One down, 35 to go.

Yesterday, I spent my workday at Bourbon Coffee on L Street in DC. My format for these reviews still needs some thought and work, but here goes…

The Ride: A cool autumnal morning. Mid-50s, a light dew in the air (ok, I’ll stop). I chose to wear jeans for the ride as I was pretty certain I could keep the power low enough to not sweat much on this 7.5-mile downhill ride into the city. I was right. Unfortunately, I forgot to account for the 13.5-mile uphill ride home on a warm afternoon. It wasn’t too bad, but I looked the goof with my pants rolled above my knees. That plus the numbness I encountered mean I really need to bring a change of clothes on these journeys. I also need to figure out a solution for a lighter backpack. I didn’t weigh it, but lock + laptop + iPad + Nexus 7 = a load. The immediate plan is to skip the Nexus 7 (I always know in advance if I’m using it) and leave the laptop at home (enabled by purchasing a Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard Cover, an item I’ve been eyeing for a bit, but now really have a need for). That will save (+.72lbs for keyboard – .32lbs for smart cover – 4.5lbs for laptop – .75lbs for Nexus 7) 4.85lbs on my back. Not insignificant, but my u-lock is what really weighs a ton and must remain. I suppose I could mount it on the bike, but that’s just another item to install and remove (this is my cross racing bike on the weekends). I also need to think about picking up a waterproof backpack. It’s pretty easy to watch and know the forecast, but if I do ever screw up or get surprised, I don’t want to be stranded wherever I am with thousands of dollars in technology in my bag.

Parking: Space for eight bikes right in front of the shop on four bollards. The busiest I ever saw them was half full. Parking for cars you can forget about. L Street is busy as hell and only has parking on one side. I never noticed a vacant spot. Most of the store’s traffic was on foot.

Food: The menu was pretty limited as they don’t cook much of anything onsite. For breakfast, they had a variety of baked goods from an outside source. I had a croissant and low-fat blueberry muffin (the tasty ones were all gone). Both were excellent. The lunch menu was limited to whatever baked goods were left and grilled cheese made with one of many cheeses on sourdough or white, and optional were tomato and/or pesto for an additional fee. I got mine fully loaded with cheddar on white for about $5.24 including tax. It was pretty good, but I wouldn’t go in there strictly for food.

Coffee: In case you forgot, I’ll be ordering a cappuccino everywhere I go. It’s a staple , I like it and varies very little, (unlike a drip coffee that depends on whichever bean they happen to have in at the time). It was very good. I’ve not yet figured out a rating scheme, but am thinking about taking on a wine one. They’d receive a 91. It was great, but didn’t really speak to me beyond that. It also came VERY hot and in a to-go cup despite ordering “for here.” Not a big deal, but noting both. Also, their beans are their own, which earns them a high-five. Combined with my two breakfast items, my bill was $10 and change; about average, but leaning to the cheaper side of this city.

Seating: Room for about 32 folks on a variety of couches, chairs, and benches. Table space was a bit more limited with only about half of those spots having a working table height. I *think* they also had some outside furniture as well, but it wasn’t clear to me if it was their’s or the bagel shop next-door’s.

Decor: Kind of “Starbucksy.” Lots of rich browns, reds, and oranges. An african theme. Not my preference, but not a negative, either… It was nicely done and clean.

Restrooms: Two units, both unisex, same decor as the rest of the place. Clean and fully functional.

Sound: Loud as hell when busy. When not busy, a singer-songwriterish mix is played on the radio.

Network: Still working out how best to rate this, but I took a sampling from Speedtest.net and Pingtest.net. If the results had varied more than they did, I’d have taken more samples, but they were consistent between AM and PM so I only took two and averaged them. I know, VERY scientific. WiFi was free and used a key. You need to ask for the password at the counter. Their ISP is Comcast. I received .77Mbps down and 3.76Mbps up with 1% packet loss, an average ping of 140, and 56 jitter. Pingtest gave it a ‘D’ in the morning and a ‘B’ in the afternoon so I suppose that would average to a ‘C’, which is “average,” but as a human user as opposed to some algorithm, I’d rate them below average. Pretty slow and enough packet loss to cause web-apps and remote desktop sessions to be a little bit painful. I made do with low resolutions and 256 colors, but I shouldn’t have had to.

Clientele: Beautiful people. Man and woman alike. I don’t know what to attribute it to, but maybe a proximity to GW? I’d say the breakdown was 40% students, 30% suits, and 30% in-betweeners such as myself with an average age of 30ish.

Overall: Excellent coffee, good scenery, clean, but their network needs some love. B+