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Black Cow Coffee Company

30 Jun

:a_Top:

 

7 Wheeler Avenue 
Pleasantville, NY 10570 (Map)
(914) 495-3727
blackcow.com
 

Another simple morning meal for the WBC, this time at Black Cow Coffee Company in Pleasantville. We cooled down as the temperatures rose, and jumped up every 30 minutes to re-feed our parking meters. Did the Cow make us go “Moo” ?

 

Attendees: :jump_to_Shelley:, :jump_to_Reid:, :jump_to_Jeff:

 

:a_Shelley:

This heat wave has put a damper on my breakfast appetite. The thought of having a heavy breakfast on a 90 degree day was irksome to say the least.
So instead I proposed a light, simple morning meal at the Black Cow in Pleasantville. We pushed together the two tables outside and headed inside to place our orders.
Now, I’m not a coffee drinker, but I do love a good morning pastry and the Cow has a counter with an assortment of delectable treats–muffins, croissants, fresh rolls. I got items: a Morning Glory muffin, which the guy behind the counter told me contained carrots, apples, raisins, and nuts in a bran-based muffin topped with oats; and  a cinnamon muffin/cake (it was kind of a combination between a muffin and a small cake). It looked (and tasted) nearly identical to a cinnamon muffin that I got once at Susan Lawrence in Chappaqua, leading me to suspect that the Cow gets at least some its pastries delivered from there.  And because I’m a kid at heart, I got a small cup of milk. (I mean, what better beverage to go with cakey items?)
Turns out I only really had an appetite for one item, and I started with the cinnamon muffin/cake. It was delicious, well powdered with cinnamon sugar on the outside and moist cake on the inside. It was incredibly filling, so that I could only take a couple of nibbles of the Morning Glory muffin. It was a nice blend of flavors, but I have to say I didn’t detect any apple within the muffin. It really just seemed like a carrot muffin, with the oats added on top. It was good, and I enjoyed snacking on it later in the day.
All told, my two pastries and milk came in just shy of $6. Very reasonable for a simple morning bite to eat. I’ll definitely return to the Black Cow for a snack in the future.
:back_to_Top:

 

:a_Reid:

The Case:  Black Cow Coffee Company v. The Westchester Breakfast Club

The Venue: A small coffee shop on Wheeler Avenue in Pleasantville

The Facts:  To be fair, the Black Cow started off in a bit of a hole in my estimation, I was kind of hoping for a more substantial breakfast that morning. A coffee shop with a limited selection of pastries was not what I was looking for.

That being said, the Black Cow acquitted itself perfectly well, given what it was. It had a good selection of teas, and the people working behind the counter seemed actually knowledgeable about the options they were presenting, including taste and color. The Pomegranate green iced tea I chose was light without being too sweet, just like I was looking for.

I also had a pastry with was something like a cinnamon-sugar muffin. It was fine, but nothing to write home about.

The Verdict:  I’d come here before I’d go to Starbucks.

:back_to_Top:

 

:a_Jeff:

So for this weekend, we decided to do something light and have coffee at Black Cow in Pleasentville. Now, this isn’t the original Black Cow. The original is just off 9 in Croton, although this place is just as good. Overall, this is a nice coffee shop. I recommend it. Parking in Pleasantville might be difficult at times, but it’s a nice place to grab coffee and hang out with friends.

With the review of the establishment out of the way, I wanted to address something that I keep hearing in small coffee shops. Not only do I hear it at Black Cow, but I hear it at Coffee Labs in Tarrytown.  It’s this hatred for Starbucks. People are always mentioning how they hate Starbucks. How they want coffee that doesn’t taste like Starbucks. How Starbucks is ruining the small coffee shops. Really, Starbucks isn’t all that bad. People who hate Starbucks because of the flavor don’t understand that there are three different coffees brewing at all times. Each one has a different boldness to it.  Others want to support their local coffee shop. Well, it’s hard to support your local coffee shop when the prices of shrinking cup sizes keep going up. Really, some small coffee shops are pricing themselves out of business. With that said, I love my local coffee shop, but there’s no reason to hate your local Starbucks.

:back_to_Top:

 

 
2 Comments

Posted in Breakfast Place

 
 
 

  1. Czar

    July 5, 2012 at 7:49 pm

    I agree about the Starbucks. I don’t hate Starbucks, but if I had a choice between a Starbucks and a Black Cow or Coffee Labs, I’d choose Black Cow or Coffee Labs in a heartbeat. Starbucks isn’t bad for a nice solid cup of coffee (or iced coffee), and even if their staff isn’t as well versed in the art of coffee as Coffee Labs, at 7 in the morning or 4 hours into a long haul drive, I’m not there to have a conversation about what bean my coffee came from. That being said, if they opened a micro-roaster coffee shop in White Plains (within walking distance of my office), I am totally there. Till then, Starbucks is my go to (unless I am in Tarrytown, Croton or P-ville).

     

  2. Alexander

    August 14, 2012 at 12:13 pm

    You WBC’members are so silly. one person doesn’t like coffee, the other was anticipating a substantial breakfast, so you three decide on a coffee spot. Starbucks does a pretty good job at a lot of things. Black cow, however, does a really good job at a few select things. Funny how none of you could type “cinna-muffs.” those muffin shaped, cinnamon donuts are bomb.