Coffee Shop Culture

I've been hanging out in some of the coffee shops in Princeton, such as Starbucks, Chez Alice and Small World Coffee, as a change from the University cafes. They're good places to sit and drink tea or coffee while reading, playing with a laptop, or just pondering existence (yes, it can be a tough life sometimes).

I'm not enough of a connoisseur to really comment on the coffee, but I'm intrigued by the fact that each place has its own atmosphere and its own rhythms. For example, Chez Alice is also a cake shop, so there are outrageous-looking wedding cakes in the windows as well as more modest ones that you can have with a drink. It seems to attract people of all ages who are taking time out from shopping or who are meeting up with friends, so while there's some background chatter it's a nice place to sit and read for a while.

In contrast, Small World Coffee seems to be a much busier place. In fact, I'd almost describe it as raucous: there's plenty of background music competing with what feels like dozens of simulataneous conversations, and people are constantly coming and going (including a share of "laptop campers" - people who park themselves for a few hours at a table and tap away on their laptops while sipping on their drink of choice - sometimes I'm one too).

They seem serious about their beverages here too: I had a latte there that came in a glass with no handle, and yesterday my tea order came in an elaborate set of lab-like glassware along with a cup and saucer.

Starbucks is also friendly to laptop campers and doesn't seem to mind people plugging their computers into the wall sockets, but it's a bit more subdued than Small World Coffee. I'll have to admit that I'd always harboured a somewhat fuzzy and rather lazy prejudice against Starbucks, as a "Macdonalds for coffee drinkers" and for that whole "tall, grande, venti" nonsense (though this never extended as far as actually boycotting their products). But recently my attitude towards them has softened - for example, at every one of the Starbucks where we've asked for tap water, the staff have always provided it to us for free without any argument (and in a fancy Starbucks-branded plastic cup complete with lid and straw, no less).

Of course they also vary depending on the time of day, with the ebb and flow of customers going about their business, and I try to avoid what I think will be the busiest times. Maybe if you're really into your coffee then you might have a different take these places, but I like the fact that they're all different and that there's something to suit whatever mood you happen to be in.

Now, is it time for another double-expresso-mocha-choco-latte?