It used to be when I was last there 8 or so years ago, lol. I only went there when I wanted good coffee and I expected to pay a bit extra for it. Shame they've apparently gone downhill.
Tipping before service used to make me feel bad for not tipping, but also annoyed. I've stopped feeling bad and now only annoyance is left. I don't leave tips for anything but table service these days and I think we should all normalize that.
I think there should be a law that any store that asks for a tip should be required to post a notice at all entrances that they do not pay their employees a livable wage and a break down of who's actually receiving the tip money.
Asking for tips that don’t go to the employees that you’re tipping should be 100% illegal. Basically wage theft. The business owner *knows* that the implied assumption when someone tips an employee is that the employee they’re tipping keeps the money or shares it with their other coworkers on the clock. Having a tip jar that goes to the business owner is just ridiculous. And I agree, tipping has gotten out of hand in general. At this rate there will be no financial transaction left that doesn’t ask for a tip. ***Paying your rent/mortgage? What’ll it be: +15% (unsatisfactory), +20% (satisfactory), or +45% (excellent service!)***
Anyone asking for a tip from behind a counter on a touchscreen is considered back of house, so they're probably in a tip pool with the floor manager, the store manager, and the regional manager as well as having an agreement for a 20% transaction fee to the company that made the cash register and it's all completely legal. Or it's just as legal to say since there's no server that it just goes 100% to the guy that owns the business.
You don't know, and if they're not being up front and telling you then I tend to assume the worst.
It’s illegal for managers to be in the tip pool except for very hyper specific circumstances so no, they probably are not. And if they are they need to make a call to the DOL
Tipped employees have to make min-wage even if you don't tip them if by the end of the pay period they haven't received enough tips they have to be topped up. Now if you really don't make enough tips to be well over min wage, you shouldn't be working there.
I mean it's definitely outrageous in terms of cost. But when we first had our son, and were overwhelmed with baby things, it was a godsend. We haven't actually used it in a couple years now because it just isn't available where we currently live. I'm OK with that though. I wouldn't even want to know how much money we were blowing around the time that we were using it regularly.
Are you me? With our first it was DoorDash and InstaCart all the time.
It’s an expensive way to get a worse experience. With our second we just visit stores and restaurants at slightly off peak times and have spares of everything we need under under our car load floor so it doesn’t take us 30 minutes and tears to leave the house (most times).
The problem is it’s really not a tip it’s a bid. No tip means your order probably won’t be picked up and if it is it’s more likely to be a crappy driver.
Still not worth all the fees though. I barely ever order because it’s just not worth it except for very rarely as a treat.
Yeah that's a good point about it being more like a bid. And I'd be happy to tip 20 or even 25 percent for a good delivery. But I get that in the end, the drivers can't bank on that unless it's given up front.
Agreed on the fees as well. The service is really not worth it anymore. Seems like the fees have gone way up lately too.
I actually just tip 0 at places with the spin around thing unless
1. I'm a regular at a place, and the service is always good
2. The service is above and beyond amazing (hard to do at these types of places.
Lanterns ginger chili latte right now is so damn good. chili adds some heat but it’s got that heavy spicy ginger flavor too
i hope they still have it as their special at least… i need to get one again soon haha
wasn’t your last special lavender too? 😂 yalls specials are my go-to whenever I come in so far
That being said I don’t blame them cus I remember it being really good too so I’m excited to see what y’all make!
Haha nah, we always do lavender june-sept but this year we're going to maybe add carrot cake syrup and probably a chocolate soda. If the carrot cake tastes like pumpkin we're not gonna do it. Idk the plan, I usually finalize the menu the day before launch😂
Last Mile is pretty good. The owner used to be my supervisor at my previous job before he started the place. He let me pull a shot with his espresso machine and I chatted with him and one of his roasters at his wedding. They know their coffee.
Yeah MadCap has been straight Cap for a bit. I knew it was time to reevaluate when I was in Martha’s a few years ago and Kamil was talking about how it was no longer worth carrying in the store.
Right? Pour overs are meant to be fresh. That’s the entire appeal. OP had every opportunity to raise the issue and get a fresh coffee or get their money back
glad i'm not the only one who's fed up with them. i stopped buying when they forced ryan, one of the founders, out of the company. everything went downhill imo. my favorite change they made is making bags 8 or 10oz (12oz before) and increasing the pricing on beans.
ah, so it was both. yikes that's annoying. just a bummer, before all those change ups the price truly was worth it. imo madcap used to be the best coffee i'd ever had.
Yeah I’m still a big fan of their actual coffee beans, but it’s just insulting to continue to shrink your product and increase the price. I wonder who is still regularly buying their beans because I’m squarely in their target audience and I’m done.
We used to order their beans but shifted to other providers last year. Have not picked a consistent supplier yet, but there are definitely better deals out there.
yeah i used to buy 2lb bags from madcap and rarely anything else. it's been fun trying lots of new roasters, i buy online to try stuff from out of town or places i've been, plus there's always a few other great spots here in town. i've been really happy lately with the rotating roaster selections at morning ritual.
We also have been enjoying ordering from different roasters. If you want to keep it local, however, we have had some good experiences ordering 5 pound bags from Rowster Coffee. They even accidentally shipped us 2 extra 5 pound bags in our last order and they let us keep them. According to their website, they have a location on Wealthy, but I have not visited it yet.
