I told y’all I wasn’t going down the fall foodie road until the autumnal equinox was upon us, and we have arrived. The season was ushered in right on cue over the weekend, on the heels of two solid weeks of some of the most sublime, dry and comfortable weather imaginable, with a boatload of rainy, gray and cooler days.
Butternut squash soup is calling my name. I’m thinking about pot roast and other meaty braises; spicy, rib-sticking chili; whole, roasted garlicky lemon chicken; apple crisp and pumpkin cheesecake. But first, coffee.
Not long ago, I covered this topic for another outlet and was roasted (lol) for perceived omissions, to the point where said outlet printed angry letters to the editor about the fact that I had left their personal favorites out. So, allow me to clear something up before we get into our first cup. The column is called “What She’s Having,” the “she” being “me,” so if you don’t see your brew of choice here, it’s because I either don’t personally like it, or because there are dozens of cafes and coffee shops on Aquidneck Island and this isn’t meant to be a comprehensive directory. It’s merely a selection of highlights of my current and all-time favorites.
New on my go-to list is Graffik Coffee in Portsmouth, which gets highest marks for their small-batch, house-roasted beans and their abbreviated but solid and reasonably priced breakfast and lunch menus; bonus points for good vibes. There’s a friendliness factor at play here, and an emphasis on local artists who not only exhibit work on the walls but are also tapped to create custom illustrations and artwork for the bags of magical beans, sourced from far and wide from Brazil and Guatemala to Tanzania, Kenya, Sumatra and even a fully woman-owned farm in DR Congo, sold in bulk. They even deliver. On Sundays, musician Dave Flammand plays acoustic music from 10 a.m. to noon. There’s a kids’ corner, an outdoor patio and a clean and uncluttered café from which to work or sip and snack on homemade baked goods and sandwiches. Keeping it fresh, after 2 p.m. daily, Graffik sells all their baked goods and pre-wrapped sandwiches at 20% off. Family-owned and run, this one’s a keeper and I highly recommend their super fun social media page (you’ll see).
You can’t cawfee-tawk in Newport without a big shout-out to C.J. Barone, whose three local Empire Tea and Coffee outposts are found in Newport and Bristol and who’s been serving up java on the island for two decades. You can hit the Bohemian style café on Broadway where beans are roasted for the two Newport locations, or the more modern spot on Bellevue Avenue. A selection of both single origin beans and blends are roasted daily in small batches. Try the Eagle blend, used for espresso, or the lightest blend, Paradise, used for drip coffee. For high test, dive into the dark Purgatory. “Fromthe burlap bag to your coffee cup, we do everything possible to give you the best coffee experience you will get anywhere,” Barone says.
Ever since my first cup, I’ve been shouting out and touting the virtues of the employee- owned Custom House Coffee in Middletown, which I consider to be the absolute cream of the coffee crop, with its multiple organic and single origin selections and several blends. For 22 years, owner Bob Mastin has been running his two roasters, one the American made, state of the art, 24-kilo Diedrich, yielding more than a ton of beans daily. “Not even Starbucks does that,” he has said. Three or four options are offered daily by the cup on site, while three dozen styles can be ground to take home. Mastin offers all his employees the opportunity to buy stock in the company. Good coffee, good karma, win-win.
Samantha and Rob DePaola are the young couple that owns Drift Café, and as wellness and sustainability advocates, they source beans from Pennsylvania specialty roaster Necessary Coffee, dedicated to ethical practices from seed to cup. From hot drip to cold brew, to exotic espresso and latte blends spiked the with spices, health supplements, house made syrups, CBD and more, Drift goes a step further with its coffee service, so your selection may take a few minutes more to arrive. It’s worth the wait.
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