How Not to Drink Coffee at Starbucks

In case you didn't hear, coffee shop giant Starbucks bumped the average price of their made-behind-the-counter drinks by almost a dime yesterday.

This makes finding an alternative all the more urgent. Not that I'm that price sensitive to my coffee (if I were, I'd get it for a quarter at the diner a couple blocks away). But it's one more reason to frequent places unique to New York — all the little shops will get priced out if not.

There are Starbucks stores on almost every corner of the city. Well, perhaps that's an exaggeration, but check out the Starbucks Center of Gravity map for some idea. It's pretty hard to avoid them.

A few weeks ago, I'd put a Swedish coffee shop on my list of places to visit. Like so many stores here, it's a tiny place. The women who work there are ice blonde, the men, brunet; and everyone speaks, or at least digs it when they speak Swedish to each other and to customers.

True to its reputation, the counter girl was very friendly, teaching me the correct pronouncation of "drömmar" (vanilla cloud cookies) and its singular form while stirring up some delicious hot chocolate. Their coffee and cappuccino are pretty phenomenal (and strong) too.

If they offered wifi and were open late into the night, I'd be there plenty.

While on the Lower East Side, a woman I met recommended the Roasting Plant, known in the neighborhood as "the tube coffee place" and only open since early April.

They roast their own coffee, which is sucked into the Javabot (Seriously. This is the trademarked name.) — a pneumatic tube attached to a grinder that shoots grounds into an espresso machine, which spurts superheated water through the grind and into a cup that then and only then is touched by human hands.

I've got to see this place for myself. I love the smell of coffee and only drink it occasionally, though more often now than I have in years. I guess New York will do that to you.