Grady's - 1 Review

Back in the 90's, when I was in high school, my friends and I would drive downtown and hang out at Topic coffee shop. Not to sound like the jaded old fool that I truly am, but these were the times before coffee shops were the place to hang out. Topic was filled with degenerics and weirdoes. We loved every second of it. I was never a huge fan of coffee, so I always tried something different to find the drink that was right for me. I eventually ended up a tea drinker, which I still am to this day, but every so often I would delve into the world of iced coffee. There was something about it that just worked for me. I would try to make it at home, with disastrous results. I quickly learned that iced coffee was not just brewed coffee put in the fridge to cool down. As the years passed on I drifted further away from drinking any sort of coffee. Then a couple of years ago I tried someone's mocha and I again began a small relationship with “the bean,” as I hope no one has ever called it before, or will again.

Cut to the modern age of 2013 and here I sit with a jug of Grady's Cold Brew concentrate in front of me. Now I've tried this with water, and also with almond milk. I've tried it sweetened and straight up. The one thing I can say for certain is that due to this showing up on my doorstep I have drunk more coffee in the past week than I have in the past two years. The kicker is that I am actually enjoying it. It reminds me of sitting in a poorly lit coffee shop in the arts area of the city playing some card game or another while people around me are all smoking clove cigarettes and a John Cale record is blasting from a tiny stereo behind the counter. Those were good strange times and this is good coffee. I feel like I am fully qualified to say that as I am not a big fan of coffee, and I really like this, but it's not for some crazy or zany reason. It just tastes like a high quality drink.

The added bonus of Grady's (besides having on of the best label designs I have ever seen on a beverage) is that it is New Orleans style, which means that there is chicory in it. For those of you who are not familiar chicory is the root of the endive plant that is roasted into coffee down there. While some places use chicory as a sole coffee substitute, here it is mixed with the coffee to give it a little extra taste and to fight off a bit of the bitterness and makes the coffee smoother. Perhaps that is why I like this so much.

If you're a coffee drinker this will be a nice treat. If you're not, I urge you to give this a try and see if it will change your mind.