First Impressions of Northside Social

Until today, I had not visited Northside Social in swanky Clarendon.  My friends, knowing that I am monstrous coffee lover, could not believe this omission.  It's a few minutes walk from the Metro due to crossing some busy intersections, but distance-wise one can see it from the Metro stop.   A specialty coffee and wine bar that sells Counter Culture coffee, pour overs, French Presses, and pastries, Northside Social is the real deal.  (Not really a revelation, but its good to know that it's not hype.)  There was ample seating inside, a second floor, and an outside patio area.

What was particularly impressive was the drip coffee.  One of the best ways to judge a coffee shop, is how tasty the drip coffee is.  From my experience, drip coffee is easy to make, but hard to keep it flavorful and interesting resulting in a "wow."  Since I bought a bag of coffee, I received a medium sized cup of drip (Ethiopian Yirgacheffe) for free!  Let me tell you, wow!  It was flavorful, pleasantly warm (not scalding), and tasted fresh.  The jasmine and honey notes were particularly noticeable in the taste. 

The baristas were engaging, and answered all my questions about the pour over and getting the right filters for it.  I will post about that later, but Northside Social serves excellent coffee, and I highly recommend it to anyone if they haven't visited already.  I will be reviewing Northside Social in a later post as I hadn't the opportunity to look at prices, offerings, ambiance...etc.