Hello friends! I have returned, and in honor of fall, I am going to do something super spooky: revive a “graveyard coffee shop.”
So I know you’re probably thinking, “Wow, you must be so disciplined to review every single new coffee shop you go to! Let’s throw a parade!”
While I won’t stop you from throwing a parade, I will inform you that you are wrong. There are probably at least a dozen coffeeshops from around the country that have ended up in my coffee shop graveyard. I go, I enjoy, take a bunch of pictures, maybe even start drafting a review(!), and… nothing. It gets struck by lighting or suffers a heart attack or in some way or another ends up six feet under. I’ve revived one or two before, and now I’ll play Doctor Frickin Frankenstein and stretch the law of mortality again.
So let’s look again at BookWorks, which I visited for the third time the other day whilst visiting my parents. It’s a cute coffeeshop in Pacific Grove that managed to fly under my caffeinated radar for years, and it actually, truly, really surprised and delighted me. Let’s just dive in!
1. Location: 4/5
BookWorks is a sizeable space chilling on a corner in downtown Pacific Grove. It’s a few blocks away from the more “active” part of downtown PG (if you can ever call PG active), which essentially means I have to walk a few more blocks to get there. But no biggie. Being a corner caffeine dealer is a major plus in my book, and it’s still in a great place if you happen to be shopping around in PG.
2. Aesthetics/Vibe: 9.5/10
I know you saw this blog title and you were like, “huh?” To be fair, I was like “huh?” too. Why bookworks?
Well, I’ll tell you: it is a coffee shop AND a bookstore! There’s two entrances, one to the bookstore and one to the coffee shop, but the two worlds are connected making it a cohesive space. The outside is really beautiful, with big windows and the cutest little sign hanging above the door. There’s something about it that pulls you in.
Now, starting with the coffeeshop part: it’s an open space, with leather couches, tables, and a lot of room for sipping and chatting. As a whole, the space feels relaxed and home-y. If you pass the cash register and assortment of yummy pastries, you can pass through a small hallway/short entryway into a room with walls full of books. They have a great variety of books, in every genre! They even had a few books on coffee ;)
BookWorks is a wonderfully executed idea - a blend of two of the best things in the world!
3. Coffee options: 10/10
I don’t think I’ve ever seen more flavors offered at a single caffeine dealer. Let’s start with the flavored syrups:
Wow. That’s a LOT. You could basically have a latte in any flavor, or combine two flavors for something totally unique. A cinnamon almond latte? A white chocolate coconut latte? YES!
Now the fall specials, which I included a picture of because I thought the board was so cute. The fall specials are so unique and creative!
Basically, BookWorks won the coffee option game.
4. Actual Coffee: 20/20
Okay so I got the Blueberry Pie Tea Latte because it sounded incredible. And it tasted EVEN BETTER!!
I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect, because I very rarely drink tea lattes, and when I do, it’s always chai. Tea lattes are what they sound like. Traditionally, it’s just tea and a lotta milk. The coffee industry has adopted tea lattes, making two changes to the mainstream:
If you order one at a coffee shop, you can make it “dirty,” meaning add espresso (essentially a regular latte with tea, which flavors it). Either you have to ask for espresso, or the tea latte comes with espresso already; it depends on the caffeine dealer.
In lieu of steeping tea bags, big coffee shops have flavored syrups that mimic the taste of the tea. Chai is by far and away the most popular tea latte in coffeeshops (often the only tea latte on the menu), so Starbucks, for example, has chai flavored syrup that they add to a latte to make it a chai tea latte (or chai latte, for short).
This all in mind, imagine my surprise when I saw a blueberry pie tea latte on the menu! And then imagine my surprise AGAIN when, upon receiving said latte, I saw a blueberry tea bag swimming happily in the warm milk. I almost felt bad for disturbing his lil swim. But I had to, because I have a blog to write, goddammit. Now the drink as a whole was very sweet, but a large amount of the flavor came from the tea bag, and I really do prefer the tea bag method over flavored syrup. The beautiful blue swirled in with the latte and created a wonderful combo of sweet and tart. I would basically do anything for this latte; it lives in my dreams.
5. Prices: 9/10
A flavored latte will run you about $5.75 for a 20oz, which is a great deal! They only had 12oz or 20oz, and even the largest size was super reasonably priced.
6. Cups: 3/5
So sad. The cup had no special design or logo that was specific to the store, which was especially sad because I feel like the potential for a really cute cup design is huge! No logo means a 3/5.
FINAL SCORE: 55.5/60= 92.5%
A solid A for a solid joint. Literally the only improvement I would make is to implement cups with a design or logo. Other than that, BookWorks is practically perfect in every way.