What's does "CC" mean?Subject: Spot Coffee
Location visited: Buffalo, NY
(Delaware Ave location)
Free WiFi ? : yes
Rating: 3+ [see key]
Over the past year or so, I have really met a lot of people from Buffalo. Some described their city in fair terms, others in sullen woes of a not-so-exciting city. Whatever Buffalo is, it is not a city that sells itself well, as when I've visited I really didn't see much that impressed (I am willing to give the city the benefit of the doubt).
But one thing that seems pretty plain through other conversations and research is that Buffalo does not have a lot of promising coffee places. Locals had told me about Spot Coffee, that it was the local place to get coffee, but beyond that I had not heard much.
So without many options in a recent visit, I made my way to Spot. The coffeehouse looks behemoth walking towards it, like a two-story warehouse with a bright purple awning. The inside proved to have the high vaulted ceilings of a warehouse, but much more warmth and lots of fancy vintage furniture.
Spot self-roasts their coffee, with blends ranging from light to oily-dark. I sampled their Panama coffee, which had a smooth body and a share of candy-ish notes, but it turned out to be tremendously overshadowed by staleness (i.e. it had been sitting). The barista produced a bit of a lackluster espresso; sweet but with definite components of cardboard and char. I did not observe the tea.
Sadly, it seems Buffalo really does not have much of a coffee scene (as further evidenced here) but that's not to say that there's no hope. Spot has the facilities and capabilities to take it up a notch so with some time and effort, hopefully a return trip back to Buffalo will be met with such great news.
If you're in Buffalo and in need of fair coffee (or coffee at all given the lack of alternatives), get a spot of coffee at Spot.
