Decade

Tried Decade for the first time yesterday and was VERY impressed! Super nice folks and out of this world sandwich! Very cool spot DEFINITELY a hidden gem. Great natural lighting, great craftsmanship all around, open spaces, I love it!

Always terrific. I’ve been coming here since they first opened and there hasn’t been a visit where I experienced anything less than stellar customer service. Baristas are friendly, knowledgeable, and don’t make you feel stupid if you don’t know everything about their coffee options. Seems like the philosophy behind this place is to get to know what the customer already likes & educate/​offer them options of what they might enjoy to the fullest. Delightful atmosphere inside and on the patio (from the table bouquets to the furniture to the mugs handcrafted in North Lawrence) and the perfect stop on your Final Friday walk or for a productive Saturday morning. I’m dairy free, so I especially appreciate the house-​made cashew milk & house-​made avocado coconut sorbet. Hands down best coffee in Lawrence. Warning — the chai is quite powerful!

Great atmosphere for conversation and productivity. Overall a unique layout. Knowledgeable and friendly baristas. Their house made cashew milk is on point and recommend getting it in your cappuccino.

this place is my jam.
my husband and I came to Lawrence on a weekend getaway trip and before leaving, stopped at this awesome establishment. boy, am I g-​l-​a-​d we did.
a. it’s in a really cool part of town.
b. it’s in an AWESOME building.
c. you may have to wait a while in line to order but it’s worth it. very worth it.
d. get the Norwegian toast.
e. their sandwiches come wrapped up in a little cute package for you to unwrap.
f. the workers are really nice.
g. you’ll want to sit here and read, write, drink coffee. anything. all morning.
h. I could come up with enough reasons that would take me to Z. for you to visit Decade, but you would get bored, so just go try it out yourself. you won’t be disappointed.

Great first experience! I never drink black coffee, but I had the Kenyan roast today along with a piece of sweet potato bread and it was fantastic. Louis was also very friendly and welcoming to everyone, I enjoyed our conversation. I’ll definitely keep this place in mind for future visits and may stop by for a cup on my way out of town

They have four barrel coffee! Need I say more? I haven’t had the chance to try any of the food yet but it always smells and looks amazing. The staff is SUPER helpful, passionate, and courteous as well.

Great hidden gem in east Lawrence. The bartender Emily went out of her way to make fantastic customized cocktails!

I’m really hoping the owner reads this with an open mind. This is constructive criticism.
I don’t know anything about Lawrence, so whatever.
The owner (I believe) pulls the best espresso and makes the best lattes. If every «barista» made espresso drinks like he does, I’d give this place a million stars. But it’s not so. The variance in quality lattes is too great. Sometimes they’re wonderful and made with care. Sometimes they’re acidic and made too quickly (or something). Different every time. You never know what you’re going to get, which is unfortunate. That said — even the bad lattes are better than Starbucks.
Second. Ever been to coffee shops in Asia — Tokyo or Seoul in particular. The receipt has a unique password and log in for the wifi. It expires after 60 minutes. IMPLEMENT THIS. The no-​wifi policy is ridiculous and absurd. It’s an independent coffee shop in a «college town». Come on.
Or, if the technology for limiting the wifi is too expensive… then go to rolling wifi-​outages or something. If it’s too busy and tables need to be turned, cut off the wifi or something. If it’s a Tuesday afternoon and there is literally no one else in there, turn the wifi on. I’d stay and work there and buy like 4 lattes if I could use the internet.

Really cool coffee shop that takes their aeropressing seriously. I ordered their light roast bean from Burundi. Their process is to weight out 18g of the beans, grind them and aeropress after immersion for 2min and 20 seconds. They use an inverted aeropress method which I appreciate and use at home as well. The coffee was good balanced bitter and the acidity was kindly reduced through the short immersion time. At $ 3.50 a cup, the price is a bit steeper than your normal cup of coffee, but the quality is well worth it.
Their procedure for coffee-​making starts with baristas caring about you understanding what you’re ordering. You pick a bean out of what they have that week, and they have sniffing containers where you can get a feeling for at least the aroma of the coffee beans. Pretty neat stuff. Their beans are sourced from Oddly Correct, in case you recognize that company.
A friend of mine ordered the chai, and I’d highly recommend it. It’s very nicely spiced and the ginger is super intense. A strong clove flavor comes out and there’s a super frothy creamy top. The texture is pretty creamy, and it wasn’t cloyingly sweet in comparison to what I’ve had at other coffeeshops.
Cold Brew — you should try it if you’re alright with acidic coffee. Their cold brew is pretty sour and I didn’t end up ordering it, but a friend got it. They use pretty light roasts for their drinks, and the acidity comes out quite a bit. I don’t like my coffee acidic, and prefer medium and dark roasts, but I also understand that dark roasts are out of vogue.
To summarize:
They tend to (at least when I visited) use light roasts, making for bright and quite acidic coffees. The shop cares about your opinion and wants to educate you on their beans. Everything is weighed out and the service is great. They do a good job making aeropressed coffee accessible to us mere mortals, and have super awesome cups which you can buy!
I really love the warm and inviting décor — many tables are unfinished woods.
Happy Drinking!

