6 ms·

I'm pretty dedicated to coffee (i'd probably drive 15 minutes each way out of the way on a road trip for decent coffee), and will yelp / google aggressively if

I'm pretty dedicated to coffee (i'd probably drive 15 minutes each way out of the way on a road trip for decent coffee), and will yelp / google aggressively if i'm the passenger. Parent is right, there are still huge stretches with neither starbucks nor indie shops of any quality, and not just in the empty bits out west.

panopticon 7y ago
Maybe it's because I don't have a very high opinion of Starbucks, but there's a surprising number of those little drive-thru coffee hut things (not sure what you call them) that beat the pants off of Starbucks. Just finished up a road trip the other day that took me through the "empty bits out west" (Wyoming, Montana, Nevada), and I hit up at least 3 of them.
- lotyrin 7y ago
  Problem is, if I'm low on decision making energy or risk tolerance I will prefer a near-guaranteed acceptable solution over a probably good but potentially awful one.
- jandrewrogers 7y ago
  Love the espresso shacks! In addition to having very proper coffee, they are also great sources of local information if you need it. I am always astonished at how well-distributed and ubiquitous they are even in the very rural West. Every country road far off the beaten path with any sort of local traffic at all seems to have (at least) one. It is a neat bit of rural West culture. I've always wondered about the economics of espresso shacks. Obviously the fixed costs are very low, a literal shack and bit of nigh worthless rural land. Each one appears to be a unique and creative local business with no underlying corporate chain tying them all together but the sheer pervasiveness of them makes me wonder if there is a well-oiled corporate business model underneath it all.
  - Xcelerate 7y ago
    Huh, I’ve never heard of espresso shacks. They’re only on the West coast? Do you have a photo of one?
    - uxp100 7y ago
      I think it's really the northwest. Oregon has em, but driving from the bay area to LA I never saw one in rural parts of central california. They might exist though.
      - panopticon 7y ago
        There are a couple in and around Modesto, but yeah they really start to become rare south of that (ignoring those weird bikini coffee shacks).
    - mikepurvis 7y ago
      Google does: https://www.google.com/search?q=espresso+shacks&tbm=isch https://www.google.com/search?q=espresso+shacks&tbm=isch Looks like there's a lot of crossover with the "bikini barista" concept, which I could picture being off-putting to some. I guess that's another plus for a national chain— your morning coffee isn't going to turn out to be something embarrassing to have to explain to the kids in the back seat.
      - jandrewrogers 7y ago
        The Pacific Northwest espresso shacks have no relationship to "bikini barista" places. Or at least, I've never seen a bikini in one anywhere. These are rural places staffed by locals for the locals, often teenagers.
        hawaiianbrah 7y ago
        The bikini ones are all over the PNW though. (As are regular ones)
    - 7y ago
- abtinf 7y ago
  I was put off of these because, the first time I saw them (in Washington state), they were advertised as “bikini” coffee shacks. I had a visceral reaction to this—it felt both creepy (What kind of person would work in such a place? What kind of person patronizes it?) and gross (non-zero probability of pubic hairs in the drink). I think strip clubs are problematic too, but they seem somehow more honest and less creepy because of their transparent purpose. I’ve heard from others that these places have good coffee, but, perhaps unfairly, I am repulsed by them.

panopticon 7y ago

Maybe it's because I don't have a very high opinion of Starbucks, but there's a surprising number of those little drive-thru coffee hut things (not sure what you call them) that beat the pants off of Starbucks. Just finished up a road trip the other day that took me through the "empty bits out west" (Wyoming, Montana, Nevada), and I hit up at least 3 of them.

lotyrin 7y ago
Problem is, if I'm low on decision making energy or risk tolerance I will prefer a near-guaranteed acceptable solution over a probably good but potentially awful one.
jandrewrogers 7y ago
Love the espresso shacks! In addition to having very proper coffee, they are also great sources of local information if you need it. I am always astonished at how well-distributed and ubiquitous they are even in the very rural West. Every country road far off the beaten path with any sort of local traffic at all seems to have (at least) one. It is a neat bit of rural West culture. I've always wondered about the economics of espresso shacks. Obviously the fixed costs are very low, a literal shack and bit of nigh worthless rural land. Each one appears to be a unique and creative local business with no underlying corporate chain tying them all together but the sheer pervasiveness of them makes me wonder if there is a well-oiled corporate business model underneath it all.
- Xcelerate 7y ago
  Huh, I’ve never heard of espresso shacks. They’re only on the West coast? Do you have a photo of one?
  - uxp100 7y ago
    I think it's really the northwest. Oregon has em, but driving from the bay area to LA I never saw one in rural parts of central california. They might exist though.
    - panopticon 7y ago
      There are a couple in and around Modesto, but yeah they really start to become rare south of that (ignoring those weird bikini coffee shacks).
  - mikepurvis 7y ago
    Google does: https://www.google.com/search?q=espresso+shacks&tbm=isch https://www.google.com/search?q=espresso+shacks&tbm=isch Looks like there's a lot of crossover with the "bikini barista" concept, which I could picture being off-putting to some. I guess that's another plus for a national chain— your morning coffee isn't going to turn out to be something embarrassing to have to explain to the kids in the back seat.
    - jandrewrogers 7y ago
      The Pacific Northwest espresso shacks have no relationship to "bikini barista" places. Or at least, I've never seen a bikini in one anywhere. These are rural places staffed by locals for the locals, often teenagers.
      - hawaiianbrah 7y ago
        The bikini ones are all over the PNW though. (As are regular ones)
  - 7y ago
abtinf 7y ago
I was put off of these because, the first time I saw them (in Washington state), they were advertised as “bikini” coffee shacks. I had a visceral reaction to this—it felt both creepy (What kind of person would work in such a place? What kind of person patronizes it?) and gross (non-zero probability of pubic hairs in the drink). I think strip clubs are problematic too, but they seem somehow more honest and less creepy because of their transparent purpose. I’ve heard from others that these places have good coffee, but, perhaps unfairly, I am repulsed by them.