Comparisons will be made. Contemporary takes on a buzzing cafe growing in every corner can become an eye sore. Some people tend to believe making instant coffee entitles them to master the art of roasting beans to produce an exquisite cup of coffee. Columbus Coffee, on the other hand, isn’t pretentious at all. In fact, it’s uncomfortably floating under the radar. Drifting castaway in the Atlantic, if you will.
The interior
The dim lit entrance leaves plenty of mystery, but still obtains today’s so called modern standards. There is no glorious aroma of fresh beans snaking its way down the street from the Louvre at the Cafes Verlet. There is no vintage romance or that tempting coma induced fragrance. It’s, well, a standard cafe. We’re talking about Columbus after all. That’s the city of Columbus, capital of the state of Ohio. Famous for the sports driven Ohio State University and Midwest mediocrity. Sorry, the Cleveland fans made me say that.
In all honesty, it would have been nice to see them take a page out of the many Columbus Coffee joints all over the world. We were left a tad underwhelmed. Then again, this isn’t Starbucks (we’re still waiting for you folks), the uber popular Seattle empire. As mentioned before, comparisons will be made. Unfortunately, the employees writing your name on their Crimsons Cups is the only similarities between the counterparts. And that’s good to know, unlike Starbucks, they actually spell your name correctly. Kind of.
Overall, the place is spotless and polished, as if nothing had changed from the grand opening. Cleanliness doesn’t seem to be an issue with the folks from CC. Hats off to those keeping genuine care and integrity in a legitimate cash flow establishment. And this service extends to their well-mannered employees. They are warm and welcoming, just like the seating arrangements. In other words, a book shouldn’t be judged by its cover. You really won’t understand the actual experience, until you’ve given the place a shot.
The people
The employees can take pride in knowing they were very helpful, in front and behind the counter. And so it should be because the only menu you’ll see is on chalkboards, strategically placed on the walls. Any questions you have, they’ll answer it. No complications, just straight to the point. The drinks themselves, however, was a confusing affair. We’ll get to that in a bit.
The crowd, gradually filling up the shop, was an odd assortment. In some popular digs, you’ll find a distinct crowd, leaving you a clear picture of what kind of people actually tend to visit. We saw nothing but a unique group of folks filling up the cozy corners of the floor. Nothing but happy faces indulging their healthy caffeine fix.
The drinks
And when asking frequent visitors, it seemed we weren’t the only ones who favoured the iced drinks over the hot variety.
It’s a tad odd that the hotter siblings weren’t as rich in flavour. They were toned down and harnessed like prized thoroughbreds groomed to perfection. The Irish Cream Latte was okay but not great. It was like dealing with Bostonians claiming to be from the Emerald Isle who have never left the Atlantic Coast in their entire lives.
We wanted to give them another chance and ordered an iced drink alongside the warmer choices. And as one of the regular costumers had stated in the elevator, their colder drinks are why people come back for more. The strawberry smoothie was a perfect example. That initial sweet and sour kick entices you to slurp a bit more for a brain freeze.
When all is slurped and done, we found that the prices aren’t really justified. A companion had stated it would have been better to sink our teeth into Nando’s chicken for the price we were charged at Columbus. Paying around Tk350 for a cup of Joe may make sense on the corner of Venice Beach, but for something unspectacular in a crimson coloured cup would leave many dissatisfied.
The array of sweet treats left us perplexed. They looked like little trinkets on an exaggerated designer hat off the runway, or ornaments presented on a Christmas tree. Cheesecakes smaller than a flagship smartphone, cookies as thin as the baking sheets it was probably made on and donuts the size of pool table corner pockets. We’re assuming this only the beginning and there are plenty of improvements to be made. Let’s hope.
The verdict
A star collegiate player, superstar prospect falls flat at the professional stage. The situation occurs more often than not. Without sounding too bourgeois (which has been a failure so far), this has been a balanced visit, no positive or negative outweighing the other. Worth the visit? Only if you’re looking for a quick fix under their “Frozen” menu. We've seen and been to worse, Crimson Coffee isn't in that category.
