I recently returned form Vietnam where I spent most of my time either dodging traffic or drinking coffee. I love Vietnam. I love their coffee – sweet, strong and muddy. Vietnam is truly a coffee culture. You can’t go more than four or four score store fronts without passing another coffee place.
Canada has a coffee culture too. It is well known that Canadians drink a lot of coffee, enough to float a boat, that’s for sure. Boatloads. And we like to drink good coffee too. Coffee in Canada has come a long long way in a short generation.
I was surprised and elated to see that Uptown Waterloo has a new coffee shop – Settlement Co – and it is a pretty cool place. But let’s start with the website which too is pretty cool. Here is the link. Scroll through ‘Our Coffees’, so cool the way they did that. Ok, so I’m easily impressed (by great design)! There is lots of ‘hipster-type’ information too. Who doesn’t appreciate that?
Then, a new client suggests we meet there. “For sure”, I said. It’s not that I was looking for a reason to visit, but a suggestion like that always serendipitous.
Here is my report.
It is a cool and funky, young and hipster kind of place. Much like Abe Erb, Death Valley’s Little Brother and White Rabbit, this place has legs. Two o’clock on December 30, middle of the sleepy holiday season and the place is very full of patrons, many on their MacBooks, others chatting over coffee, but nearly nary a free table, ‘cepting the one my client found, arriving a couple of minutes before me.
I order the brewed coffee (cheapskate). It was two dollars ten with the tax. That’s a great price for a good cup of coffee. The coffee menu has what you would expect: Pressed coffee, Americano, Espresso, Macchiato, Cappuccino, Latte… and the food menu looks simple but sufficient: toast, sandwiches, salads, cookies, that sort of thing.
All in all, it has a great atmosphere and great coffee. It is a friendly place in a good location and it is not a franchise, I hate franchises. I had a nice chat with a member of the staff about the roaster, the underground tunnels, and oddly enough pisces as a horoscope sign. You won’t get that in a franchise, no way olay.
Click on the link above to get more info on Settlement Co. And, then go visit. I’m sure you will be glad you did.
