Coffee and the Works

I just heard that this place is closing. I will not miss it. I’ve been in DC for 20 years and had stopped in here a few times to buy the odd gift or gadget. As others have mentioned, the place is packed to overflowing and the prices are outrageous. And the owner is a nutjob. The first few times I was there I noted that her demeanor was very frantic. I thought maybe she was just an intense person. I recall going in there in ’98 when the Clinton impeachment was going on and she had the impeachment hearings blasting in the store. I truthfully didn’t think too much of that — this is DC after all and people do have NPR or other news stations on in their stores. Then as I was looking around in the store, whenever a Democrat would say something in the broadcast, the owner would actually shout «who the hell elected these f**king people??» and other things along the same lines. I went in on another occasion and as other people have mentioned, she was ranting generally about liberals and gays. She is a lunatic Go spend your money at some other local businesses.

I am really thrilled to hear that this place is closing. The items available for sale, as many people have described, are overpriced, and not by a little. The proprietor, as many people have described, is a bigot who has loud personal conversations on the phone and treats customers like scum. Let me repeat that so you don’t think I’m just angry. She is a bigot. Hates: gay people, young people, brown people. I have heard her express these opinions personally. Bigot.
It takes a lot for me to applaud the closing of a store that sells interesting kitchen-​y knickknacks, but I am thinking of showing up for the last day to personally wish that awful woman failure in all of her other endeavors. I’d rather see another stupid frozen yogurt place in here, or another shitty crêpe place, or a Subway, or a Subway For Rats.
I wouldn’t pee on this store if it were on fire.

This place is near my office, so I’ve popped in a couple of times just to look around.
Once I went in here, and noted the sign on the door that asks customers not to talk on the phone while in the store. Well, I guess that didn’t apply to the one employee that was present. She was have a very loud personal conversation on the store’s phone, completely ignoring the few people who were in the store. I didn’t find anything I wanted so I didn’t have to deal with trying to get her attention, but I found it astounding that she thought this was appropriate behavior.
I went in again yesterday to see if there was anything that caught my eye. Two employees were there — a woman around 50 and a younger woman that I think was her daughter. The older woman had a dog there (which I thought odd in such a tiny and cramped store full of breakables) and was trying to rush out the door somewhere. I asked what kind of coffee beans she carried, and she just huffed «those up there!» while gesturing to the shelves of coffee beans. Um… okay. Whatever.
On the upside, the daughter was quite nice. She had a couple of coffee recommendations and efficiently assisted a small line of people checking out. I ordered ¼ lb of a flavored coffee. I was astounded at the price — $ 6 and change for a quarter pound of coffee beans! The pound of coffee I buy at the grocery store is only $ 8! What a rip-​off! I expect to pay more in a locally owned shop and for freshly ground beans, but really? It really should have been about $ 3-​$ 4.
Pros — interesting selection of items, owner’s daughter
Cons — cramped, inattentive staff (except for the owner’s daughter), EXPENSIVE!

9÷13÷2010
I am a HUGE supporter of local business, both where I live and where I work, but I will NEVER shop here again, and I hope for this store to go out of business, which is extremely strong for me. I’ve shopped here before, and though the manager has been unattentive and rude, I had always put it off as a bad day. The impression one gets on walking in here is that she is in the midst of a personal crisis and one hesitates to disturb.
So today I had a specific thing I was looking for, and when I walked in, after I’d stood there a couple minutes she paused from her phone conversation to ask if I needed help. I asked if she had chocolate covered biscuits (Not an odd request for this sort of store). She looked at me like I was insane and said No. So I thanked her and left. After walking a block down to Marvelous Market and finding exactly what I wanted, passing back by Coffee and the Works I noticed the same homeless person in the exact same position as four hours earlier in the morning, all blanketed completely covered. Since this person was right outside the store, I walked in and asked if she knew if the person was OK. The manager said in a very rude, cranky way. «She’s always here. Can’t get her to leave. I *guess* she has the right to be there.» I tried to explain I was not complaining about her being there, but worrying since she hadn’t apparently moved since that morning. The manager just shrugged and said «I don’t know; Wake her up if you want to.» All in such a «What the f— do I care» attitude. It was unreal.

