Coffee Proper

Great espresso!

*This experience happened a few months ago*
I’ll admit I’m a little bit of a coffee snob, ehh– I just know what I like and I have reasonable expectations. Anyways, I figured I’d give this place a try. The name is cute, the coffee shop looks cozy and the reviews are pretty good. Also, I prefer supporting smaller businesses rather than large money-​hungry chains. Unfortunately, I was not pleased.
1. It’s not very obvious where you order and where you wait for coffee. There’s a rug that runs all the way up to where you receive your beverage, but you pay to the right of that off the ramp. It’s confusing and a little embarrassing for first time customers.
2. The line was crazy busy, which is fine because, like me, people enjoy their coffee. However, it was unorganized and chaotic. People were getting their drinks out of order, baristas were forgetting to make certain drinks, etc.
3. They only have ONE cup size. I prefer quantity AND quality when it comes to my coffee, especially if I’m paying a lot of money for it.
4. My vanilla latte wasn’t sweetened when I asked for it to be sweetened. While I was waiting in line for sugar, I overheard they were out of sugar. This is a COFFEE shop. How can you be OUT of sugar? Nobody was apologizing, nothing and I would have appreciated a warning of the outage BEFORE paying almost 5 bucks for my, what 8 ounce coffee?
The only plus is the atmosphere. You can bring your own records to play on their record player. Sadly, the service, price and quality isn’t worth it.

This is a no-​compromise place that simply makes spectacular pour-​over coffee, espresso drinks and teas. It’s «proper» by definition of the owners, and they won’t change it for you. While I think you should thank them for that, since I just had the best cappuccino I’ve ever had, this place isn’t for everyone. Like to put crap like soy milk in your coffee? Forget about it. The owners hate soy milk and won’t serve it. Want $ 1 swill? Go elsewhere. You can’t have it your way, it’s not cheap, and I respect that. Local beans, local owners and a commitment to excellence for a reasonable price. I’m sad I haven’t gone sooner.

I hate to criticize a labor of love, which is clearly what this place is. But here goes:
Pros: the Pourover I got — with Honduran beans roasted by Rising Star — was delicious. A very good cup that I was happy to pay $ 3 for. For that I’d return.
Cons: the place has a hippie-​ish, dark, dated feel that made me want to leave as soon as my coffee was ready. There’s clutter everywhere, from equipment behind the counter to books and knickknacks and other junk in the seating area. Half the display cases were empty, and what was there looked sad and old. The sweet gal behind the counter didn’t know answers to my questions about the beans or the process. The list of coffees apparently is limited to just one kind of bean. For some reason they don’t offer non-​dairy milks, which makes zero sense.
Bottom line: great coffee, good intentions. But the place looks shabby and unkempt and apparently was designed by a Deadhead frat boy. Not for me.

Lakewood is such a down to earth working class community and this place couldn’t be further from that. High prices and elitist attitudes abound!