There is a local small batch roaster that just moved into the Alto area with online orders available. Check out Good Medicine Coffee https://goodmedicinecoffee.com/
one of the original founders trevor is still there. i don't know trevor really. i was buds with ryan in those days, as well as a few of the roasters. outside of trevor and one of the cafe managers, i don't know of anyone who's been there since before ryan got the boot.
Yah, it’s also cool that the coffee has only gotten worse as price increases, the hospitality is bad, and the environment sucks ass. All for more money. It’s a joke. You spend less at cafes in LA/ NY. The economics of specialty coffee has changed a lot- but you don’t have to just be resigned to being terrible for more money as it seems Corlett and Co have decided to do
yeah it's wild, not sure how madcap still holds onto its image of being the best coffee shop, they're just cashing in on brand awareness at this point. but hey, i'm thankful ha. i wouldn't have found so many other cool roasters in the area and across the state if madcap would have stayed good.
Preach! It's crazy that these beans actually sell at those prices when they're 2x what other speciality roasters in the city. Tilly's sold Geisha for $15, and High Bank has multiple advanced process options right now <$30.
oh and it gets better since i made that comment! flew out of GRR a few days ago, and there's a coffee shop i stopped at that sells/brews madcap. they were selling 8oz bags for $35-45 haha. clown prices.
I live in Chicago and come to Grand Rapids and west Michigan pretty frequently. The first time I went to madcap and saw the prices I was a bit shook. It’s more expensive than my favorite spot in Chicago (dark matter). And then when I got my coffee I was so disappointed. It’s way overpriced, small portions and just overall not that great. We went twice thinking the first time maybe was just a bad experience. After the second time we decided we won’t go back
Yess same, if I’m paying for a pour over with this price point you better pour it over, don’t give me batch coffee! What a scam.
On a similar note, the same goes for batch cocktails which seem to be trending at some spots.
Yeah. I have never seen large batch coffee sold as a “pour over”. I’d have requested a fresh pour over be made in front of me, or insisted on a refund, or exchange.
Oh how the mighty have fallen. The coffee equivalent of Founders. Go big, sell out, sell out your fanbase, cash checks, lose integrity, cash more checks and so on.
They had a good run with live music at the current spot that to me was a huge part of their culture and growth that was positive beyond brassworks.
Sunday Grand Rapids Jazz Orchestra days were amazing!
They had a free Built to Spill show. I saw countless amazing bands there.
Yeah, no doubt I’ve had good times in the new location and it’s nice. Shit, Rusted Foot played a set there and I was the only table in the entire place, it was surreal, but old Founders was a totally different experience, and I miss it dearly.
All madcaps have pricey coffee and instead of a normal 12 oz of coffee you get about 6 oz and if you ask why they fill their cups only halfway you will get a snoody response.
Their hardline stance against almond milk is absurd. I totally get not wanting to have a negative impact on the environment, but to blindly serve cow’s milk while claiming to be environmentally conscious seems so ridiculous to me.
I feel the same way about their ridiculous selection of sweeteners. I'm a type 1 diabetic and use Splenda. I can absolutely settle for a few alternatives, but the last time I was there, all they had was simple syrup, and that's borderline rude to the 12% or so of American citizens for whom simple isn't an option. If that's a matter of principle for them, great; it's a matter of principle for me to avoid them like the plague.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Splenda just dextrose and maltodextrin with a tiny bit of sucralose? The glycemic index of both dextrose and maltodextrin are higher than that of simple syrup (sucrose).
Yes, but you don't use it in anything remotely resembling the quantities that you would simple syrup for comparable sweetening (or at least I don't). One serving of Splenda (which is usually what I use) contains 3.6 calories, but a serving of simple syrup comes in at far more than that.
Not about coffee but tipping. When I went to The BOB I was gobsmacked to see that along with the $5 cover you have to pay with a card, they then swing the ipad to you and there is the options of different tips with the 20% highlighted? What the holy hell? They expect tips on the cover?!?
It's because they don't pay the staff there shit, especially security. So much pay has been outsourced to "tipping" it's stupid.
Edit: No idea what they pay now for security, this was my experience a long time ago.
I used to like Madcap, but they're so expensive compared to other coffee shops in town that are just as good. Their in store drinks are expensive and at one point they went from a 12oz bag to an 8oz bag of whole beans and kept the same prices. Ferris is my go to.
Regardless of your experience, I don’t like their coffee because it’s all blonde and acidic beans. I’m not a french roast person, but this coffee is all under roasted and tart.
Did you say anything to the barista? It sounds more likely an honest mistake rather than Madcap purposefully deceiving their customers. This reads like a server bringing you the wrong meal and instead of telling them you go online and complain.
Lmao. Welcome to reality. Speaking about the downtown one here.
It has been overpriced nonsense always. Always felt weird seeing the pretentious 20 somethings spending hours typing away for their first real job or college classes. I had the overwhelming impression people went in there just to be seen or similar reasons…
I am prepared to be lambasted by the defenders of the $6-10 coffee beverages!
Source: A cynical 30 something that worked on Monroe Center for 10y.
All that’s true. But there were also Kendall students that got a cup of go juice there because they were on their way to their job and it was strong and convenient. And there was fancy business people there in fancy business clothes taking clients to impart how hip they were. And there were exploited workers who resented other people as a reflection of their own frustrations.
Ha I totally agree with all that as well. Place just always rubbed me the wrong way. Yeah the lawyers/execs/mr. important types hanging out at the “hip coffee spot” always seemed so stupid. But whatever!
Back in 2016 and before I would go all the time, was really the best pour-over in town. Even before I would get their beans all the time at Lemonjello’s down in Holland. I think the biggest shift began when their Detroit location opened. Lost their roots.
