Bitter Brew

Posted on June 3, 2009 by Mike

I’d be remiss to not mention the brewing coffee battle currently going on over Stumptown Coffee Roasters here in NYC, though it’s not what you may think.  This particular battle is being waged between the media outlets, and not  any brewers of the bean.  It started in April when New York Magazine published this article about Stumptown’s entry into the NYC market.  This afternoon NY Press posted a view of their own.  Almost immediately after the the NY Press article was released, New York Magazine followed up with a response to the NY Press.

Are New York Magazine and NY Press in a fight?  Do they have a history of going at each other?  Or is this just par for the course when it comes to the legendary NYC media?  It remains to be seen how these two will resolve their differences, but something tells me this may not be over yet.   Judging by the comments on all three pages, neither of them have their facts quite straight.

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  • Wow. Thanks for pulling this together. I'm not sure yet what it means for coffee but this is certainly a pretty fascinating debate. I think just as interesting as the love/hate going on with Stumptown is the sheer length of that list of vendors now serving it. That and all the other new coffee places makes me think that New York has now reached a point of singularity. This kind of exponential expansion of new, top quality coffee spots is going to be pretty much impossible for one Man - or anyone else - to ever visit!
  • If you look at the last few articles, there might be an off-the wall marketing bent to this.

    NY Mag article with over-the-top, shill-like praise, gets some critical comments from other coffee folks.

    NY Press puts out obviously-lousy article with over-the-top condemnation.

    NY Mag comes bag and blasts NY Press for hack article--holding up the standards of journalism (never mind that shill article from a while ago...)

    What do people remember from all this?

    Stumptown is here. Stumptown has (reportedly) great coffee. Stumptown is upping the bar for NY Coffee (not my personal belief, mind you). Stumptown is way different than anyone else. Stumptown's critics are hacks, and obviously have issues.

    What's forgotten?

    The problems pointed out with the nearly-shill piece in the NY Mag, pointed out politely by some local roasters and coffee folk.

    That the NY Mag was putting out a shill article, as they are now holding up the standards.

    Other NY roasters, other regional roasters. Few of their names are mentioned as prominently. None seem to be getting the same over the top press right now.
  • sL
    I think both players in this issue might benefit from seeking opinions from other NYC companies, such as yourself my friend...
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