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| - Continuing on in my quest to try every local coffee shop in Pittsburgh, today I found myself at 21st Street Coffee and Tea.
I had high hopes for this place. It looks super hip: I especially like the loft area, and all of the exposed brick. One of the first things I noticed was how pricey the drinks were for the size of the cup. Okay, let me clarify. This is not my first time at the rodeo. At Starbucks, a small is 12oz and at most local coffee shops, a small tends to be 8oz. This really bothers some people, but truthfully it doesn't bother me much - I would prefer to drink a high quality smaller cup of coffee rather than a low quality larger cup of coffee. Now, that being said, the small size at 21st Street runs along the 8oz lines, but it's excessively expensive. My small mocha was $4.25...this is just insane to me. With tax, it was over $4.50. Did I really just write an entire paragraph about this? Yes, yes I did. Because honestly, the price turned me off to the whole experience before I even took a sip of my mocha.
The mocha was...fine. It was just fine. The latte art was pretty and the cup was hand stamped nicely. But the quality of the drink was just so-so. I couldn't really put my finger on it, but the espresso was not smooth like some of the other espressos I have had in the burgh (all hail Espresso a Mano and their heavenly espresso shots!). I wouldn't rush back for this mocha.
I would totally be willing to give 21st Street a second chance, but my first experience was sub-par. My friend that I came with was extremely turned off by the fact that they do not have any flavorings at all to add to their coffee (what?) and also they do not have soy milk as an option. To me, with these two facts, they are cutting themselves off from a wide range of coffee drinkers who may prefer a flavor shot or a different type of milk. Very strange. Overall, at this point, 3 stars is as high as I can go for 21st Street Coffee and Tea.
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