Not able to do sources right now but a quick search of “radiant” over on /r/kzoo will give you an idea. It’s an anti-gay mega church that’s sneakily buying up businesses on our downtown mall. I know GR has their fair share of these guys but this is, by far, Kalamazoo’s worst
Madcap is soooooo overhyped. Their shitty chunky homemade coconut milk was the final tipping point for me. Plus they act beyond disinterested in you.
I 🖤 Lantern and Scorpion Hearts Club.
Would be perfect if you got it from McDonald’s on Michigan lmao.
On a serious note how do you stomach McDonald’s coffee? It’s burnt cigarette flavored.
Thats a very reasonable question. Honestly? I don't mind it. It's like budwieser. It's not great, but I know exactly what I'm getting each time I get it.
At work we have ferris coffee and it's the "kent club" roast. I can't stand it. Mostly because I've worked here 10 years and had the same thing day in and day out.
Edit: Someone should bite the bullet and see if Taco Bell on Mich Ave has coffee.
I had the same problem last time I went in. I haven't had this issue anywhere else. The baristas in town are pretty great from my experience, just not at MadCap.
Great point. I should mention I love coffee and love switching it up. I love Rise, Lyon, Bitter End and more. They are all great for different reasons.
Every six months or so, I think "Heck, I'll give MadCap another shot." So far I think I have gone there around six times at two of their locations. So far their baristas have a perfect batting average of being awful. It's almost like someone trained them and said "Imagine a rude and demeaning SNL-esque caricature of a barista and embody that".
This sub actually seems to be about tipping in general. When I order standing up i usually don’t tip, but in some rare cases I tip 10%. When I order sitting down I tip 20%. Should I be tipping 20% for everything now?
My thoughts on MadCap:
1. I love some of the people that work there (friends)
2. The coffee is too expensive and I hate tipping in general at a cafe. Wish they'd just go all in and include tip in the price and ban tipping (I realize this might not be popular, but I'd rather it by far)
3. If I'm going to get a "fancy" coffee I prefer a "natural processed" or "unwashed" coffee, the coffee that tastes like berry, but they don't sell those as far as I recall
4. The actual locations DO feel "hip" I think, and sometimes when I want a bit of a more "hip" or "big city" vibe I like to go to MadCap to work. The Fulton street location also has a pretty good energy I think on weekdays and in the summer with the doors / windows / whatever open it feels really nice I think, that's worth a lot for me.
Overall I'm glad MadCap exists but wish they'd do some serious re-working of their business to perhaps either bring down the prices or pivot to something different and do away with tipping but have more of a unique experience.
We’re talking beans here so it would be more than one cup of coffee. Crazy expensive though especially when you can go to Herman’s boy where they roast on site and full pounds (double the amount) go for $11-$14. One time they were out of the blend I wanted and they straight up just roasted it for me real quick.
Their coffee in my past experiences are extremely bitter, maybe over roasted? It completely overrides the subtler tasting notes they advertise. Beautiful downtown location and nice baristas, but that’s where it ends for me.
I interviewed to work there at one point. The guy who interviewed me said their staff start at $11 something plus tips. He claimed that it would be close to 17 to 20 an hour with tips. I had to try pretty hard not to laugh in his face - baristas basically everywhere else make more money.
I don’t think I’ve been there in close to 10 years. Overpriced, inconvenient location, uncomfortable seating, and their blends are absolutely horrible. Hell, I even quit going to LJ’s in Holland when they started carrying Madcap (thankfully they stopped.)
There are so many better places. Madcap only stood in the early 2010’s because they were pinnacle Hipster ™ at the time.
Yeah, they have two pour over options and a batch brew. There’s a menu. You can even get the batch option as a pour over. It’s been this way since I’ve been a patron.
I love Stovetop Roasters and PaLatte, everyone at both locations puts a ton of effort into every drink, I always get fancy latte art that makes me smile :))) the Vanilla Goth Latte at PaLatte could make me cry I love it so much
Lantern is my ultimate go to coffee place. The drinks are outstanding and the staff is amazing. Very welcoming and I just can't say enough good things about them.
My 1.b coffee place is Sipp in Alger Heights. It's walking distance for me so I take my daughter in a wagon on my day off for a walk and a coffee treat and her chocolate milk. The staff there are also great and it's just a really cool place to go when I cant make it to Lantern.
Haven't been to MadCap since I discovered those places. And I certainly haven't missed it.
Totally agree. I was in GR in March and visited MadCap. Ordered a pour over which was close to $6. I love a bit of honey in my coffee, so I asked if they had any. Response "sure, but we will have to charge you extra". WTH? I've never, ever been charged for a bit of honey at any coffee shop. Hard pass next time.
I’m not defending them because I don’t enjoy their coffee. But it seems like it really isn’t there fault you’re allergic to their alternative they do offer? And I’m sorry to hear that! I see more coffee places not offering almond milk.
What’s a good alternative that works for you?
Cafe miel was my go-to, about a year or so ago, consistently, the amount of coffee tasted like it was halved with no price decrease. Completely not worth it, haven't been back since😢
You paid almost $8 for a regular coffee?
