The Adventures of Jeff and Joe
As I write this, it is 3:45am in Charleston, SC. I am at the table with my closest companion of almost 40 years. We are planning the schedule for the summer and doing some social media promoting. They’ve been by my side since I was 19 years old or so. My horrible two years in the army, my travels across the country and around the world. They’ve helped me study and watch my children grow up. Start businesses and fail. Marriage and divorce. Never judging, never a bad word. Just silently helping me through it all. We’ve matured together. From Maxwell House to Lavazza, coffee has always been there for me.
I didn’t really like coffee at first. I needed it sweet with lots of half and half. I started drinking it my senior year in high school. Dunkin’ Donuts, hot regular 3 and 3. If I tried drinking that now, it would probably make me gag. In the Army, giant pots of “mud”; a testament to the manliness of military life. Waking up at three in the morning to make breakfast for 1,500 trainees required a pick-me-up, and cocaine was out of the question.
After the army, there was college and full-time work. Coffee was necessary to help me stay awake after a full day of classes and then night baking muffins at the Marshside. Caffeine was the key. I’ve always been a working stiff, and coffee helped me stay awake and focused. It was never about taste or richness or smoothness. It was about getting through the day. In fact, I held a bit of contempt for those individuals who wore knit beanies and had skippydidoo moustaches who espoused coffee as gourmet. I had no room for fancy coffee machines or specialized grinders, and I definitely had no room in my life to even think about drinking coffee brewed with beans that had passed through the digestive system of some tropical cat.
And then I went to Vienna.
My wife wanted to sleep. We had been up late the night before wandering the city and enjoying the history, lights, and romance of such a place. Having been a steward for many years, my default setting was 5am… time to get up. I dressed, brushed my teeth and walked along the canal, a moment, by the way, that absolutely ruined the film Taken for me.
I started downtown and went into an incredibly ornate coffee and pastry shop. It was quiet, just the workers and a few others. Maybe four people were in the entire place. One was reading a paper at a table for two. Two others were chatting in German.
I ordered a coffee with cream and sugar. I waited quite some time. It came in an ornate cup, with two packets of sugar, a small pitcher of cream and a tiny, crunchy cookie. It was delicious. As I watched the city wake up around us, I discovered that this was Café Landtman, favorite coffee café of Sigmund Freud, Gustav Mahler and other luminaries in the world of art, culture and science. It dawned on me that many lively, thoughtful discussions happened in places like this that could not possibly occur in America with our to-go mentality and paper cups and now, post-COVID, ordering on an app and never even interacting with the staff. What an awful way to enjoy one of the best drinks in the world.
In Fortaleza, Brazil, I had coffee in a wonderful shop on a mountainside. The coffee was straightforward and espresso made to order, but with a Wonka-like variety of choices. Melted chocolate constantly stirred and poured into the bottom of your cup, with espresso and cream layered on top; Nutella smeared on the inside of a cup, melting into the espresso, with little beads of hazelnut oil floating to the top.
In Cape Verde on the ferry to São Antão, each coffee was freshly pulled espresso with sweetened condensed milk.
In Italy, tiny little shots of espresso slurped down like an oyster.
In Turkey, double-boiled coffee poured into a ceramic cup with date syrup and fresh milk.
In each location the coffee was freshly brewed one cup at a time and served with a myriad of sweeteners and creams. Never made ahead. The concept of brewing coffee and letting it sit in an insulated container would have been anathema to what they do.
If you were to come to my house for a cuppa, this is what you would get: I have a large Bialetti espresso maker (ubiquitous across Europe). I would put two scoops of Café Bustelo, Lavassa or French Market in the coffee reservoir. I would then place it on the gas flame and then heat up your half and half in the frother with just a touch of sugar (I like when the foam is sweet). In a few minutes, you would hear a whoosh as the water works its way up and through the coffee in the reservoir on top. I would pour your coffee into a cup and add the cream and foam. That is my preferred method of making coffee. Whenever I join a new ship, I buy a new Bialetti and make my coffee that way. It’s strong, delicious, and most of all, simple.
I am not a gadget guy. I separate eggs with my hands and juice lemons with a spoon. I have seen very expensive coffee gadgets and tools. Makers, brewers, pressers, heaters, cold brewers, burr grinders, all of it wasted as far as I am concerned. None of the coffee I had anywhere was brewed with any of those gadgets and it was all better. I promise you that you could not tell the difference between coffee made in my $30 Bialetti and one made on a $6,000 machine.
The key is good coffee, smooth and not very acidic. The absolute best coffee I ever consumed was 100% Kona Peaberry that I brought back from Hawaii. $80 a pound. The Yankee in me was screaming. It quieted after one cup. My wife was extremely unhappy with the cost yet she asked me to buy twice as much the next time I traveled to Honolulu. (Which I have not done yet and since she is no longer my wife, I may bring back more!)
