BEA Part of It/New York, NY: Grabbing a Cuppa (Coffee & Tea)

Hi friends! Last year, my friends Estelle, Rachel, Jamie, Tara and I created this little series to share some tips and tricks for people planning to come into NYC for BEA! We had so much fun doing it that we decided to bring it back this year, adding a few new post recommendations and updating some of the older ones. For a full list of posts (including last year's!), please check out the links at the bottom of this post.

This year, I decided to share suggestions for something I'm particularly passionate about - coffee and tea! I don't know what I'd do during the work week without access to either one, as it's become part of my daily routine to grab a drink at the start of my day. Thankfully, I work in Midtown Manhattan, which gives me access to quite a few awesome coffee places (that aren't too far from the Javits either!). 

If you're a big caffeine fan, and are interested in grabbing a cuppa before heading to the exhibit hall or while hanging out with your friends during BEA week, why not try one of the places below?

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Culture Espresso (Website)

Address: 72 West 38th St., Manhattan, NY 10018

Personal Favorites: vanilla latte + blueberry mango muffin

Before I moved offices last week,  this was my favorite place to grab coffee in the morning. It's a small independent coffee shop along 38th Street (between 5th and 6th Avenue), with that perfect relaxed ambiance. I enjoy their baked goods almost as much as I love their coffee, and you can tell that the people who work there take great care in crafting your drink too.

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Argo Tea (Website)

Address: Multiple locations, but my go-to is 949 Broadway, New York, NY 10010

Personal Favorites: Earl Grey Vanilla creme (iced) + dark chocolate croissant

I love the location of Argo Tea, as it's right across from a park (Madison Square Park, where Shake Shack also happens to be) and right at the Flatiron Building (one of the oddest building in New York, but very fun to look at). I also love that the menu is unusual, and that there are so many different varieties of teas and drinks to try! I meet up there a lot with friends, and it's lovely.

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Stumptown Coffee Roasters (Website)

Address: 18 West 29th Street (and another one on 8th Street)

Personal Favorite: French roast

While I don't frequent Stumptown as much as the others, I still enjoy grabbing a French roast coffee from them when I'm in the area. Since I work nearer now, there's a possibility that I'll be getting to visit more often! The branch I like is located at the Ace Hotel, and is pretty small. But it's good coffee, for sure, so coffee fans will want to go just for that.

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Cafe Grumpy (Website)

Address: Multiple locations, but my go-to is 224 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011

Personal Favorite: cappuccino

Cafe Grumpy is a nice place to sit and chat with your friends, which I've done many times before. With a small menu of coffee offerings + baked goods, it's hard not to appreciate the care that goes into everything you grab from them. I really love my cappuccinos when I come here because they are the perfect drink for me to savor while I read, chat or write.

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Gregory's Coffee (Website)

Address: Multiple locations, but I go to 874 Sixth Avenue, New York, NY 10001

Personal Favorite: vanilla latte + donut

Gregory's is pretty well-known and widespread coffee company, but they somehow manage to maintain an intimacy that makes it feel like one of the smaller, more independent places to get your caffeine fix. I'm a big fan of their baked goods (and I've tried most of them) and I love their coffee offerings a lot too. This is the location closest to my office, so it's the one I visit most!

Of course, there are more familiar coffee chains that you can visit - Panera, Coffee Bea and Tea Leaf, Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks - which I definitely go to a lot myself. But the ones I've shared above are for those of us who want a different sort of coffee experience, or want to find a quiet (ish) place to hang out and chat with our friends. So, grab your friends, head on over to one of these places and enjoy the company, coffee and baked goods!

Don't forget to check out the rest of this series, including last year's posts!

4/14/13: Under the Broadway Lights (Estelle of Rather be Reading)
4/15/13: Foodie Heaven (Rachel of Hello, Chelly)

4/16/13: Bookstores for Bookworms (by me!)
4/17/13: Quick Bites and Sweet Treats for BEA-goers (Jamie of The Perpetual Page-Turner)

4/18/13: Tips and Tricks (Tara of Fiction Folio)

4/19/13: Spirits + Caffeine (Estelle)

4/20/13: Shopping Spree (Rachel)

4/21/13: So You Want To Be A Tourist (by me!)

5/4/14: Broadway + Brews (Estelle)
5/5/14: Parks + Rec (Gaby of Queen Ella Bee Reads)
5/7/14: If I Can Make It There (Rachel)