Lost Sock | Coffee, It's a Helluva Drug

well, since you asked… DMV power rankings

If you’ve spent more than 2 minutes on this site, it won’t surprise you that I’m known to friends and colleagues as “the coffee guy.” More than a few times I’m asked by someone new to town which coffee places they really have to try, and I’m often unprepared for the question.

I’m going to give it a go here. No copping out with ties or honorable mentions. No explanations, other than I’ve limited myself geographically to my understanding of the DC metro area.* No fretting about coffee vs service vs food vs whatever other factors should be considered. Ask me tomorrow and I’ll give you a different answer, and there are a lot of great places not listed, but here are one guy’s rankings of the very best of the best in and near the nation’s capital.

Washington, DC
1. The Coffee Bar (Shaw)
2. Baked & Wired
3. Doubles
4. Café Unido (La Cosecha)
5. Lost Sock
6. Elle
7. Ebenezer’s
8. Simona
9. Little Hat
10. Dua

Maryland
1. Vigilante (Hyattsville)
2. Kaldi’s
3. Takoma Bev Co
4. Vigilante (College Park)

Virginia
1. Rare Bird
2. Rossana to You
3. Caffe Amouri
4. Swings
5. Kaldi’s
6. Simona

* – apologies to the rest of Virginia and Maryland and the eastern portion of West Virginia – I’m looking at you, Red Rooster, Hopscotch, Curate, and Lost Dog.

it’s time to throw down!!!!

Last night I attended my first Barista Throwdown. Before I go any further, if you’re not sure what that means, the good people at Boomtown Coffee have a great explanatory piece with all the deets.

My social media feeds occasionally have mentions of area Thursday Night Throwdowns, and since this edition would be held practically in our backyard at Lost Sock Roasters‘ pop-up at Brightwood Pizza & Bottle, I figured it was time to experience one for myself. And I’m so glad that I did.

I wondered what I would find when I walked in. One of the things I love about coffee shops and the specialty coffee community is that almost everyone is incredibly welcoming and happy to share their passion. I didn’t know if I would find some version of that friendly, open, positive mentality, or a highly competitive, nervous vibe, or a group of coffee pros closing themselves off from normies like me.

Well, here’s what was waiting for me:

happy coffeepalooza ’23

This was quite the weekend for coffee obsessives in the nation’s capital. Friday was National Coffee Day, Sunday was International Coffee Day, and these critically important holidays bookended Saturday’s first annual DC Coffee Festival. Held at Dock 5 in Union Market, the event sold out in advance for both sessions.

The hall was filled with roasters and cafe operators, plus a few different coffee-related businesses and a couple food purveyors. Thankfully the good people from Topo Chico were giving away free samples of cold soda water, as things got a little sweaty in a packed hall on a humid day.

Power Rankings: August 9

One man’s opinion. Ask me tomorrow and I’m likely to tell you something completely different.

Roasters
1. Onyx
2. Heart
3. Verve
4. Sweet Bloom
5. Counter Culture

DMV Cafés
1. Café Unido
2. The Coffee Bar (Shaw)
3. Baked & Wired
4. Dua Coffee DC
5. Northside Social (Arlington)
HM (alphabetically): Kaldi Social House (Silver Spring), Lost Sock, Maketto, Swings (Alexandria), Takoma Bev Co, Vigilante (Hyattsville)

power rankings: sweets on the side

Coffee and a donut. Coffee and a danish. Coffee and a biscotti. Nothing elevates a terrific coffee, particularly after a meal, than serving it with a baked goodie. Particularly true for specialty coffees, and luckily many cafes offer a wide selection of tempting sugary goodness. If they broadcast having a pastry chef, you are really in luck. Shoutout to the affogato, but we’re talking coffee sidekicks that you can hold in one hand.

Here is one person’s ranking of the best choices to enjoy with your cappuccino/macchiato/latte/espresso/americano/etc. My faves are, naturally, weighted toward my geographic area. As always these things are purely subjective and your mileage may vary.

coffee! donuts! coffee and donuts!!!

It should be pretty obvious that I love good coffee. I also love donuts. I’m certainly not the only one to feel this way, and definitely not the only one to love them together. Sweets balancing out a great cup of coffee is always a treat, and for whatever reason the soft and chewy mix of yeasty dough and a million tons of sugar makes for the best complement.

I thought about this when I found myself standing in a block-long line the other morning for 45 minutes in 35⁰ F weather. I was there to buy donuts.