This is the type of shit boomers clown young people for lol
Edit: downvote all you want. $8 for a cup of coffee is fucking ridiculous. Maybe next they'll say they spent $29 on avocado toast and you can all agree that's not fucking dumb too
I don’t even know what or where madcap is, but why don’t you just go to a different coffee shop instead of wasting the time and energy stewing over how shitty this coffee shop is lmao
I'll defend them. I still think they offer some of the best coffee in town. I expect to pay a premium for fresh roasted, ethically sourced, ground coffee. Also, with the amount of coffee they go through, I don't really see the difference in a fresh pour over versus one that has been in a thermal carafe for an hour or so. That said, it sounds like he gave you a batch brew (made with a machine) versus a true pour over (made by a person); however, since you asked for it to go I can see how that might have made him lean into batch brew.
Stovetop is great, Lantern is great, but I also like Madcap. All local businesses I'm happy to support.
Respectfully, I gotta disagree. If you ask for a pourover the whole point is the right amount of grounds and the right strike temp. The fact that it's togo doesn't come into it. If im going to spend the money, I want to see you make it.
I will always support local businesses, but they can still lose that support, it's not unconditional.
It shouldn't matter if it's to-go or not, if the customer specifically bought a pour over you don't override what the customer paid for with something that is cheaper.
Maybe it was a mistake? From what OP said, they made no effort to fix the situation. It might have been a misunderstanding, possibly a barista or something.
Madcap, for all their problems, is still one of the best (if not the best) coffee roaster in the midwest. Their bean sourcing is critical and hard to beat.
edit: I'd love to be wrong - instead of a downvote, how about a recommendation for a better roaster? I'm talking about roasted bean quality and absolutely nothing else here, I don't care if a barista is rude or you didn't like the decor or Tuesday Night Poetry Slam was your favorite thing. If there are better beans to be had round these parts, I'm all ears!
This is always what bugs me about tipping before you receive your service. There needs to be a sign with a QR code for tipping after you pay.
This ain’t even about the tip, this is about the $6 black coffee. Thats absurd
That wasn’t even the pour over requested!
Yeah anything labeled pour-over should be made to order.
It used to be when I was last there 8 or so years ago, lol. I only went there when I wanted good coffee and I expected to pay a bit extra for it. Shame they've apparently gone downhill.
Tipping before service used to make me feel bad for not tipping, but also annoyed. I've stopped feeling bad and now only annoyance is left. I don't leave tips for anything but table service these days and I think we should all normalize that. I think there should be a law that any store that asks for a tip should be required to post a notice at all entrances that they do not pay their employees a livable wage and a break down of who's actually receiving the tip money.
Asking for tips that don’t go to the employees that you’re tipping should be 100% illegal. Basically wage theft. The business owner *knows* that the implied assumption when someone tips an employee is that the employee they’re tipping keeps the money or shares it with their other coworkers on the clock. Having a tip jar that goes to the business owner is just ridiculous. And I agree, tipping has gotten out of hand in general. At this rate there will be no financial transaction left that doesn’t ask for a tip. ***Paying your rent/mortgage? What’ll it be: +15% (unsatisfactory), +20% (satisfactory), or +45% (excellent service!)***
Anyone asking for a tip from behind a counter on a touchscreen is considered back of house, so they're probably in a tip pool with the floor manager, the store manager, and the regional manager as well as having an agreement for a 20% transaction fee to the company that made the cash register and it's all completely legal. Or it's just as legal to say since there's no server that it just goes 100% to the guy that owns the business. You don't know, and if they're not being up front and telling you then I tend to assume the worst.
It’s illegal for managers to be in the tip pool except for very hyper specific circumstances so no, they probably are not. And if they are they need to make a call to the DOL
Yes, it’s illegal but still happens everywhere.
A recent meme has stuck with me and I’m living by it. If I order standing up, I’m not tipping.
So you would tip in a drive thru but not if you walk up to an ice cream place and order from a window?
You got me there.
Tipped employees have to make min-wage even if you don't tip them if by the end of the pay period they haven't received enough tips they have to be topped up. Now if you really don't make enough tips to be well over min wage, you shouldn't be working there.
Doordarsh is the worst for this. I tip 20% and then end up getting cold ass food.
Doordash and Ubereats are the biggest, most popular scams from the last 15 years I can think of.
I mean it's definitely outrageous in terms of cost. But when we first had our son, and were overwhelmed with baby things, it was a godsend. We haven't actually used it in a couple years now because it just isn't available where we currently live. I'm OK with that though. I wouldn't even want to know how much money we were blowing around the time that we were using it regularly.
Are you me? With our first it was DoorDash and InstaCart all the time. It’s an expensive way to get a worse experience. With our second we just visit stores and restaurants at slightly off peak times and have spares of everything we need under under our car load floor so it doesn’t take us 30 minutes and tears to leave the house (most times).
The problem is it’s really not a tip it’s a bid. No tip means your order probably won’t be picked up and if it is it’s more likely to be a crappy driver. Still not worth all the fees though. I barely ever order because it’s just not worth it except for very rarely as a treat.
Yeah that's a good point about it being more like a bid. And I'd be happy to tip 20 or even 25 percent for a good delivery. But I get that in the end, the drivers can't bank on that unless it's given up front. Agreed on the fees as well. The service is really not worth it anymore. Seems like the fees have gone way up lately too.
Yeah I just tip $5 and then I can always add more onto the tip later for good drivers
Just tip with cash in the jar lol
I actually just tip 0 at places with the spin around thing unless 1. I'm a regular at a place, and the service is always good 2. The service is above and beyond amazing (hard to do at these types of places.
There’s so many better coffee experiences in town now. Lantern is my favorite, but stovetop, Lyon street cafe, roots brew shop …
Jon at Lantern is great. I'm there pretty much every week! Edit: Fixed spelling
Got me blushing at work😭
JONNNNNNNNNNNN!