I bought a spaghetti measurer here but everything is a bit overpriced. They have a gadget for everything you can think of and while it is fun to browse, the place is SO small that I kinda felt guilty taking up space. You definitely have to watch your elbows. No one offered to help me and that is fine but I can see why people complain about the customer service.

Because I had such a horrible experience at this store with one of it’s employees, I decided to go back and complain to the manager. I wanted the person/​persons in charge to hear about my experience.
I walked in and said to the woman «Hi, I just wanted to report on a negative experience I had in your store. Are you the manager?» to which she replied «Oh, yes, I already heard about you»
Not only did she completely disregard me, but she told me that I needed to change MY attitude and that she had never had a problem with that employee. I told her that my boyfriend witnessed this offensive behavior but she challenged his integrity as well. I was astounded. All I could say as I walked out of the store was «Good Luck» since there was no point in trying to explain what actually happened.
Obviously, Pauline had done some damage control, which obviously worked. Now, I just feel sorry for these people ~ whatever happened to good old fashioned customer service? Judging from the defensive and nonobjective attitude I got from the manager, the proverbial employee apple didn’t fall far from the tree! I suggest they both go to classes to learn how to manage. Both their anger, and their negative business practices. Poor Pauline needs some better guidance ~ now I realize it’s not all her fault!
I am now looking into the Better Business Bureau to file a formal complaint.

A small store with some nice teapots and tea– and coffee-​making supplies. I can’t speak for the coffee and supplies, but I want to warn people *not* to buy tea here; it’s marked up by over 1000%. Also, the staff member I dealt with was very rude.
I’m going to give some tea-​snobby context for this: I went in looking for genmaicha (Japanese green tea with roasted brown rice mixed in). They had it, and I asked the woman behind the counter how much it was. She told me that it would be $ 14 for half an ounce.
Genmaicha is usually made with «bancha,» which is the kind of tea that goes into Japanese supermarket tea bags — think Lipton. The roasted rice is in there to give the cheap tea more flavor. I’ve seriously had two separate Japanese people make fun of me for liking the stuff. Apparently it’s what you drink if you’re a stingy old lady who remembers Japan’s post-​World War II famine.
Anyway, Den’s Tea, an online American tea retailer, sells a decent genmaicha for $ 1.88 an ounce. Adagio Teas genmaicha is $ 2.20 an ounce. More expensive than in Japan, but it makes sense given shipping costs and the smaller market here.
But Coffee and the Works is charging what would be something like 12 – 15 times a normal price for the stuff. It occurred to me that it was possible an American tea distributor might have requested some «better» genmaicha made with a higher grade of Japanese tea. (Not something I think would happen in Japan, but I could see, say, Whole Foods wanting something like that.) People seriously do pay $ 28 an ounce for «gyokuro» tea.
So I asked the clerk if she knew where the tea was from. I don’t think there was anything weird about my tone of voice here — she could probably tell I’d been surprised by the price, but I think most people would be.
She glared at me. «Japan,» she said.
I was surprised at her tone, and I kind of stuttered, «Well — I mean, do you know what prefecture it’s from?» («Prefecture» means «state,» basically. It’s not common vocabulary, I guess, but it’s a word you’d know if you were selling high-​grade Japanese tea.)
She said, «What?»
“Do you know where in Japan it’s from?”
«No. Our distributor doesn’t tell us that.»
She seemed really offended that I was asking her this stuff, so I apologized for having bothered her and left. The thing is that these are *totally normal* questions to ask when you’re buying expensive tea. It’s like checking whether some $ 40 wine’s from France or California.
So, the options here are,
1) The shop buys cheap genmaicha at a normal price, and then marks it up 1200%, or
2) The shop buys cheap genmaicha from a dishonest distributor that overcharges them 1200%.
Five minutes on Google would’ve told them if it was #2. So either this store’s staff is dishonest, or they don’t know what they’re doing. In either case, they’re impolite.
So: Not recommended!

