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| - The experience at Cartel is exactly what you'd expect at an independent coffee shop. The locale is artsy, the interior is sparsely decorated with geometrically abnormal tables at weird heights, wood and steel stuff and an exposed wood ceiling. If you're into wood and steel, Cartel has it. They were bumping dubstepLite from the overhead speakers, which was an unexpected change from the guitar + hi high and bass drum + croaking off-key vocals that hipsters seem to love. The dudes at the counter were wearing a sufficient quantity of second-hand clothing to make me certain that they weren't employees of a corporate chain, but that they were actually fulfilling their destinies as bearded Ferrymen helping the uninitiated cross the Single Origin river into the Alterlife. Among other customers there was a distinct lack of true artistic souls, which is disappointing, but really out of the control of Cartel. No one had a typewriter, or was knitting, and only one guy had the messy dreadlocks of someone who hasn't sold out. SOMEthing needs to be done before Cartel gets a reputation of being a scene for sellouts and generics.
Enough about the scene, on to the coffee. I had a black single-origin Chemex from somewhere in the global South, and the wife had the coldbrew. The Chemex is 20 oz., which is cool, but $8~. I guess if you think of it as two coffees it makes sense, but $8~? That's almost 50 cents/ounce. "Well, you were dumb enough to buy it," you might argue. Don't use your laissez-faire logic on me, I expect my independent coffee to be fair trade, not free trade. Still, the flavor was mild and spicy, and the mouthfeel...whatever, it tasted like good coffee. The wife's coldbrew was good, but also a little overpriced. Cream is kept under the tight control of the bearded Ferrymen, probably to keep it fresh, and is served infused with non-verbal judgement over your poor choice of diluting the integrity of your carefully crafted beans. This bit of judgementalism restored my faith a little in Cartel. Maybe they have what it takes to be an elite hipster joint after all. Then on our way out the door I overheard one of the Ferrymen describing to Dreadlocks how one of the blends as "totally cleanses your system," and reassurance washed over me. Cartel isn't just selling coffee after all. It's curing people of their ailments and helping them towards a healthier, less skeptical lifestyle.
Great for: people who enjoy the free market
Not great for: people who believe in evidence based medicine
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