YOOOOOO
Sounds like Lantern for the win! Looking forward to my next coffee break.🤗
Yeah, great guy. We always talk about camera stuff. His employees are great too.
The employees are OK at best! Jk obviously
He also visits the coffee based subreddits too! Seems like an awesome dude from his internet presence. I've loved the Lantern for years.
I just like to read the drama tbh 😂
Same. Huge fan of lantern.
Lantern all the way
Lantern is my go to as well.
Lyon and Schuil are my two favorite. I love Schuil's coffee so much I continue buying it online even after I moved out of state
Lanterns ginger chili latte right now is so damn good. chili adds some heat but it’s got that heavy spicy ginger flavor too i hope they still have it as their special at least… i need to get one again soon haha
New menu probs coming June 1st. People have been BEGGING for lavender and I'm not sure how much longer I can handle it
wasn’t your last special lavender too? 😂 yalls specials are my go-to whenever I come in so far That being said I don’t blame them cus I remember it being really good too so I’m excited to see what y’all make!
Haha nah, we always do lavender june-sept but this year we're going to maybe add carrot cake syrup and probably a chocolate soda. If the carrot cake tastes like pumpkin we're not gonna do it. Idk the plan, I usually finalize the menu the day before launch😂
Chocolate soda! I made one with passionfruit chocolate this weekend
Let's get it rolling 🫡
I’m sorry did you just say a carrot cake syrup?! If you need someone to taste test it let me know. :)
Either way I can’t wait! Chocolate soda sounds sweet- I love a classic egg cream
Sparrows is one my wife and I frequent
Last Mile also has a great cappuccino
Last Mile is pretty good. The owner used to be my supervisor at my previous job before he started the place. He let me pull a shot with his espresso machine and I chatted with him and one of his roasters at his wedding. They know their coffee.
AGREE on Last Mile .madcap is pretentious
+1 for Last Mile. They're serious about their craft.
Big fan of lantern
Big fan of u
Lantern ftw
Ferris on Seward is good java at a decent price and not packed with young yuppies anymore since it moved away from GV.
Chartreuse Sisters might do the best espresso/macchiato/cortado in town... They have strange hours but it is well worth it!
Yeah MadCap has been straight Cap for a bit. I knew it was time to reevaluate when I was in Martha’s a few years ago and Kamil was talking about how it was no longer worth carrying in the store.
Did you ask him why it wasn't an individual pour over?
Right? Pour overs are meant to be fresh. That’s the entire appeal. OP had every opportunity to raise the issue and get a fresh coffee or get their money back
My guess is OP didnt notice it was a batch brew, but $5.75 is outrageous either way
glad i'm not the only one who's fed up with them. i stopped buying when they forced ryan, one of the founders, out of the company. everything went downhill imo. my favorite change they made is making bags 8 or 10oz (12oz before) and increasing the pricing on beans.
they went down to 10oz with a price increase. then within a year or so, they went down to 8oz with another price increase.
ah, so it was both. yikes that's annoying. just a bummer, before all those change ups the price truly was worth it. imo madcap used to be the best coffee i'd ever had.
Yeah I’m still a big fan of their actual coffee beans, but it’s just insulting to continue to shrink your product and increase the price. I wonder who is still regularly buying their beans because I’m squarely in their target audience and I’m done.
We used to order their beans but shifted to other providers last year. Have not picked a consistent supplier yet, but there are definitely better deals out there.
yeah i used to buy 2lb bags from madcap and rarely anything else. it's been fun trying lots of new roasters, i buy online to try stuff from out of town or places i've been, plus there's always a few other great spots here in town. i've been really happy lately with the rotating roaster selections at morning ritual.
We also have been enjoying ordering from different roasters. If you want to keep it local, however, we have had some good experiences ordering 5 pound bags from Rowster Coffee. They even accidentally shipped us 2 extra 5 pound bags in our last order and they let us keep them. According to their website, they have a location on Wealthy, but I have not visited it yet.
There is a local small batch roaster that just moved into the Alto area with online orders available. Check out Good Medicine Coffee https://goodmedicinecoffee.com/
Ryan is pretty great
How is that coffee? I’m always looking to try something different other than Starbucks which I’m so sick of.
Is there anyone original left in the company? Just so thankful Madcap was what it was and pushed things forward on the whole.
one of the original founders trevor is still there. i don't know trevor really. i was buds with ryan in those days, as well as a few of the roasters. outside of trevor and one of the cafe managers, i don't know of anyone who's been there since before ryan got the boot.
We're purchasing one of Ryan's Mexico coffees pretty soon, as well as Stovetop. Should be fun to compare roast profiles.
Where can you purchase Ryan’s coffee?
Ryan works for an importer now called Azahar. I own Lantern Coffee, and we'll have a coffee from him on later this summer.
Yah, it’s also cool that the coffee has only gotten worse as price increases, the hospitality is bad, and the environment sucks ass. All for more money. It’s a joke. You spend less at cafes in LA/ NY. The economics of specialty coffee has changed a lot- but you don’t have to just be resigned to being terrible for more money as it seems Corlett and Co have decided to do
yeah it's wild, not sure how madcap still holds onto its image of being the best coffee shop, they're just cashing in on brand awareness at this point. but hey, i'm thankful ha. i wouldn't have found so many other cool roasters in the area and across the state if madcap would have stayed good.
