Friday, May 13, 2016

The Coffee Pedaler



Subject: The Coffee Pedaler
Location: New Haven, CT
WiFi?: yes
Rating: 6+ [see key]

It's official: cycling and coffee are best buds.

Sure, no truly notarized decree has been made from either the SCAA or the International Olympic Committee, but if you know people whom take one seriously, chances are they are deeply enamored about the other. And unlike other communities that overlap with great coffee (like whittling or medieval anachronism), cycling and coffee have often combined forces for some epic tag teams. You can find coffee bars in bike shops, coffee served off the back of cycles (though to my disappointment, no one has debuted the coffee unicylce yet) and you can even find mobile coffee operations partially powered by pedal-power.


But for most, the love of coffee and biking is just mutual, and cafes like New Haven's Coffee Pedaler bring spotlight to that love. Located in an intimate space near the I-91 overpass, I made a welcome coffee stop there one warm, sunny day for a quick break. Walking past the bench seating on their cute cement porch, I strode inside to find a cafe of many wood surfaces bathed in a mix of florescent and halogen light. The place has a sharp look, with exposed brick, a chalkboard menu and a tin wall backdrop behind the square coffee bar.


As for beans, Coffee Pedaler was peddling George Howell the day I stopped by though they also use other roasters like Tandem Coffee Roasters out of Portland, Maine. For my coffee, I ordered an espresso of the Alchemy blend and a drip of a Costa Rican. The espresso, pulled to a medium volume with brown crema, weaved a tapestry of bittersweet chocolate, lemon, red pepper, whole milk and cane sugar, proving smooth and toothsome. The Costa Rica made for a superbly-sweet, deep brew of Cornflakes, cream, bran, apricot, nougat and rye toast in a medium body.


Despite the shortness of my break, I found my stop as refreshing as a spring bike ride down a gentle slope. If you happen to traverse the New Haven area, definitely pedal on over to The Coffee Pedaler for some great coffee.



2 comments:

Tonny said...

If I traverse New Haven area. Your stop - The Coffee Pedaler- should be an ideal choice to choose. I noted this

Chris said...

What a great blog! The way you describe a brew makes me wish I was there. If and when I'm ever in the area I'll be sure to check the Coffee Pedaler out.