My first stop was Cafe Grumpy in Chelsea. A sign on the door informed me that they had run out of Espresso and that I should come in for a nice cup of tea. Not wishing to encourage my former Imperial masters and their tea drinking habits I passed and walked a few kilometers down the road to Alphabet City and Ninth Street Espresso. Along the way I say only one place which looked like it might server something palatable. It wasn't a good sign. Competition breeds excellence.

Ninth Street pulls a generous sized double ristretto espresso (no dissimilar to Vivace). They appear to roast on site (always a good sign) and it didn't disappoint. It had a deep complex flavour which took me by suprise. I liked it a lot. I stayed for another and a biscuit (or cookie if you prefer). While there I made nice progress on my CRM5 planning with Mind Manager 7. I'm changing my focus a little for our release after and I need to start some serious 'deep thinking' in my new space.

I then headed North for some wandering and 'work thinking'. Next stop was Macchiato in Midtown. Hyped as the Midtown alternative to Ninth Street Espresso I had high expectations. It had an attractive sleek interior and some fine looking sandwiches. Then things turned nasty. When they ask if you want your straight espresso to go that is a bad sign. Espresso needs to be drunk within 30 seconds (some say even less than that). Their idea of tamping was a 'gently caressing' the coffee grounds in the portafilter basket. I braced myself and carefully sipped my shot. It was way too hot and ridiculously bitter.

I once gain headed south to Chelsea Market, where Ninth Street Espresso has a stand. While checking out the cool shops I indulged in another shot. Technically it was only my second - since I threw the shot from Macchiato away. Ninth Street with their combination of a 'complex tasting roast' and barista skills definitely makes it into my top five.

Cafe Grumpy was on the way back to my hotel and they now had coffee back in stock. I stopped in to rest my weary feet and escape the unseasonable heat & humidity. Living in cold dry Seattle for a few years has worn down my ability to tolerate this kind of weather. Their espresso was flawlessly executed with a masterful and attentive tamping to a perfect pull. Their roast is a little less complex than Ninth Street's but still worth it. I'll think I'll need to come back tomorrow to deliver a more final judgement. Whilst downing an ice cold Aranciata I made some more progress on my now frighteningly complex (but cool) CRM5 mind map.

Michael Lu has just landed. I'll drag him to Grumpy and Ninth Street and see what he thinks.

Oh - if anyone out there is attending the New York CRM event tomorrow - come by the technical track (in the afternoon) and ask lots of hard questions!