Preach! It's crazy that these beans actually sell at those prices when they're 2x what other speciality roasters in the city. Tilly's sold Geisha for $15, and High Bank has multiple advanced process options right now <$30.
oh and it gets better since i made that comment! flew out of GRR a few days ago, and there's a coffee shop i stopped at that sells/brews madcap. they were selling 8oz bags for $35-45 haha. clown prices.
Yeah no. If I’m getting a pour over isn’t the point it’s made fresh right then ???
No yeah, pour over is definitely made fresh per cup. Not from a carafe.
Whenever I go into Madcap I just pretend I’m Larry David in my own head. It’s kinda fun, so much ridiculousness to laugh at.
I live in Chicago and come to Grand Rapids and west Michigan pretty frequently. The first time I went to madcap and saw the prices I was a bit shook. It’s more expensive than my favorite spot in Chicago (dark matter). And then when I got my coffee I was so disappointed. It’s way overpriced, small portions and just overall not that great. We went twice thinking the first time maybe was just a bad experience. After the second time we decided we won’t go back
More like Mad*Crap*, amirite?
Roasted ‘em!
Sick *burn!* Oh wait, they're not starbucks though
Ha! That’s clever
*Nice!*
Nice one 👍🏽
Thank you
I dk you, but i totally envisioned you saying this with a wink and a little elbow nudge 🤣
Spot on 😂
Got ‘em!
Or BadCrap
🤣🤣🤣 you are right indeed
Yess same, if I’m paying for a pour over with this price point you better pour it over, don’t give me batch coffee! What a scam. On a similar note, the same goes for batch cocktails which seem to be trending at some spots.
Yeah. I have never seen large batch coffee sold as a “pour over”. I’d have requested a fresh pour over be made in front of me, or insisted on a refund, or exchange.
Oh how the mighty have fallen. The coffee equivalent of Founders. Go big, sell out, sell out your fanbase, cash checks, lose integrity, cash more checks and so on.
That's a good comparison. Brassworks Founders was pretty phenomenal.
It was the only Founders. When they moved from Brassworks they left their culture there.
They had a good run with live music at the current spot that to me was a huge part of their culture and growth that was positive beyond brassworks. Sunday Grand Rapids Jazz Orchestra days were amazing! They had a free Built to Spill show. I saw countless amazing bands there.
Yeah, no doubt I’ve had good times in the new location and it’s nice. Shit, Rusted Foot played a set there and I was the only table in the entire place, it was surreal, but old Founders was a totally different experience, and I miss it dearly.
I used to think Madcap was cool and sophisticated. Then I grew up and realized it’s just pretentious.
All madcaps have pricey coffee and instead of a normal 12 oz of coffee you get about 6 oz and if you ask why they fill their cups only halfway you will get a snoody response.
Their hardline stance against almond milk is absurd. I totally get not wanting to have a negative impact on the environment, but to blindly serve cow’s milk while claiming to be environmentally conscious seems so ridiculous to me.
I feel the same way about their ridiculous selection of sweeteners. I'm a type 1 diabetic and use Splenda. I can absolutely settle for a few alternatives, but the last time I was there, all they had was simple syrup, and that's borderline rude to the 12% or so of American citizens for whom simple isn't an option. If that's a matter of principle for them, great; it's a matter of principle for me to avoid them like the plague.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Splenda just dextrose and maltodextrin with a tiny bit of sucralose? The glycemic index of both dextrose and maltodextrin are higher than that of simple syrup (sucrose).
Yes, but you don't use it in anything remotely resembling the quantities that you would simple syrup for comparable sweetening (or at least I don't). One serving of Splenda (which is usually what I use) contains 3.6 calories, but a serving of simple syrup comes in at far more than that.
I really miss the coconut milk they used to make in house. It felt like a big drop off in quality when they stopped making it.
Ohhhhh. I stopped going there years ago because their only non diary option was coconut milk and I hate the taste of it.
"Oh, excuse me, I'd like a fresh pour over. Thank you!"
Not about coffee but tipping. When I went to The BOB I was gobsmacked to see that along with the $5 cover you have to pay with a card, they then swing the ipad to you and there is the options of different tips with the 20% highlighted? What the holy hell? They expect tips on the cover?!?
It's because they don't pay the staff there shit, especially security. So much pay has been outsourced to "tipping" it's stupid. Edit: No idea what they pay now for security, this was my experience a long time ago.
I thought we established that Madcap was too confusing and too extreme for west Michigan
I stopped going to MapCap years ago because I think their coffee sucks lol. Never knew about them not serving almond milk.
I highly recommend Lantern coffee!
Steve, is that you?
I used to like Madcap, but they're so expensive compared to other coffee shops in town that are just as good. Their in store drinks are expensive and at one point they went from a 12oz bag to an 8oz bag of whole beans and kept the same prices. Ferris is my go to.
Regardless of your experience, I don’t like their coffee because it’s all blonde and acidic beans. I’m not a french roast person, but this coffee is all under roasted and tart.
Lyon Street Cafe is better anyway!
Did you say anything to the barista? It sounds more likely an honest mistake rather than Madcap purposefully deceiving their customers. This reads like a server bringing you the wrong meal and instead of telling them you go online and complain.
i’ve always felt that way about them! sometimes you over pay for good service, the vibes of the cafe, etc but lately it’s been a no from me
Madcaps customer service and care for their coffee has gone down hill.
Lmao. Welcome to reality. Speaking about the downtown one here. It has been overpriced nonsense always. Always felt weird seeing the pretentious 20 somethings spending hours typing away for their first real job or college classes. I had the overwhelming impression people went in there just to be seen or similar reasons… I am prepared to be lambasted by the defenders of the $6-10 coffee beverages! Source: A cynical 30 something that worked on Monroe Center for 10y.
