#10 - Blue Dove Coffee at Union Square, New York

I met Amadeo, the founder of Blue Dove Coffee a few weeks ago near union square park. I first found out about Blue Dove from an Instagram video where someone interviews Amadeo and "comes to work" with him to make coffee one day.

Amadeo has an insane work ethic and starts his days at 2:30AM to prepare his coffee cart for the rush of Union square. He puts in 10+ hour days and says he works harder now at Blue Dove than he did when he was in the military. I was fascinated by Amadeo's work ethic so had to go try a cup of his coffee to see if it was any good. 

I got there on a Wednesday afternoon around 3pm and there were a few people lined up to get their afternoon pick me up from Blue Dove. The Coffee menu looked pretty standard outside of the fact that a single shot of espresso and a double shot of espresso cost the same, $3.75! 

While I was tempted, I didn't want trouble sleeping later tonight so bought a single shot of espresso and spoke with Amadeo and his partner while waiting. Amadeo confirmed he actually does start his days at 2:30am, closes up at 5:00pm, but gets home around 6:30pm. He then eats dinner, decompresses, and gets to bed around 8 or 9 meaning he only sleeps 5 or 6 hours a night! I used to work in investment banking and Amadeo's schedule still gave me the shivers.

My espresso was done and smelled delicious. It had a creamy texture that hangs on the walls when swirling around. After the firs sip I knew this was an excellent shot. It was acidic and balanced with chocolate nutty aromatic notes. Honestly one of the best espressos I have had in the city!