Nothing Better than the Coffee Jitters

I don't know when my love affair started with the tall (I like Venti), dark, roasted, and handsome aroma of coffee. But I am glad it did and I am never gonna give you up coffee bean. Over the past year I have had some great coffee in some interesting places. From Tennessee to South Korea I do have to consider myself somewhat of a Coffee Connoisseur. There is NOTHING like that first taste of a great cup of coffee, whether its your morning cup, your afternoon snack, or your little secret to keep you going through a night out on the town. Let's be honest, coffee is like crack, but a good beneficial type of crack. It is loaded with antioxidants and does wonders for your focus. Like Mae West said "Too much of a good thing can be wonderful", and I agree. I would sleep in a bag of Costa Rican or Guatemalan coffee beans if it meant I could have my sweat smell like the bitter sweetness of a great cup of coffee. Being a barista for the good part of 2 years I know a good cup of coffee, and not to mention how to make a mean latte. I am a purist when it comes to coffee. In the winter nothing beats a hot brewed 20 ounce cup and in the summer nothing can stand against an iced cold coffee with a big straw. Sometimes a splash of soy, but more often than not just coffee in its naked, original, delicious form. I figured I would give my top 4 coffee places I have had the pleasure of sucking down a cup of the finest legal drug to date.  One of my goals this summer is to explore New York's coffee scene so this list will grow eventually and I will share my data, maybe once and for all removing Starbucks from my coffee love life.

1. Best Iced Coffee I have had to date and there is an art to making great iced coffee.
Ports Coffee and Tea Company
23rd Street New York, NY
This is a recent discovery. They brew Stumptown coffee and know how to make a mean iced coffee, not to mention a black, vanilla, coconut, chocolate tea that will make your toes curl.

2. Starbucks
All over the world
I know, lame. But Starbucks will always know coffee. Period. Get over it.

3. Cafe Grumpy
224 W20th Street
New York, NY
They brew coffee fresh to order. Nuff said

4. LePommier
Paju City, South Korea
Yep, Asians know their coffee too. They are more into iced Americanos, which are just as delicious