Cafe Grumpy

This Café’ Grumpy took the spot of a Starbucks that used to be there. I came from a ridiculous job interview and was so distraught that when I walked in, I didn’t notice it was not a Starbucks anymore. The little lamp in my head lit up when I had to pay for my regular iced coffee and banana bread: $ 3. I was already pulling out $ 6 off my wallet (still thinking I was actually at a Starbucks), and was startled.
Then I looked around and saw that the logo was completely different… what happened to the mermaid? The excessively sweet pastries? The sandwiches that give you gas as soon as you bite into them? The music in the background was new wave 80s, and boy I love the 80s. While I usually take my coffee to go, I took a seat in store and enjoyed my 30 minutes of nirvana after a mind boggling Kafkian day.

Pleasantly surprised by Café Grumpy, it’s drinks and its staff. I’m not a coffee drinker by any means. However, looking for a gift for some friends lead me to Café Grumpy. I appreciated that the coffee had flavor notes, «Coffee is the new wine”-said no one ever, but it’s but it’s good to if you’re looking for certain flavor profiles.
Fortunately, for us they had just brewed one of the blends we were looking at and got to try some on the house, which was good– or so I was told. We ended up getting both bags anyway and when I wanted an iced tea to go we also got it on the house. THe tea which was a blueberry/​green tea blend was nicely balanced, not too sweet, not too bitter with good blueberry flavor.

Este local está dentro de la Estación Central, aunque también tiene una entrada desde la calle.
Es una cafetería bastante de paso, tiene solo una barra para quedarse ahí, pero había bastante gente usándola.
Tienen cafés muy ricos, de los ricos de verdad.
Probé un flat white y estaba muy rico, con muy lindo latte art.
Venden varias cafeteras y filtros para las mismas.
No pude con mi genio y me compre una, y el Batista que ma atendió, muy simpático, me regalo el café.
Había bastante fila porque habia una sola persona atendiendo, después llegó uno más a ayudarlo y avanzo todo muy rápido.
Gran cafetería para recuperarse del frío del invierno antes de bajar al subte.

Good place for a quick stop at Grand Central. We went after dinner and they had pour — over «happy hour» which meant that certain blends were almost half the price of what you would have paid in the morning. There are some bar seats along the store windows and that is it, so it is not good for groups.
We ordered a latte and two pour-​overs: one blend called La Bolsa from Guatemala, which was described as «chocolatey» and an Ethiopian blend which was described as «super fruity».
I had the Ethiopian, which was super fruity as promised– it was as sour as an injera. I would not pick it for dessert coffee but it might be a cool kick in the morning for those who love acidity.
The staff was very nice. They took time into explaining and recommending the blends and when I realized that my friend and I ordered the same blends and asked to change it, they did so with no problems. They very politely asked us to leave when they were done with cleaning and did not hurry us out before the 8pm close time, which honestly would have been understandable.

I ordered a cold brew and the cold brew tasted sour.
MIght’ve used expired beans for the brew.

Apparently this used to be a Starbucks. Score one for local quality!
Same deliciousness and atmosphere I love about their Chelsea & Green point locations, and a convenient bean buy. Their espresso blend is my favorite — constantly evolving but always mellow and luscious.
Thanks for existing, Grumpy! You help me easily avoid Starbucks forever.

Their cold brew coffee.
Enough said. Hands down the BEST coffee I’ve ever had. I’m usually a chicken when it comes to drinking coffee and I like adding milk and sugar to it. Heck, I never drink black coffee! But Café Grumpy? No sugar and no milk needed. The cold brew is so smooth and doesn’t have that sour aftertaste that I absolutely despise. It’s got that great coffee aroma and it’s even refreshing on a hot summer day. My boss recommended this place and everyday, we interns crave it.
Basically, Café Grumpy changed the way I view coffee and it’s definitely highly recommended by me. The staff is really nice and they also offer other options if cold brew isn’t your thing! The only part though is that it’s pretty pricey for a small cup of coffee. You get what you pay for but unless you make pretty good money or are a serious coffee fanatic, I’d say Café Grumpy should be more of a treat than a regular daily drink.