The Coffee Ethic
Here in 417 Land, we are lucky to have many amazing coffee shops to choose from. Since I work as a freelancer and from my computer, coffee shops are where I do the variety of my work.
I was recently talking to my mom about the uniqueness of the 21st Century conception of the coffee shop. She says that I’m lucky to have so many great places to build community, drink delicious coffee, eat good food, and to get work done. “In my day, we didn’t have coffee shops like today’s coffee shops,” she says. The popular sitcom Friends’ depiction of a 1990’s New York City coffee shop as a hub for gossip and culture tell a different story than my mother but that’s another topic for another day. Regardless, we are lucky to live in an era in which coffee shops provide us with warmth, community, and sustenance.
Because of my strange fascination with both the abstract idea of coffee shops and actual coffee shops themselves, I have visited almost all of shops in the 417 area. Maybe I’m not supposed to have favorites, but I do.
Springfield’s The Coffee Ethic, as the #1 of my heart, provides me with everything I want in a coffee shop. I’ve been coming here on a weekly basis for the past two years and over those two years I have become friends with the baristas and the other regulars. I meet my friends here to catch up, I have business meetings here, I write here, and during finals week I essentially live here.
The interior is warm and cozy with brick walls covered in artwork from local artists, natural wood floors, and wooden tables. The huge coffee roaster in the shop’s northwest corner emits the pleasant odor of roasting coffee beans that coupled with espresso and chocolate permeate the entire shop with a distinct and home-y smell.
You can sit in one of the wooden chairs at a table, on one of the benches against the brick wall, or on the leather couch that looks out on Springfields Park Central Square. When it’s warm you can sit outside on the patio.
Because I’ve been coming here for so long, I’ve essentially tried everything on the menu. The Coffee Ethic has traditional espresso drinks (I usually have a double cappuccino or the house coffee!), teas, smoothies, and alcohol. They sell a variety of pastries baked in house too. My AM go-to is the blueberry muffin while my afternoon snack of choice is a no-bake cookie since I have never been able to successfully make them on my own.
At The Coffee Ethic, each employee is incredibly friendly and helpful. Like I said before, I’ve made lifelong friends of many of the baristas. Despite the friendly facades of these baristas, they aren’t kidding around. Each of them is incredibly skilled in how to extract the tastiest espresso and incredible latte art.
The warm community and house coffee make this shop the best in town and I highly suggest Coffee Ethic to all of my friends, family, and readers.
I also apologize to Coffee Ethic’s staff--they’re probably all sick of my face.
