Double Shot: Heart Coffee
Walkability/Accessibility: Heart Coffee is on the corner of Woodstock and 52nd, easily accessible from campus via the 19 line bus. [B+]
Price Point: Heart is the most expensive coffee shop we’ve reviewed yet. An espresso at Heart costs $4.25 and a latte is $5.75 with an extra ¢50 for syrup. Their pour-over, while undeniably the most complex we’ve had so far, is not deserving of its $8 price tag. You might want to split it with a friend. All of their food is above $5 and goes as high as $6 in the case of the coffee cake (more on that later). Their food doesn’t meet the standard we’d expect at that price point. If you’re able to afford the price and are interested specifically in good plain coffee, then Heart is worth it. Otherwise, we’d recommend one of the other places that we’ve reviewed thus far or one of the ones we have coming up. [D+]
Coffee Quality (and Option Variety): Heart’s default coffee blend, called Stereo, was decent in a cortado but fell flat in a latte. We usually order a lavender latte, but they didn’t have lavender syrup. We ordered a cardamom latte instead, and the cardamom flavor was weak. They have a regular rotation of single origin (usually Ethiopian) coffees, and these are much better than the Stereo. At the time of reviewing, it was their Habtamu Fikadu. It was aromatic and complex, with a nuttier and longer-lasting flavor. We recommend always asking for the single origin instead of the Stereo. If not for the lackluster syrup and flatness of the Stereo blend, this would have been our first A+ for coffee quality. [A]
Food Quality (and Option Variety): In our opinion, the food is not worth the price tag. Their coffee cake was so-so, lightly spiced with an overly crumbly, yet simultaneously gluey texture. We also got their rose croissant. Its flavor was good, but the croissant was glazed, so there was no room for the texture to shine. Their normal croissants are great, so this glaze was a baffling choice. Ishani’s mom had more to say on the matter: “Glazing a croissant is like gilding a lily—unnecessary.” Their novel options, such as the orange and olive oil cake, are interesting and tasty, but they struggle to follow through on basics like the coffee cake. [C+]
Atmosphere: Like many specialty coffee roasters, Heart employs a cozy-industrial aesthetic. The bar seating looking out the window makes for an absolutely picturesque scene on a rainy day. Unfortunately, the other aspects of the shop were not as hospitable. The pride sign on their door sits next to a “No WiFi” sign, and four-person tables have signs saying “please reserve for parties of 3 or more.” [D]
Alternative Drinks: The only alternative drink we tried was the chai, which was too sweet and lacking in flavor. Like many places, they used the same chai concentrate as Canyon Café, or one so similar that it was indistinguishable—not that there was much to distinguish. Quite frankly, the chai was bland, oversweet, and overpriced at $6. We are spending our own money and because of the price point, we did not try any of the other drinks, so the grade is given based on what we have tried. [D]