Every cup of coffee I’ve ever had has been bad. This realization wasn’t the result of a coffee epiphany, but a visit to The Kind Coffee Company.

The Kind Coffee Co., located at 715 W. Fayette St., isn’t the kind of coffee shop you’re used to. Don’t expect a Starbucks-esque environment or menu.

The Kind Coffee Co. would be easy to miss if not for the vibrant graffiti covering the brick building. Things like “Hot Coffee To Go” are spray-painted on the wall and a black-and-white “The Kind Coffee Company” sign hangs from a dark brown awning.

Upon entering The Kind Coffee Co., the aroma of coffee immediately hits you. You might be thinking, “Well, yes, it’s a coffee shop,” but this coffee smell is deep and intense. It’s the smell of the coffee beans roasted daily on the premise. It’s the smell of which coffee dreams are made.

The shop is cluttered, but it’s a wonderful disorder. Two mismatched, broken-in couches sit perpendicular to one another in a corner. Books and magazines are scattered on all visible surfaces while an iMac blasts music from its speakers. Tapestries hang from the ceiling and photos are plastered on the walls. Odds and ends, like figurines of Betty Boop and Yoda, line shelves on the walls.

Doug Nicolaisen, the owner and sole operator of the coffee shop, greeted us immediately after we entered. He told us to give him five minutes to brew a fresh pot of coffee.

He poured us two cups of coffee and added cream to both — squirted from an old water bottle — and sugar.

Warning: Credit cards aren’t accepted as payment, so make sure to bring cash. The coffee, $2.25 per cup, was rich, full-bodied and slightly nutty without a hint of bitterness.

It was the best cup of coffee I’ve ever had.

Upon finding out my companion didn’t like coffee, Nicolaisen said this was because he probably had never tasted good coffee. Most coffee is too bitter because it is made with cheap coffee beans, and is not what coffee is supposed to taste like.

“Coffee is not bitter,” Nicolaisen said. “Sh*tty coffee is bitter.”

To prove his point, Nicolaisen grabbed a container of freshly roasted beans and handed one to both my companion and me, instructing us to pop it in our mouths, “like a sunflower seed.”

As I chewed the bean, I realized he was right. Every cup of coffee I have had has been pretty inadequate up to this point. And Nicolaisen successfully turned my companion into a coffee convert.

The Kind Coffee Co. sells its beans per pound, so you can enjoy great coffee at home, too. Chocolate rounds with coffee beans or ground coffee are also available to buy. The beans are Nicolaisen’s own, and the chocolate – available in dark, white and milk – is from Oliver’s Candy in Batavia, N.Y. Nicolaisen ships his beans to Oliver’s and has the chocolate rounds specially made for his sale.

I got the Dark Chocolate Round with Ground Coffee for $2.75. The dark chocolate was sweet and rich, and the coffee grounds provided deep coffee flavor without any bitterness.

Nicolaisen is truly passionate about producing the best cup o’ joe possible, which is what makes The Kind Coffee Co.’s coffee so fantastic. A sign in the shop said, “The best cup of coffee on earth.” I have to say I agree.

Published on March 26, 2013 at 11:10 pm

Contact Riddley: rsgemper@syr.edu