil, and hot as hell.” For the most part, the brew at Swings lived up to Rand’s criteria. I ordered a cup of their Euro blend and it was served piping hot. In fact, it may have been the hottest cup of coffee I have ever ordered. Since coffee without a bit of steam reaching out the top of the mug is a personal turn-off, Swings made a serious first impression. In terms of flavor, the Euro had a medium body, with appropriate acidity. While most dark coffees evoke winter, the Euro hinted of spring: clean, airy, and well-rounded. Given its location, Swings has a very DC, on-the-go, type-A atmosphere: lots of suits hurriedly throwing back a quick shot of espresso in between meetings and tight deadlines. Complimenting this, the Euro blend went down briskly, barely leaving any aftertaste (good or bad). As I was walking back to my office, I felt the thrust of the caffeine – strong as love, indeed. I will definitely return when I want to feel like an executive and need a bold, caffeinated kick in the pants.
6 Comments:
We love Swing's. I wrote about it a while back here:
http://www.kr8tiv.com/blogit2/mt-search.cgi?search=Swing%27s&IncludeBlogs=3
The employees are always happy. Either that or they're totally jacked up on caffeine.
I know it's hip to dis chain stores, but the people at Caribou are always service-oriented and the bathrooms are spotless.
I agree aout caribou. better coffee than starbuck, disturbingly nice considering their hourly wage, and the bathrooms are clean.
However, if someone opened a tryst like coffee bar (with non-shitty coffee) in shaw/14th street area, it would be a huge success.
I miss Sparky's.
sparkey's :(
what happened to sparkys? I was annoyed by their hours of operation (closed too early), but I enjoyed hanging out there.
The staff at Swings was super friendly. In fact, they even complimented me on my new shoes which I swear did not affect my evaluation of the coffee. I loved the vibe at Sparky's but the coffee was consistently disappointing. I am a fan of 14U (at 14th and U st.) and will be writing about it in the future. In the meantime, I urge you to trek over to 1st and Q to check out Big Bear. It is definitely worth the five minute bus ride or 20 minute walk. You'll thank me.
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