First visit here and liking it. Different take on coffee with your other regular fare. The tonic coffee is an interesting twist. Nice outdoor patio and inside. Will come back for sure and next time I will try brunch!

This was my first experience at Decade, a cool coffee shop tucked into a neighborhood on the east side of Lawrence. The crafted wood and natural light, along with a completely unique feel made me feel like I was on vacation. Very enjoyable.
Their coffee is different, it’s aeropress, which I’m less familiar with. They use Four Barrel coffee from San Francisco which tastes delicious. You get a strong, clouded cup of coffee and handmade ceramics or mugs to drink it out of.
We were there on a Saturday morning and, naturally, it was packed to the gills. People were stationed all around the big deck that wraps the side of building, and every table was full inside. We ended up sharing a table with a nice couple.
Part of what was making it busy this morning was the pop-​up restaurant «The Waffle Iron» in the corner of the coffee shop. This is a food-​stand style concept that is supposedly only around for 3 – 5 months. I was intrigued as hell by it, and while this review is about the coffee spot, I can safely say the waffles I had were turrrrrrrible. I mean really bad, and they took forever to come out. Aw well.
I’d be back to check out Decade on a weekday morning when I could have more of it to myself, and love the friendly service and overall vibe.

Very well prepared coffee, good roast, multiple brew options, up and coming recovering neighborhood

I love this little coffee shop. I used to live over in east Lawrence off of garfield street so I loved that I could easily walk here. The coffee is fabulous. Its not ruined by tons of sweeteners and flavored syrup so you can truly appreciate the coffee your drinking.
The venue/​vibe at this place is pretty rocking. Remodeled woodwork construction within an old building in Lawrence = a gorgeous coffee shop. I also love their local incorporation of even their mugs being made by a local pottery artist who uses clay from the Kansas River (if I remembered that right).
They also have bakery items from a local asian bakery in Lawrence (I can’t remember the name or which nationality the baked goods come from). Sometimes they are happily sharing samples…
Why only four stars? Well when I went back to visit Lawrence I of course came back down here with my laptop to do some work here. Little did I know, they did not have wifi. I felt like I was brought back to the 90’s. What coffee shop doesn’t have wifi? Sad. I only stayed long enough to quickly drink my coffee and moved along to another place for the rest of the week to get some work done.

If the person who ended up helping us out hadn’t I was ready to walk out. I asked a simple question, do they serve pour overs. The guy asked this girl and she looked at us like we were garbage and said no we NEVER do pour overs EVER… Ok… then what do you serve?
Thankfully another young woman came up to explain their Aeropress process, asked us what flavors of coffee we enjoyed and went through what they had to offer. I liked the fact they have the beans out for you to smell. That’s a nice touch. We ordered a Four Barrel Guatemalan and another coffee from Oddly Correct and a brownie. The coffee was excellent. The brownie with caramel over the top was heavenly.
I am really glad our experience ended up on a good note. I liked the shop a lot. I’m always happy to support another local business. Now that I’m in «know» about the coffee I will definitely stop by again. But, I do think the high horse gal needs an attitude adjustment.

I love the atmosphere, the baristas, and the chai tea is the best in town! Good Job Decade!

This tiny little coffee shop is a hidden gem on the end of 9^th St at the interface of residential and industrial districts. The baristas are very friendly and make some awesome coffee. I had a great cappuccino. Their pastries seemed a bit overpriced, especially given their small size and lack of selection. I was only there for the coffee though. The ambience was great. Very much a hipster hangout. Great artwork, as well, even the house coffee vessels are made by local potters. I would definitely return to Decade if I’m back in Lawrence.

An old shop in East Lawrence was rehabbed and turned into a gorgeous, minimal coffee shop. Everything is white and clean and sunny and amazing and this is about the most effortlessly cool businesses I have walked into in years. I don’t know if I could more strongly approve of a space.
Good thing? Their coffee seems to match. Now, I’ve only been here once and I got a toddy, but this is what I learned during my short visit.
1. They serve TWO different kinds of toddy. I can’t think of another place that I know of serving more than one.
2. Four Barrel beans. Can’t beat that!
3. The only flavors of coffee they serve is «coffee flavor». You can get additional sweetener in the form of simple syrup.
4. They have turntables
5. They serve damn good baked goods.
6. The gentleman barista was friendly and knowledgeable, a perfect combo. Personalities behind the bar are important, and I’d be happy getting my morning coffee from a guy like that.
SO I hear there’s no wifi here, which is a peeve of mine, but since I had my Verizon card and it’s not like I’ll be here with any regularity (I live in KC), I’ll let it slide. I’m just too smitten with this place. A+++++++

