Vignettes of Poughkeepsie: The Poughkeepsie Grind, Monday January 31, 2017, 10:15 am
As an avid coffee lover, I found myself sick of my usual, bland, Starbucks order, and tried to look for some locally brewed, casual, coffee “joints”. I fell in love with the name “The Poughkeepsie Grind” immediately, especially because it reminds me of my favorite local coffee shop at home, “Slave to the Grind.” And I feel, as someone who’s been on the Poughkeepsie grind for four years now, it was time to try the coffee shop.
As I suspected, it had a similar vibe to my coffee sanctuary at home (and most alternative locally brewed coffee places). The familiarity of the chalk drawn menu’s and the potent smell of fresh grinds immediately put a smile on my face, (not so easily done at 10:00 in the morning). To my surprise, the small coffee shop was packed. They have about six tables and all were full except one high top that looked out a large window with their logo painted on it.
After waiting behind a large group of Germans, who I assume strayed from Schatzi’s just a few doors down, I was finally face to face with the barista. What caught my eye immediately was, that not only does The Poughkeepsie Grind have your normal array of coffee, tea and espresso, but they have a pretty extensive menu and full kitchen. This was really off the beaten track of your usual “fresh scone/muffin casing” in a coffee shop. I mean who doesn’t like some fried chicken and french fries with their cappuccino?
There’s so much more to say about this coffee shop, that will be saved for a longer more extensive version I have brewing (coffee pun), but to say I liked this place is an understatement. The calm setting, smell, light hum of the Steve Miller Band’s “The Joker”, and pleasant blonde lady with a baby on her arm moving tables around and bringing an old guy with a beard his waffle stacked high with bananas and whipped cream, was oddly comforting. Something about this place has character, I need to find out more, I think I found my new spot. Not to mention this vanilla Latte was definitely the best I’ve had in the area.