They have a lot of things in this little place. The location is convenient if you live nearby. BUT there’s a reason I will NEVER darken this place’s door ever again:
A year ago I was in shopping for kitchenwares and the owner was behind the counter working, when a woman walked in to the store.
I recognized the customer as an out of town demi-​celebrity (a West Coast comedienne here for a benefit performance in town). She raved about the place and said she wanted to have a few things shipped home. The owner said she could ship anything in the store and the customer pointed out a few things and paid for them. There was not a scintilla of diva-​ness on the customer’s part. She vocally praised the store, mentioned how much she wishes there was a place like this back home, paid for her things and left.
THEN the owner started ripping into the customer after she left. She was shockingly rude about this woman and for no reason at all. For her politics basically (the customer was in town for an anti-​war rally). I was frankly shocked to hear this from the owner about a customer who had just put money into her cash register.
I put my things down and walked out the door. I’ve never been back and won’t be back anytime soon as long as its under the same ownership.
I could maybe understand if the customer had been rude or Divalike or what have you, but having witnessed the extent of the interaction I found the owner’s remarks utterly without merit and pretty unforgivable.
It left a very bad taste in my mouth.

What an interesting and VERY FULL store!!! It’s a little difficult to walk around in here, and if you carry a big purse, you’re sure to knock something over, so be careful!!!
I got lured in, because I saw these totally adorable mugs that were so unique I had to buy two for different friends. I’m currently trying to resist the urge to buy one for myself as well. :)
Oh, and they sell the same product line found in Pinkberry shops, but at half the price!

I had some time to kill before I was to meet up with a friend for drinks so I popped into this place to look around. There’s a number of fun kitchen gadgets and gizmos to choose from as well as looseleaf tea and coffee items. In the back there was a selection of glassware, kitchen aprons and other home/​kitchen stuff that I would want to buy if I had a bigger salary.
The space is quite small and it almost seems a bit unorganized with everything piled on top of each other but it really is a good place to pick up gifts for others. I didn’t end up buying anything but I’ll be likely to return when I’m in a pinch to find a gift.

Meh. This place is just OK, I guess. I’ve been here a handful of times. It doesn’t take a savvy consumer to realize that their prices are totally through the roof. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call this store a ripoff. You’re better off searching for some of these items in other stores or even online, and you’ll save a heap load of money — trust me.
As far as the staff goes, they’re really not all that friendly either. Because of their location, they can get away with sub-​par customer service and outrageous prices: they know they will always have customers. Today will probably be the last time I visit that store.
The one good thing they have going for them: they have excellent quality items and supplies.

I’ve been popping into this place for years and just figured out what it’s called, so don’t go looking for a name listed in bold on the storefront or try to google it. Nope, just walk up Connecticut avenue until you pass Lambda Rising (the gay bookstore) and see a bright blue awning. If you reach Claude Taylor Photography you’ve gone too far.
Now, onto the review:
What you will find here:
— a good selection of coffee, tea, and chocolate
— a truly excellent selection of teapots ranging from the ever classic Brown Betty (imported from the UK) to the über-​modern glass Bodum line.
— high end kitchen tools (Microplane grater or melon baller, anyone?)
— an absolute mish-​mash of things for the kitchen and home. Much of it will look like junk. Most of it is in actuality carefully selected from very good brands.
— a pudgy funny-​looking but kind of cute dog. Don’t trip on him.
What you will not find here:
— organization (stuff is piled to the very ceiling)
— space (DO NOT DO NOT wear a backpack)
Verdict — a very good place to grab a last-​minute gift for that foodie in your life or an excellent spot to add a few high-​end accoutrements to your kitchen.

How is it that no one else has reviewed this place, either?! It’s so ridiculously convenient! I must have walked past this little shop at least fifty times in my life and –never– noticed it existed, and what a shame! It’s really adorable in a cluttered, tight, random sort of way.
With everything from loose tea to coffee bean grinders, there’s something here that any kitchen gadget aficionado absolutely must have. There are even a number of little designer gizmos that I’ve seen on the shelves of Pinkberry in NYC sold here — I didn’t even realize they retailed elsewhere, or that they were from famous designers!
Ultimately, I ended up finding some pretty snazzy (amazingly belated) birthday gifts here. While chatting up the fun and witty owner upon check-​out, I discovered that she’s owned this place for something like 20 or 30 years. Incredibly hard to believe, considering how youthful she looks and sounds.
This is definitely a bookmark for any of you big tea and/​or coffee fans out there. If you’re going to do it right, you’ll find the tools you need here.