when is a chain not a chain?

When I was in Milwaukee last summer I visited an outlet of Colectivo Coffee, a local coffee business with 13 cafes in the Milwaukee area, three in Madison, WI, and four (soon to be five) in Chicagoland.

I liked the ambience, the coffee was very good (if not exceptional). Felt like a small, independent cafe, definitely nothing like a shop that’s part of a multi-outlet behemoth.

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coffee may not improve your jumper, but….

Here’s an interesting article on NBA athletes trying to boost their game by drinking coffee before tip-off. I’ve heard before of people trying an espresso shot before working out, but not this kind of pregame pick-me-up.

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/25667397/the-game-day-caffeine-routine-keeps-portland-trail-blazers-nba-most-well-traveled-team-running

A lot of it makes sense, and I’m also glad to see any move away from the poison of “energy drinks.” Figures that Portland would be one of the franchises driving the trend, given it’s geographically the most remote franchise, as well as a hotbed for high-quality coffee.

a case study in coffeenomics

I was a bit saddened today, as for the first time I had to mark one of the coffee shops in my guide as closed.

Spiral Press Cafe in Manchester, VT is no more. In fact, it seems to have closed mere days after I visited it this past August. The owner wrote a letter to the editor of the local paper giving his view on why the business went under.

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best of mattymacchiato in 2018

Hi Kids!

Thanks to everyone who took a look at this nonsense in 2018; I’m absolutely stunned to see that, as of this writing, there’s been exactly 1,300 (!) page views*. Here’s a quick look back at those posts that were viewed the most, and the ones I took the most pleasure in writing.

*I reckon I myself must only be responsible for, what, 1,283 of them

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