Ok, so I'm craving a cup of coffee, I don't drink a lot of coffee, but when I do, I like it to be a decent cup of coffee. I boycott Starbucks because I don't want politics mixed in with my coffee (or anything else for that matter.) So I drive over to "Wake Up Call" coffee joint, but both of their drive thru's have long lines that are backed up all the way to Canada, (good for them, bad for me,) but I look across the street and see that "The Crazy Beagle Coffee Co." only has 1 car in their (now I know why.) I figure, give this clearly struggling little coffee shack, that I'm sure is getting financially eviscerated by "Wake Up Call" a chance. I drive over and I ask the girl if they have "Sumatra", or something similar (I know "Sumatra" is a thing, because, well, I just know, I buy it all the time and also because my Spell Checker just corrected my spelling of "Sumatra" in this review,)and the girl gives me a puzzled look and said she's "never hear of it". I tell her, "No problem" and ask her if she's new and she replies "No, I've been here 2 years."... I find this very odd, how does one work in the COFFEE business and not know what "Sumatra" is? I mean, it's not like I'm ordering a cup of coffee in a shoe store. She then replies : "We get our coffee from a supplier in Idaho." At which point I explain, "Sumatra" is not a brand, but rather a type of coffee bean. She then turns to the other girl and asks her if she knows what "Sunntra" is and the other girl replies, "No, never heard it, and I've been here EIGHT years." (Shameful that any "coffee" establishment has someone working for them for EIGHT YEARS and hasn't given them even the most basic training in the various blend of coffee beans, etc.) I then asked her if she has anything close to a "Kona" blend? Again, she has no idea. Seriously, you don't even know what a "Kona" blend is... at a "coffee" establishment? Walmart literally sells "Great Value" blends of "Sumatra" or "Kona" coffee, they even have them in K-Cups....BUT WAIT... THERE'S MORE... I say, "Ok, just give me a small, regular coffee." To which she asks, "One shot or two?", I reply, "Shot of what, I just want a cup of regular coffee, no 'shots' of anything in it... just a cup of coffee." She replies, "Ok"... You would think that's the end of this odd experience ends, BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE... She makes my "regular cup of coffee" and begins to hand it to me. And it's filled with ICE... I assumed she picked up the wrong order and look in my rearview mirror, thinking the Iced Coffee is for the car behind me, but I see there is no car behind (again, I now understand why.) I said, "What's this?" to which she replies, "your coffee". I try her that "I didn't order Ice coffee" to which she replies, that's the way we serve our coffee here? WTF? On what planet does one order a "regular cup of coffee" and they bring you an "Iced coffee"? Ever go to a "coffee" establishment, diner, or even McDonald's and a "small, regular coffee" and they serve you an "Iced Coffee"? Again, super weird. She says "Ok, I'll remake it." REALLY? Like I'm the one in the wrong here? She makes me my "special" cup of regular coffee and hands it to me. And of course, the coffee is AWFUL, like water with a little splash of coffee "essence" added to it.
Let's bottom line this story...I almost guarantee that someone at "Wake Up Call" would know what a "Sumatra" blend of coffee is (the reason I know it is because I've been there before and asked for "Sumatra" or something akin to a "Sumatra" blend-tasting coffee and was given several suggestions.)
The owner of "The Crazy Beagle" has taken 0 efforts to have its "baristas" educated in even the most basic aspects of coffee.
When the owner realized that a "Wake Up Call" coffee shop was being built across the street (that day must have sucked,) they should have made some sort of effort to up their coffee game. They could have been the "specialized" coffee place where the staff are experts in the art of coffee making and making great coffee and designs and whatnot... that is the only way I can see them not getting absolutely financially crushed and obliterated by "Wake Up Call" coffee across the street. But it appears that the owner has decided to jump over dimes to save dollars, by not even have their staff (some of 8 years,) educated in the area of coffee making. (You can also tell the owner is cheap because the place clearly hasn't been painted/upgraded in years, so much that water is literally pouring out the side of the building and the bricks have years of hard water stains on them... gross. My best advice, (as a business owner myself,) and the actual reason I'm writing this review, is to let the owner know, it's too late and it's time to sell this coffee hut ASAP and stop throwing good money after bad, (they must be bleeding money,) as it's only a matter of time before they are forced to close up shop. Sorry dude... eventually someone comes along and builds a better mousetrap. read more