Procaffeinating

Our first trip was to Café Jax on the Upper East Side. In all of our research through video reviews and listicles, this spot on 84th Street kept popping up. From what we saw, it seemed like Café Jax really personified what we were looking for on this blog: a local spot serving great coffee in what seemed like a cozy and trendy environment.

The spot itself was pretty easy to find. From our spot in Queens, we took the F Train for several stops, then transferred to the Q. From the 86th Street stop, it was just a short walk to the café.

As we approached, the red lettering on the outside window made the shop easily identifiable. As we went inside, I was struck by how small and also how quiet it was. Nearly all of the tables were filled with people on their computers working and quiet music played in the background.

The counter was located behind the tables on the first floor and standing in line while waiting to order was a touch inconvenient, as the café was rather narrow. While we were looking at the coffee menu, we were slightly jostled and had to move out of the way several times for other customers who were trying to navigate the narrow passageway.

In terms of our orders, DJ picked out a lavender latte and I had an iced coffee with caramel, which cost $5.55 and $5.15, respectively. When DJ told me what she ordered, I was initially slightly terrified. Just from my personal experience, things that incorporate lavender flavor tend to taste like an overly pungent Bath and Body Works shower gel. However, when she arrived at our table with her drink, I got the smell of lavender without being smacked in the face with it. DJ thoroughly enjoyed the coffee and the small sip that I tried of it was surprisingly enjoyable. You got the coffee first and then the floral note of lavender at the end, instead of taking a swig of perfume washed down with a touch of coffee.

I’ll admit, I was not very happy to be spending more than five dollars on an iced coffee, so I may have gone into my first sips slightly biased. Watching the barista prepare my drink, I was very happy to see that she actually mixed the caramel into the drink, instead of leaving it as a layer of syrup at the bottom (I’m looking at you Starbucks!). I also liked that she asked me if I would like some room left in the cup for milk, to which I responded affirmatively. I filled that space with half-and-half from the add-ins side counter after I was handed my coffee.

Caffeine in hand, we quickly claimed one of the small tables upstairs. I feel the need to reiterate the quiet there in the seating area. For the most part, the only noise was the quiet music playing through the speakers. Almost everyone else in the café was sitting at a table alone, working on a computer. That’s certainly fair, as I don’t think the tables could have accommodated more than one computer at a time. I almost felt a sense of guilt as DJ and I quietly discussed the quality of our drinks and what from the visit we should include in this post.

Also worth mentioning about Café Jax is the downstairs area. Although we chose to sit at a table upstairs for the classic view of the NYC street, Café Jax also offers a larger basement area. As long as you let the barista know you are going down, more space and seating is available down there.

One other thing we quickly realized was that the free wifi that Café Jax advertised was not quite as free as we thought. You see, the Café changes their internet password daily and after ordering, you can ask the barista for the day’s password. For someone who doesn’t particularly enjoy social interaction (like the two of us), this was not exactly the ideal situation. Still though, after getting the password, the internet worked just fine.

Overall, I would say that our trip to Café Jax was worth it. The coffee we had was certainly enjoyable, albeit a little expensive. But that has to be expected in Manhattan, I suppose. If you’re interested in trying out different coffee flavors and some new types of drinks, I’d say Café Jax would be a great fit. I think I would return if I needed somewhere casual and quiet to work, but I can’t say I would recommend it as a location for a lunchtime meeting or catching up with friends. Still, the trip was certainly worth our time.

Until next time, let’s try and keep our procaffeination in check!

Chiara and DJ