madcap coffee company
1041 fulton st e, grand rapids, mi 49503
Grand Rapids preeminent roaster and server of great coffee has been doing it since 2008. The Fulton Street location has a great feel in a cool part of town with a lot of good energy. The tagline of serving transcendent coffee coming down to nuances and subtleties is apparent in not only the quality of the liquid, but how it is served.
Coffee:
I love a shop that has a choice of blends. I went with their Bolt blend along with a Ejo Heza espresso. A great combination of a milk chocolaty taste coupled with an almost strawberry sweetness. I do feel like I’m in a bit of a time loop lately as this is the third shop in a row (different cities) that employ the 10 or 12 oz pour. It just looks so small when put in the 16 oz travel mug. But let’s not bury the lead here - a luscious cup of coffee all around.
Barista:
When having multiple roasts and espressos, the person taking the order has to be informed. I think my guide was fairly new, but her smile and assistance were really a welcome intro to the shop. She represented Madcap’s raison d’etre of eliminating the barriers and pretense from premium coffee. I like that. Due to the fact that they were so busy, there was not a lot of banter with the baristas but they were friendly and one even mentioned the great coffee at Dark Matter after looking at my travel mug. I had a great blueberry muffin along with my coffee that popped with flavor.
Vibe:
It was a Saturday morning about 9:00 when I landed at the doorsteps and the neighborhood was popping. There is a good farmers market about two blocks down and tons of young families out with kids coupled with a nice diversity of twenty somethings and older folks making a nice eclectic age band. I’m thinking this was an old service station based upon it’ set back and design and it really works. You can sit outside on picnic tables or in the cool minimalist space inside (with plenty of seating). The rolling overhead doors were closed (thinking it was just too warm), but that has to be a nice feeling when they open them up to make a seamless space (similar to the firehouse at Rising Star in Cleveland). It was super busy yet it did not seem terribly overcrowded as people were patient, friendly and happy.
Make You Better
My broken record of sizing of coffees continues….they really need to find a 14 oz or 16 oz version (these were not pour overs). The pastry selection could have been a little more robust with four items, but if the blueberry muffin was any indication the quality was quite good. They also have some good merch selection and a great logo…..did not find a sticker however.
Really fun to be in The River City with good breweries, great bike trails and a vibrant coffee scene.
A wompling we go, Matt