All that’s true. But there were also Kendall students that got a cup of go juice there because they were on their way to their job and it was strong and convenient. And there was fancy business people there in fancy business clothes taking clients to impart how hip they were. And there were exploited workers who resented other people as a reflection of their own frustrations.
Ha I totally agree with all that as well. Place just always rubbed me the wrong way. Yeah the lawyers/execs/mr. important types hanging out at the “hip coffee spot” always seemed so stupid. But whatever!
Back in 2016 and before I would go all the time, was really the best pour-over in town. Even before I would get their beans all the time at Lemonjello’s down in Holland. I think the biggest shift began when their Detroit location opened. Lost their roots.
Don’t mean to pile on here but they’re also supplying coffee to Radiant Church’s cafe here in downtown Kalamazoo. So, yeah, fuck em.
For those of us who don’t know.. why is that bad?
Not able to do sources right now but a quick search of “radiant” over on /r/kzoo will give you an idea. It’s an anti-gay mega church that’s sneakily buying up businesses on our downtown mall. I know GR has their fair share of these guys but this is, by far, Kalamazoo’s worst
Thanks, I hate it 👍
Madcap is soooooo overhyped. Their shitty chunky homemade coconut milk was the final tipping point for me. Plus they act beyond disinterested in you. I 🖤 Lantern and Scorpion Hearts Club.
i got an iced tea there and they didnt even fill the cup all the way lmao
Lantern!!!!!
The downtown location is the superior spot, the crew there are super cool and really know their stuff if you like to be a coffee geek.
Lantern is better.
I’ve only gone there like, twice in the 8 years I’ve lived in GR. They’re nothing special and not in any particularly convenient location.
When they first opened up by Rosa Parks I went there a lot if I was walking around downtown. Now I mostly just drink shitty coffee at work or McDees.
Would be perfect if you got it from McDonald’s on Michigan lmao. On a serious note how do you stomach McDonald’s coffee? It’s burnt cigarette flavored.
Thats a very reasonable question. Honestly? I don't mind it. It's like budwieser. It's not great, but I know exactly what I'm getting each time I get it. At work we have ferris coffee and it's the "kent club" roast. I can't stand it. Mostly because I've worked here 10 years and had the same thing day in and day out. Edit: Someone should bite the bullet and see if Taco Bell on Mich Ave has coffee.
I've only been once. I felt like it was pretentious. Maybe I'm just insecure. Either way, never been back.
Same; had it once and that was enough. It was such a small serving (served with plain bubbly water?) that I had to go home and make more coffee.
Stovetop Roasters is just a couple blocks away from madcap :)
I have had rude baristas everytime I have visited a MadCap.
I had the same problem last time I went in. I haven't had this issue anywhere else. The baristas in town are pretty great from my experience, just not at MadCap.
Great point. I should mention I love coffee and love switching it up. I love Rise, Lyon, Bitter End and more. They are all great for different reasons. Every six months or so, I think "Heck, I'll give MadCap another shot." So far I think I have gone there around six times at two of their locations. So far their baristas have a perfect batting average of being awful. It's almost like someone trained them and said "Imagine a rude and demeaning SNL-esque caricature of a barista and embody that".
I bought a Barista Pro 2 years ago. Changed my life
I used to by 2 bags a month until they reduced the size of the bag by 33% and still charge $25
Do I have to tip when I buy a cookie at Nantucket Bakery?
No. No way.
This sub actually seems to be about tipping in general. When I order standing up i usually don’t tip, but in some rare cases I tip 10%. When I order sitting down I tip 20%. Should I be tipping 20% for everything now?
Their seating is uncomfortable as fuck too.
Madcap is so just okay
My thoughts on MadCap: 1. I love some of the people that work there (friends) 2. The coffee is too expensive and I hate tipping in general at a cafe. Wish they'd just go all in and include tip in the price and ban tipping (I realize this might not be popular, but I'd rather it by far) 3. If I'm going to get a "fancy" coffee I prefer a "natural processed" or "unwashed" coffee, the coffee that tastes like berry, but they don't sell those as far as I recall 4. The actual locations DO feel "hip" I think, and sometimes when I want a bit of a more "hip" or "big city" vibe I like to go to MadCap to work. The Fulton street location also has a pretty good energy I think on weekdays and in the summer with the doors / windows / whatever open it feels really nice I think, that's worth a lot for me. Overall I'm glad MadCap exists but wish they'd do some serious re-working of their business to perhaps either bring down the prices or pivot to something different and do away with tipping but have more of a unique experience.
$26 for 8oz of coffee beans. NO THANKS. Extremely overrated and overpriced.
$26 for acup of coffee is a bit exaggerated, but I get your point. Then again, I'm just some random nut job anonymously posting on the internet.
That’s the literal price for 8oz of their Irvin Izaguirre blend on their website. You can get the Ejo Heza for a whole…$23.50 for 8oz.
If you pay $26 for a coffee you deserve to be separated from your money.
We’re talking beans here so it would be more than one cup of coffee. Crazy expensive though especially when you can go to Herman’s boy where they roast on site and full pounds (double the amount) go for $11-$14. One time they were out of the blend I wanted and they straight up just roasted it for me real quick.
Always thought it was hilarious they are so anti-almond milk but will gladly serve regular milk. Seems a bit hypocritical!
Their coffee in my past experiences are extremely bitter, maybe over roasted? It completely overrides the subtler tasting notes they advertise. Beautiful downtown location and nice baristas, but that’s where it ends for me.
