Hawthorne Coffee turned out to be an okay place to get coffee. For me, the flavors of my cup didn't come through as I expected. I ordered a long black hoping to taste the flavor notes written on their bag, but what I tasted instead was a lot of nothing.
To be clear, I bought their Kenyan single origin beans that I've yet to try and I'm hoping for a better experience brewing the coffee myself. I went ahead and bought the bag because I saw a long line behind me and my past experience with any single origin coffee beans have been good.
I was a bit disappointed not to see any "roasted on" date, which is usually an indicator by the roaster of their craftsmanship. Great roasters often add a "roasted on" date to let coffee aficionados know the freshness of the beans. Older coffee beans lose their flavors and anything older than 1-2 months are normally considered undesirable.
Furthermore, I was surprised that the person who checked me out for the single origin beans had no idea what they were. I had to point out "Single Origin" on their menu for them to realize I was referring to their specialty coffee beans.
They do have a cute menu and a small seating area inside. They roast their beans onsite and I watched the roaster work behind a glass window while I was there.
Overall, I wasn't too impressed by their coffee, but it's possible I ordered the wrong drink. read more