With coffee prices at an all-time high, it’s important to know where to go for your daily caffeine boost. To find out what neighborhood joint offers the best deal, I visited five coffee shops on the Upper West Side.
Birch Coffee: 1/5. A small iced cappuccino with almond milk from Birch Coffee, located on West 96th Street and Columbus, is $5.25. Especially given the price, this coffee, which tasted sour, was incredibly disappointing. A cappuccino is meant to have equal parts espresso, milk, and foam; their cappuccino had no foam and little milk. If it wasn’t a large, nice place to get work done, Birch would have a 0/5.
Irving Farm New York: 2.5/5. A medium cold brew with almond milk from Irving Farm, located on West 79th Street between Broadway and Amsterdam, costs $0.45 (with a $5 promo code). Though bitter and watery, their coffee–unlike the Birch coffee–did not taste too bad, though it is not worth a retail price of over $5.00. The promo code is available by scanning a barcode at the entrance of the store to order online (the promo is IRVINGAHEAD, when you order online off of Toast). The location is very spacious and has lots of comfortable seating.
Blue Bottle Coffee: 4/5. A small, New Orleans-style coffee with almond milk from Blue Bottle, located on West 73rd Street and Amsterdam, costs $6.75 (almond milk was $1 extra). This sweet, flavorful, and milky coffee, which does have cane sugar added to the blend, is best enjoyed on occasion, as it has a particularly indulgent flavor and high price. If you are in the mood to try a new coffee flavor and don’t mind spending the extra bucks, then I recommend Blue Bottle. To spare you from some confusion, I will mention that Blue Bottle’s iced drinks do come in hot cups.
Joe Coffee: 4/5. A small cold brew with almond milk and cold foam from Joe Coffee, located on West 85th Street and Columbus, costs $4.36 (with a $2 promo code). This coffee–which was not overly watery–was very enjoyable. Joe’s online order pick up system is very accessible, and the place to pick up to-go orders is far from the line itself. This coffee is definitely worth it; the promo code is available when the app is downloaded.
Matto: 4.5/5. A small cold brew with almond milk from Matto, located on West 86th Street and Columbus, is $2.50. With the right amount of milk, this coffee, while bitter, tastes good. Matto has a base price of only $2.50 for everything in the store, including baked goods, meaning that is relatively affordable. Their pick up system–which is right at the entrance of the store–is very easy. They also have complimentary chocolates to grab on your way out. Unfortunately, there is not much room to sit at Matto.