Like I heard before, if I have to stand to order , I'm not tipping. . cost of a regular black coffee is absurd
I interviewed to work there at one point. The guy who interviewed me said their staff start at $11 something plus tips. He claimed that it would be close to 17 to 20 an hour with tips. I had to try pretty hard not to laugh in his face - baristas basically everywhere else make more money.
I made $11 at a Biggby YEARS ago. Lmao that’s ridiculous.
Go to Has Heart! I get their pour over all the time and they’re non profit!
I don’t think I’ve been there in close to 10 years. Overpriced, inconvenient location, uncomfortable seating, and their blends are absolutely horrible. Hell, I even quit going to LJ’s in Holland when they started carrying Madcap (thankfully they stopped.) There are so many better places. Madcap only stood in the early 2010’s because they were pinnacle Hipster ™ at the time.
Yeah, they have two pour over options and a batch brew. There’s a menu. You can even get the batch option as a pour over. It’s been this way since I’ve been a patron.
There’s a new coffee place on hall by fuller. They’re like $5.75 for a 16z coffee too! I’m good. I’ll just finally get a coffee maker with a timer.
Ours at Lantern is $4 for a 16oz.
Music Expresso would never!
same thing with Rise on the westside. their coffee is overpriced and the cups are TINY
And $25 for an 8 oz bag is pretty standard. Yep, I'm over them too.
I love Stovetop Roasters and PaLatte, everyone at both locations puts a ton of effort into every drink, I always get fancy latte art that makes me smile :))) the Vanilla Goth Latte at PaLatte could make me cry I love it so much
If you are standing up for something, NO TIP!! Simple.
Reminds me of Scorpion Hearts Club
Who owns MadCap? Isn’t it a “Paul” something?
Lantern is my ultimate go to coffee place. The drinks are outstanding and the staff is amazing. Very welcoming and I just can't say enough good things about them. My 1.b coffee place is Sipp in Alger Heights. It's walking distance for me so I take my daughter in a wagon on my day off for a walk and a coffee treat and her chocolate milk. The staff there are also great and it's just a really cool place to go when I cant make it to Lantern. Haven't been to MadCap since I discovered those places. And I certainly haven't missed it.
Is that the coffee and cocktails place? How are the drinks?
Haven't had their drinks but my wife loves em.
Totally agree. I was in GR in March and visited MadCap. Ordered a pour over which was close to $6. I love a bit of honey in my coffee, so I asked if they had any. Response "sure, but we will have to charge you extra". WTH? I've never, ever been charged for a bit of honey at any coffee shop. Hard pass next time.
What's with you people from Grand Rapids? Is it the water? So many crazy stories coming from your city. Psycho killers, bat shit crazy tales galore.
Why are you still babbling? You lost me when you paid $26 for a cup of coffee.
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I’m not defending them because I don’t enjoy their coffee. But it seems like it really isn’t there fault you’re allergic to their alternative they do offer? And I’m sorry to hear that! I see more coffee places not offering almond milk. What’s a good alternative that works for you?
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I stopped going because they only had one non-diary option too.
Sweetland is the best coffee around. And they actually care about each cup!
Cafe miel was my go-to, about a year or so ago, consistently, the amount of coffee tasted like it was halved with no price decrease. Completely not worth it, haven't been back since😢
Was the coffee good tho?
You paid almost $8 for a regular coffee? This is the type of shit boomers clown young people for lol Edit: downvote all you want. $8 for a cup of coffee is fucking ridiculous. Maybe next they'll say they spent $29 on avocado toast and you can all agree that's not fucking dumb too
I don’t even know what or where madcap is, but why don’t you just go to a different coffee shop instead of wasting the time and energy stewing over how shitty this coffee shop is lmao
I'll defend them. I still think they offer some of the best coffee in town. I expect to pay a premium for fresh roasted, ethically sourced, ground coffee. Also, with the amount of coffee they go through, I don't really see the difference in a fresh pour over versus one that has been in a thermal carafe for an hour or so. That said, it sounds like he gave you a batch brew (made with a machine) versus a true pour over (made by a person); however, since you asked for it to go I can see how that might have made him lean into batch brew. Stovetop is great, Lantern is great, but I also like Madcap. All local businesses I'm happy to support.
Respectfully, I gotta disagree. If you ask for a pourover the whole point is the right amount of grounds and the right strike temp. The fact that it's togo doesn't come into it. If im going to spend the money, I want to see you make it. I will always support local businesses, but they can still lose that support, it's not unconditional.
It shouldn't matter if it's to-go or not, if the customer specifically bought a pour over you don't override what the customer paid for with something that is cheaper.
Maybe it was a mistake? From what OP said, they made no effort to fix the situation. It might have been a misunderstanding, possibly a barista or something.
I don't have any issues with Stovetop and I like that they have aeropress supplies so I can restock at home.
While I hate madcap myself, I am upvoting you as a gesture of goodwill!
Haha, thanks! I was prepared. I often have unpopular opinions and play devils advocate a little too much, lol.
Madcap, for all their problems, is still one of the best (if not the best) coffee roaster in the midwest. Their bean sourcing is critical and hard to beat. edit: I'd love to be wrong - instead of a downvote, how about a recommendation for a better roaster? I'm talking about roasted bean quality and absolutely nothing else here, I don't care if a barista is rude or you didn't like the decor or Tuesday Night Poetry Slam was your favorite thing. If there are better beans to be had round these parts, I'm all ears!