So Unbitter

This morning I walked down our 17th Street to Valencia, in the Mission District, and tried to stay out of the sun in the shadows cast by storefront overhangs until I came upon Ritual Coffee Roasters.

Phil and I, either in tandem or individually, like to work from cafes. As a way to explore the city we pick a new cafe in a new neighborhood most every day and walk there, pretty much regardless of how far it is from Castro. Phil has become used to the sun and constant walking but the endurance I gained in my city-crawling years has melted away from an all-car suburban office existence. I’m quickly getting back in “city shape,” which isn’t necessarily good shape, but good enough not to be damp by the time I get to point B. I still haven’t quite figured out how to dress for a climate that’s indisputably warm during the day and quite brisk once the sun goes down (though not “cold” in the sense that locals complain of).

At any rate. Ritual. I found them via SFist, which I like about as much as DCist, which is to say not much at all. But this was a stellar recommendation. Never in my decade or so of drinking iced americanos (espresso and water) have I had one with an actual honest-to-god crema, and so utterly without bitterness. The interior of the shop is just as nice as SFist suggests, and while the music is at a tolerable volume they could do a little better than ubiquitous cafe plays like The Postal Service. It seems a like minor thing, a nice cafe, but DC was sorely lacking in any place one would want to both have a beverage and park for several hours.

The pleasure of finding hip little establishments will, of course, wear off. But it’s nice to have my standards raised for a change.