A new coffee shop, Coffee Slingers, just opened up on Broadway and 10th in Automobile Alley.

In my mind, any coffee shop worth its weight in java beans simply must excel in at least two areas, coffee and pastries. This is a low hurdle to cross, but I am amazed at the number of times I've visited a coffee shop and found that hurdle lying on the ground, snapped in half as if this hurdle race was being run by a blindfolded olympian on steroids. Coffee Slingers made it over the hurdle but not without clipping a foot on the bar causing it to lean forward precariously before settling back in place.

Coffee. A cup of coffee should be strong, hot and bottomless. Score one of three for Coffee Slingers. While the coffee was strong enough to survive the flood of cream I poured in, it wasn't hot enough. Not too troubling for me given that when I need my daily fix of coffee, I'll drink coffee even when it's hours old and ice cold. A much more grave fault in my mind is that Coffee Slingers only sells 12 oz cups of coffee. Honestly, I haven't had a 12 oz coffee since I was too young to be drinking coffee, when my brain wasn't jam packed with caffeine receptors, when I could think straight without 20 oz of liquid gold, when I wasn't addicted. As if that wasn't bad enough, Coffee Slingers serves up 12 oz of brew for a pricey $2. I can't imagine a worse insult, but right after leaving Coffee Slingers, I immediately stopped at Wills Coffee Shop on Western to get a proper fix of real coffee.

Pastries. Lest one wants to burn a hole in their gut, strong coffee must be accompanied by a pastry. Croissants, muffins and buns will do, but a good scone is ideal. I'm not sure, but years of experience has lead me to believe that a scone has just the right sponginess and selective absorptivity to sequester any hint of acidity in the coffee while simultaneously catalyzing and speeding the caffeine that naturally seeks out blood flowing to the brain. Yes, Coffee Slinger's scones are so good that they literally snatched the hurdle from the brink of tipping over and settled it square in the lane. There is no place in Oklahoma City with a scone like this. It is unassuming in appearance, delicate and textured, much unlike Starbuck's icing caked uber-scone. Its quite easy to forgive Coffee Slingers for a lack of pastry selection when they serve up scones that ant Brit would be glad to call their own.

Coffee Slingers
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