My Unilocal Elite comrade (and neighbor as I recently found out), Scott T, offered to treat me at Decade, a new café walking distance from our homes in Old East Lawrence.
The building is apparently an old warehouse that has been converted into a modern café with a real espresso machine, excellent coffee, and an artistic flair signified by the delicate tree design made in the coffee crema and latte (that’s milk for you Americans).
They offer pastries, but Tuesday is apparently not a day that the pasty chef works as they were out of everything except a few scones and the Bumble Bees … Sesame goodness in a ball! I am not sure how much they are as I did not pay, but two lattes and four bumble bees came to around $ 14. I figure at $ 3 per latte, a bit pricey for a small ceramic cupful, the bumble bees must be close to $ 2 each, again a bit steep for something so small. Reminding me a bit of baklava, they are mostly sesame seeds and honey held together with what I assume is flour and very tasty although a bit sweet for my taste. One would have probably sufficed.
The coffee was rich, apparently roasted locally, and delicious. Enough said.
The service friendly and attentive, we were made to feel right at home. The interior is a little too modern for my taste, but the rich (maple?) wood floors, recently refurbished, provide a warm glow and make the space comfortable although sparse in décor and furnishings. If you are looking for free wi-​fi, go the the Java Break or similar establishment as Decade has none. In this day and age, being in a college town in particular, I am not sure that was a sound business decision, but time will tell.
CombatCritic Gives Decade (an initial) 7 Out of 10 Bombs … BOMBS ARE GOOD!

Lawrence is blessed with more than its fair share of excellent coffee spots. Add Decade to the list. It’s not really that far from anything but one is almost guaranteed not to stumble upon this location. I hope that isn’t fatal, because it is a great space with great coffee in it, if my café latte was anything to go by. Baked goods look very promising. This is the eclectic, «I’m in the know» pick for your cup of artisanal Joe. I’ll need a second visit to be… nah, hell, it’s a super cool spot and I’m happy to say so right now. I have a sense for these things. Just go with it.

I tend to evaluate great coffee on where I seem to end up most. If I’m in Kansas City you’re likely to find me at Quay Coffee. In Lawrence, with its paint barely dry and the doors newly opened, Decade is starting to get most of my business, and unless something dramatic happens I don’t see that changing in the future.
They’re pouring espressos, lattes and single pours that in my opinion are as good or better than can be found in the city limits. The owners have the right amount of experience and coffee geek in them that I’m confident the quality is here to stay. Exclusive Four Barrel Coffee from San Francisco as has been previously reported. What’s to not like?
What have I tried? The lattes, the macchiato, the press coffee both in-​house and to go. Multiples of each. The espressos are rich, creamy, the crème just the right taste and mixed with whole milk from a local dairy you get a full rush of caffeine goodness mixed with the kick of the fat from the cow. Private Meg Ryan moments.
The space: it’s a small reclaimed warehouse with original beam flooring and supports, new drywall and lighting, plenty of window space and a patio that appears ready to host some tables. Gorgeous, plenty of room for single seating inside and a large table that was hosting some kind of neighborhood arts meeting this morning with probably a dozen folks. Lots of reclaimed wood has been built into door handles, bars for seating and other purposes. Very nicely designed and appropriate for an espresso house.
One note: wireless is not provided and this was a choice of the owners from the outset. I politely made my point with another customer on my second visit stating my wish they add it. Reason: many are already entering packing a smart phone or a laptop that’s enabled. People need it for meetings, work and for handling personal business. I’m self-​employed and have a client in town that I need to meet with monthly and it’s always over coffee. We need an access point. There’s a perception some hold that it’s the duty of a coffee shop to provide a work environment for their customers. I don’t happen to agree with that assessment but understand the paradigm. My concern is great coffee which is why I’m giving them 5 stars. I hate to see a great business open themselves for criticism on the wireless issue but just watch, it’ll come. But add it and I’ll spend more money here, I know.
On another note I wish to express my delight in their location. East Lawrence (I live two blocks away) has a bad rap that’s sometimes deserved and sometimes not. Businesses tend to avoid the area a bit. That’s quickly changing and they’d be wise to see the folks lined up here grabbing drinks at all times of day. This area of town is going through a rebirth and Decade is a very welcome addition. When I heard a coffee shop was locating here I thought it was a crazy idea, but now I can’t imagine them not being here.
Other coffee shops in town, take note. The bar has been raised again. There are becoming fewer and fewer reasons to get coffee downtown these days except out of the need for convenience.