The Muddy Cup

I really want to love the Muddy Cup. I have a soft spot for small coffee shops. But I just can’t. I always take service into consideration, but this time I decided to judge the establishment purely based on their products (because if i had taken the service into consideration, the place would have gotten one star, and I’m trying to be nice). Their products are just no good. Their coffee is meh, their specialty drinks are meh, their snacks are meh. We got really excited about their banana smoothie, until it turned out to be this weird slushy ice thing with banana flavored syrup in it. Gross.
I hate to say it, but I’d recommend Uncommon Grounds or Starbucks over this place.

Upon my most recent visit I came to the realization that Albany’s Muddy Cup is under new management and there is a hostility in the neighborhood about it. I could immediately tell that things had gone downhill when I arrived on a Wednesday night and there were only a handful of people inside.
There was a middle aged man outside, who I presume is the new owner, on the phone and arranging furniture when I walked in. When he saw me waiting at the counter reviewing the menu he dashed in to help me and someone else who had filed in shortly after. My mocha was far too expensive for the quality; it just felt weak. The man who was behind me was on a first name basis with the «owner»? at the counter, who seemed to be extremely jittery while serving each of us.
I stayed for a little while to take advantage of the free wifi. While others have written that the lengthy password protected code is annoying, being able to have free wifi available at all is a luxury that is quickly disappearing from café culture so I appreciated it. At the same time, it was aggravating to get to where the code was written down and type it without disturbing others.
The interior has not changed in the two plus years I had been there last. It feels dingier, dirtier, less livelier, and far from the hub of Albany’s café culture than it used to be, which is sad. Hopefully things turn around soon but it seems that The Muddy Cup is bound to just fade away…

Yikes! What’s with all the bad reviews? Maybe it’s because so many folks are used to the way it *was*.
I am new to the area and my husband and I have frequented this place. He works remote for the company he used to work at back when we lived in Southern California, so he needed a place with good wifi to work while I drove around looking for apartments. The Internet connection is dependable and he was able to program there all day long. (Did someone really complain about a long string of characters to type in for the password… really, are we that lazy?)
Jose is awesome! The first day I went in to grab a coffee and sandwich, he was all smiles and very friendly. My husband noted that every time we went there, Jose always brought his coffee over to him while he set up his laptop and he always comes by to make sure everything’s going okay. Super friendly, he has a great energy about him.
The coffee isn’t stellar amazing, but it isn’t bad either. I wasn’t able to buy anything the first time I stopped in because I didn’t have any cash, but I took note of that and the next time I headed to the Muddy Cup, I checked my wallet first… is that *such* an inconvenience for folks… not in my opinion.

Mediocre, at best.
I was excited when I first moved to Albany to live walking distance from a coffee shop, but after two visits there, I found it much better to go to Uncommon Grounds or other places that were driving distance from where I was.
The staff is very unfriendly and couldn’t care less about the customers. They will be in the back texting on their Blackberry, see a customer, and keep conversing until it’s convenient for them to help you. I ordered a chai latte and the person just put a teabag in a cup of hot water, no steamed milk, nothing. The fact that they didn’t know how to make a latte of all things (at a coffee shop!) was my first red flag.
Although I usually have cash, the fact that they don’t take cards is a real nuisance. I’m not going to use an ATM in-​store with an exorbitant processing fee to buy a $ 3 cup of lukewarm coffee or tea.
If you need a coffee fix and you can’t get to a better place, the Muddy Cup will suffice, but I certainly don’t go out of my way to go there.

They have stopped taking cards altogether and are cash-​only. The internet password is a long strand of letters and dashes that is on paper taped to the windows. The guy that was working was pretty unfriendly. He went outside and had an intense phone conversation while I was there. Anyway, the coffee wasn’t great and there was a guy playing music but everyone was sitting outside while he was inside and playing to an empty room. literally. empty. it was weird.
i don’t want to go back.

I used to visit this place every now and then because it was within easy walking distance for me.
The coffee, though? Bleh. The last few times I visited there, the coffee was noticeably sub-​par. They used to make decent blender drinks, but the last time my fiancé got some kind of blender-​coffee-​ice concoction, It was nearly all ice. It tasted like a watered down, weak coffee snow cone, and might as well have been. All crushed ice, no liquid, couldn’t even drink it through a straw.
The stuff underneath the counter (cookies, brownies, etc). are pretty good, usually, but I do wonder how long they’ve been sitting there in their glass cage, wrapped in plastic wrap (especially when I’d visit at night). Yikes.
Wi-​fi, sure enough, is protected. Asked a staffer for the password, only to enter it, re-​enter it, re-​re-​enter it, and have it not work. Surfed on aforementioned Motorola network instead (I was desperate, waiting for the internet to be hooked up at the new apartment).
Open-​mic can be fun, provided you can actually get in there.

