Coffee Common NYC is underway in Chelsea. In a recent blog post, CC explains a section of its pop-up: “At the ingredients bar folks can taste exactly how cream and sugar make bad coffee taste better by masking it, and delicious coffee taste worse by diluting it.”

At its core, Coffee Common's aim is to enhance the public image of coffee, and we feel that's terrific. We imagine a lot of New York coffee drinkers never really gave their usual coffee modifications much thought. It's appropriate for Coffee Common to showcase exquisite coffee at this limited engagement. However, we take issue with celebrating “delicious” coffee while categorically poo-pooing everything else. We're reminded of the Sweet Maria's/Coffee Shrub 2012 “Mondo Coffee” calendar and the month of April that asks some tough questions:

Is anyone thinking about the importance of volume anymore? And how can a roaster act like they just hit a home run for the farmer when they buy a 10 bag Micro Lot? How is that going to pay the bills?”

We feel it's important to celebrate all coffee, in all forms, from the most delicious 90+ coffee served in a champagne flute to the Cafe du Monde au lait, served with beignets and a heaping helping of powdered sugar. The segundos have their place in the coffee chain. Just because a coffee could benefit from the addition of cream and or sugar doesn't necessarily make it a bad coffee.