KAC #3 We’re Back in DC! Ft. Corridor Coffee
Alright you Lau-dwelling, bottom-feeding Hoyas. I’m back on our beautiful, rarefied, rat-infested campus and I would rather get run over by a Lime Scooter than spend a moment of my senior year in Lau. My return to our academic environment has ignited a need for finding sanctuaries for study.
Starbucks? Over-used, over-priced and over-crowded. Peet’s? Shitty wifi. Blue Bottle? No wifi. Bluestone Lane? No space. Uncommon Grounds? I refuse to support an organization that is proud of bleeding money and thinks itself inclusive by making all its stores cashless??? Dog Tag? Grace Street? Ehhhh comme ci comme ça.
Good for all my Burlieth Betches, I found the most aesthetic shop to grace Hoya-kind on the corner of Wisconsin and Reservoir.
Corridor Coffee
1665 Wisconsin Ave NW, Washington, DC 20007
Price: $$ (not dirt cheap, but very good quality)
Wifi: Very reliable and pretty fast, even outside.
Space: ★★★★☆
Outlets:★★★★☆
Coffee/Tea:★★★★★
Food:★★☆☆☆
If this cafe were most notable for anything it would be the artisinal, familial vibe that effuses through everything from the artbooks bound by local artists to the barista’s friendly banter. It is as though Anthropologie had a chill, yoga-loving, cool-girl coffee shop cousin. It is similar to Blue Bottle in the way that they sell an assortment of coffee-culture related knick knacks—though at Corridor they’re even quirkier. They might pass on Blue Bottle’s $8 Japanese coffee-filters, but they‘ve got healing beaded bracelets, zines titled “A Passport of Washington D.C.”, CBD oils, and an assortment of incense lining their shelves.
The winner is in the details. The pottery and glassware used for the caffeinated refreshments look to be either knobby, hand-crafted mugs or sleek, uniquely-shaped glass vessels. Should you choose to venture around the left-hand side of the shop to sit in their back patio on a nice day, there’s a thoughtfully-placed can of bug spray near the self-bus-bucket. And yes, there’s wifi outside and it is fast.
If you count the patio space outside there’s plenty of room, but in the shop itself there are a few cramped spaces at a counter and table near the front with the addition of three tables upstairs. Outlet space seemed proportional to how many seats there were.
The coffee selection was quite unique—featuring a “Goth Latte” (with activated charcoal) and some Matcha-blended drinks. I had the “Korean-Americano” which is an off-menu item: an Americano with Yuzu extract inside. Fruity and refreshing. Yum.
You can even request to put CBD drops in your drink. Though, I’m not sure if this would just turn into a “sanctuary” as opposed to a “study sanctuary” at that point.
The only thing that could keep this cafe from being perfect is the small selection. A stone’s throw from my house, Corridor and its eccentric offerings will become a mainstay in my repertoire of study spots. If you give it a try, let me know! Did you like it as much as me? Know of any other similar spots? Give some claps, leave a comment, spread some love.