I went to Muddy Cup again recently and was disapointed. Around 11am on a weekend and only one person was working there. It wasn’t that busy, but was a constant flow, the girl could hardly keep up. My boyfriend ordered an egg and cheese sandwich, which took 15 – 20 minutes to get to him and she forgot his coffee.
Another visit a week later and I find out they ran out of chocolate syrup. Seriously? I’d forgive it if things normally ran smoothly, but I’m just not seeing it.
Sorry Muddy Cup, I want to love you but your management just does not know how to run a coffee shop.

Sucks.
New management killed this place. I was friends with the old staff and they also agree that this place has gotten worse recently. The new part-​owner dude doesn’t drink coffee because he bleaches his teeth, and it would stain them. This is also I’m sure why he started using CHEAPER coffee, cups, lids and almost everything else has been switched out for cheaper alternatives. Wifi never works.
Also the sign says that if you use a credit card you’ll be charged .25¢, which is ONE FOURTH OF ONE CENT. NOT 25 CENTS.
Bottom line is I’ll go all the way to campus to Uncommon where they actually give a shit.

The Pros:
— I can walk to it
— It’s a business taking a place on Madison Ave. that had been vacant
— Coffee is ok
— You get a discount if you purchase their travel mug and bring it in
— It reminds me of my college days and coffee house sitting at Creations in New Paltz
The Cons:
— The floor is unfinished and I find it just makes the place feel dirty
— the furniture is 2^nd hand and just sad
— they keep changing up how they have the sugar /​milk set up
— the art work on the walls is poorly placed
So, pretty much I wouldn’t go out of my way to get to Muddy Cup. Yet, I am a regular customer because I have hopes that they’ll pull it together some day.

FLIES! Freaking flies everywhere.
I can’t put down my coffee. I can’t concentrate on my work.
Their «free» internet connection is WPA password protected.
I have to ride on some other connection called «Motorola».
House coffee is listed on the board as $ 1.50.
They charged the people in front of me $ 1.75 and told them that was the price for a large.
I ordered just a «house coffee for here» and was also charged $ 1.75.
Not that I mind… I just wonder what you have to say to get the coffee for $ 1.50 (note, the board mentions nothing of a larger coffee or of any brewed coffee costing anything but $ 1.50).
Almost forgot to mention all the trash that is shoved between the cushions of the comfy couch. Used tissues, candy wrappers, hair bands. On the upside, I did get a free lighter out of the deal. On the downside, I’m totally skeeved out. And I am one tough mofo.
The term «never again» comes to mind.

Never really cared for their coffee, but I lived nearby and always stopped in while walking to Price Chopper. I’m not big on hanging out at coffee shops for extended periods of time, but the place is cozy enough and stays open fairly late.

Let’s get this out of the way — I like the Muddy Cup locations in Poughkeepsie, Hudson and New Paltz a little better. But this is a good one too.
It’s comfy and the coffee is well-​priced, although I’m not terribly crazy about it. I also don’t like it when the barista wants to put the milk or cream in your coffee for you. I’d much rather do it myself.
Still, it’s a great place to come and read, or play Scrabble, or do a little work. I can’t figure out why almost all smaller coffee joints offer free wireless Internet while Starbucks makes you pay. What gives? Starbucks’ coffee is already priced much higher — you’d think they could throw in a little free Internet.
I agree with Daniel B. overall. The cozy interior is what makes this place, not the refreshments. Oh, and the fact that I’ve never had a problem finding on-​street parking nearby.

The coffee is watered down and the chai is «milked» down. And here’s a question, kids: Caffeine is a stimulant, so why would anyone think that equipping the shop with just ONE bathroom would be okay? Well, most of the time, the bathroom’s kind of scary anyway, what with its subzero temperature, and lack of at least one of the following items: soap, hand towels, toilet paper.
Don’t come here if you want a quick cup of anything, because service is always slow. In fact, it’s gone downhill for the past 2 years, which is why I’m back on here, editing my original review.
I’ve never had anything from their bakery case– because I’m not an insectivore. While you’re waiting for your drink from the sluggish barista who’s probably carrying on a conversation with someone else, look through the glass and watch for movement!
And oh yeah, my litmus test for coffee shops, Muddy Cup totally fails. Before milk gets poured in your latte, the steam wand on the espresso machine MUST be wiped down FIRST. Nobody wants to see an encrusted steam wand. Gross!

Cozy, hip café with free wireless & occasional live music. I went on a Weds. night looking for a place to grade papers & there was live jazz, no cover, quiet enough that one could still talk or work. There’s a little upstairs loft space with couches as well-​v. comfortable. And it’s next door to the Madison Theatre.
Update…the Monday night open mike has gone way down hill from fall to spring. But it’s still my favorite coffee shop to go to work in the area.