So where does this leave us fellow Cape Codders? We don’t have a great European-style coffeehouse here, but we do have some very good ones. I always order a large regular dark roast with a shot of espresso, room for cream and sugar. With my business, I travel all over the Cape, so I’ve tried most coffee shops. With personality in mind, here are my favorites from Provincetown to Falmouth.
361 Coffee & Espresso Bar, Provincetown
If anywhere on Cape Cod has Old World charm, it’s Provincetown. Vibrant, artistic and most of all accepting, I love Provincetown and its regulars. On my first date with H.S., I ordered two coffees, and we sat on a swinging bench under the art gallery and had our first kiss. The owner Steve is a wonderful man and some of the town’s biggest dignitaries meet there every morning – these dogs also happen to bring their owners! I’ve sparked wonderful conversations there with musicians, artists, chefs and all kinds of people. Sitting outside and just watching is great: Patia doing henna tattoos, men in golden jockey shorts roller blading by, it’s just a fabulous place.
361 Coffee & Espresso Bar
361 Commercial Street, Provincetown
On Facebook
The Hot Chocolate Sparrow, Orleans
I’ve met all kinds of interesting people here like Peter Trull with a group of visiting college students; and Alan Rust, director of the former Monomoy Theater. I’ve had wonderful conversations with perfect strangers about how amazing our neck of the woods is. The coffee is great, pastries tasty. I stop here frequently after a long hike to recharge on my way home.
Hot Chocolate Sparrow
5 Old Colony Way, Orleans
hotchocolatesparrow.com
three fins coffee roasters, West Dennis
Catherine is a great supporter of the community, which can be difficult when you are trying to run a small business. I will always support this place conveniently located on Route 28. Their coffee is excellent, the couch is comfy, and a great place to relax during a busy day.
three fins coffee roasters
581 Main Street (Route 28), West Dennis
threefinscoffee.com
Snowy Owl Coffee Roasters, Brewster
Deep down I’m a tree hugging liberal hippie… well, actually not that deep down. This spot hits all of my buttons. It’s rustic and homey, the coffee is delish and there is always an interesting array of people. Bonus that there are other cool shops in the same location. I also love their bulletin board, a chaotic mess that is always brimming with the coolest things to do.
Snowy Owl Coffee Roasters (two locations)
Route 6A, Brewster and Sandwich
socoffee.co
Old Kings Coffeehouse, Yarmouth
This location has a special place in my heart. In high school, the building next to it was empty, the former Treasure Island. It had a Wampanoag village and a crumbling wooden boardwalk that extended into the swamp behind it. I would very carefully venture down that boardwalk and just sit, wondering at the amount of nature in this little piece of land in the middle of the busiest, most built up place on Cape Cod. Snapping turtles, painted turtles, water snakes, hawks, owls and much more were there. I love that the building is now being used, and because of its location, a wide variety of people come through… workers, professionals, teachers, and people from nearby Cape Cod Hospital. I’ve enjoyed talking with some new and interesting people here.
Old King’s Coffeehouse
44 Main Street (Route 28), West Yarmouth
oldkingscoffeehouse.com
Nirvana Coffee, Barnstable
I lived in Barnstable for a while, and I love this tiny little section of Route 6A. I still know some people here and often bump into them at this coffee shop. They serve a fabulous dark roast, and sitting on the bench out front is a great experience. If you like dogs this is the place for you. Moms with kids in strollers, harried lawyers and classic Cape Cod elder statesmen all frequent this shop.
Nirvana Coffee
3206 Main Street (Route 6A), Barnstable
nirvanacoffeecompany.com
Coffee Obsession, Falmouth and Woods Hole
Is science your thing? Then pay attention. Some of the world’s most intelligent people frequent these two shops. Environmentalists, climate change researchers, the world’s foremost authority on cephalopods, people searching for the source of iron in the ocean, genetic researchers, oceanographers… the list is practically endless. Prick up your ears, listen closely – and don’t be rude – and you could be having coffee with people who helped find the Titanic. As a bonus, their bulletin boards tend to have the most unique events on them.
Coffee Obsession (two locations)
110 Palmer Avenue, Falmouth
38 Water Street, Woods Hole
coffeeobsession.com
I know that there will be people who say I missed a bunch. That is probably true, but this is my article, and these are my favorites.
Last personal opinion: Iced coffee is not coffee. It’s food, not like kale (which is not food), but it’s not coffee. It’s a dessert.
I’d love to hear your opinion about best coffee spots on Cape Cod. I’m always looking for new ones.
Jeff Avery, aka Captain Awesome, is a local Cape Cod chef currently working for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the winter. He’s traveled, eaten and cooked in 25 countries across five continents, and I bet you can’t guess what his favorite beverage is. He’s happy to be writing for edible CAPE COD and loves his experiences here. He’s also the owner of Cape Cod Learning Tours, a hands-on marine science adventure company.
