Sidewalk Sign at Culture Espresso in Midtown NYC

Barista at Culture Espresso Midtown NYC

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Culture Espresso

Culture Espresso brought quality coffee to the midtown rush as early as 2009 at their 38th street location.

Six words of less: Tiny tastes passionately done:  Cookies, Coffee!

Locations:  72 W. 38th Street & 247 W. 36th Street

Open since: 38th Street (2009) & 36th Street (2015)

Amenities:  Wifi, seating for 10-15, no bathroom

Must Try:  Freshly made chocolate chip cookies, Iced Latte with Grade B Maple Syrup

Owner:  Jody LoCascio

Roaster:  Heart Coffee Roasters (Portland, OR)

Among the scaffolding, rushes of office workers, construction crews and wholesale fabric shops of the Garment District, Culture Espresso is pumping out the smell of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. (They also bake Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies for those looking to go the hippie route.)  It’s a strange experience: a cross between your Grandmother’s kitchen and midtown grit.

Midtown Coffee Down Right

Culture Espresso focuses on doing a few things and doing them extremely well.  Besides those cookies (did I mention the smell?!), they make their own vanilla syrup in house, scrapping the Tahitian vanilla beans, soaking them… you get the picture.  During a recent visit, Johnny Norton, the General Manager, also schooled me in the virtues of Grade B Maple Syrup.  This is the one area where you don’t want a Grade A situation… grade B means it has been harvested later, bringing a caramel/woodsy richness to the sweet which perfectly complements your iced latte.

Most importantly, Culture Espresso knows its coffee.  Heart Coffee Roasters out of Portland are one of the biggest early pioneers of third wave coffee.

Stencil Art Culture Espresso

Culture Espresso Synesso Machine

Thanks Culture Espresso for bringing quality in coffee and cookies to the dreary, noisy midtown mess since 2008!