Coffee

Brooklyn Roasting neon sign over cash registrer and ground coffee. Low hanging brass light fixtures inside Brookyn Denim Co., Williamsburg. Garment Co.

Coffee

Denim and Coffee in BKLYN

Published on July 4, 2022

Back in 2020 when we were located inside Brooklyn Denim Co. I co-wrote my first post about denim and coffee with our intern at the time Sheri Sharif. Back then, Brooklyn Roasting Co. set up a small cafe at the front of the store. We had the idea that few things beat a great cup of freshly roasted coffee and a pair of American handcrafted jeans and put together a post highlighting their comic which taught you all you needed to know about coffee from its origins to latte art.

Little did I know, I’d be starting a blog starting coffee within the next 2-years. I had this idea of offering a free cup of coffee with a purchase of WGC jeans or alterations services. This is still something I dream of doing sometime in the future when we can afford a nice set-up.

As for now, some things remain the same. Such as one of my favorite coffee brands, Brooklyn Roasting Company. They are the roasters of one of my top favorite beans the “Oaxacan” roast. It’s always stocked in my kitchen and consumed several times per week in a rich cup of oak milk cappuccino.

Fashion designer Maurice Malone 3rd grade class photo — Maurice Malone

Coffee

Remembering my first coffee

Published on July 4, 2022

I’ve been drinking coffee since I was a very young child. Most likely, I was younger than I appear in this photo. I estimate 4 to 5 years old. I can remember the day I had my first cup because its taste seared that day into my childhood memory.

My family had driven down from Detroit to visit my Grandma in Columbus, Ohio for the holidays. My mom has a big family, and my Grandma had a very big house. In the mornings the family would slowly come down from the upper floors to gather at the table in the kitchen. My grandmother would make hot chocolate for the kids and hot water for instant coffee (my mom’s favorite), or a fresh pot would be percolating on the stove for the other adults.

For the kids, she made this awesome toast with butter and sugar broiled in the bottom drawer of the stove. The key – put the butter and sugar on before toasting. To this day, I prefer buttering my bread before toasting it. I also liked to dip my toast into my hot chocolate and stuff it into my mouth before the soggy part fell off.

On this day, I asked my mom, “what does coffee taste like?” She poured some coffee with cream into my empty cup. I didn’t like it but was still curious. I don’t remember whose idea it was to try it with sugar but I did, and my taste buds exploded! From that day forward I began my mornings drinking coffee with my mom, substituting in an occasional hot chocolate now and then.