Marin J.
Yelp
Overview
It feels like a sleeper cell and I don't mean in a bad way. B&W is tucked inside of the venerable Videri Chocolate. First, before B&W, there were a myriad of undefined coffee slingers there who made an always awesome mocha. And then the big guns from Wake Forest arrived and staked claim. They are now Black&White replete with a really cool origami panda! Behold the same wonderful mocha!
And sometimes baked goods. Mostly on weekends.
Skip the pour over go for the mocha, still awesome.
The bean selection is the best part. Because. Of Course.....Black and White beans headed by the Kyle and Lem...legends.
There used to be a mustachio-ed dude who did dreamy pour-overs. He is not there anymore and the machines that do the pourovers are a waste of money, IMHO as the beans profiled taste exactly the danged same every time. And I get paper, sour notes instead of the nuances when someone takes the time to dial in the pour overs (yes, those little machines make baristas lazy). They stink. (the machines, not the baristas).
The parking is a very weird thing. The most passive aggressive experience in Raleigh. There is a lot, with attendants and signs. You have to state your business or gosh knows what happens...because there are multiple towing signs and a lot of posturing. You used to have to get a validated slip to show where you were, but that rule seems gone.
So the parking is a bit of a stress factor. How long is too long? Etc.
The Videri counter is the first thing you see when you come inside. Always always always friendly....the videri team never fail to greet you on the way in and thank you on the way out.
This makes me feel a wee guilty as I come for the coffee.
Interesting as the coffee staff are about half as friendly as the Chocolate chicas. Why is that? It seems as though we are an inconvenience at best. Even if you try and chat. Not me, pretty much everybody I watched was greeted with a kind of cool indifference. But hey, just sit back and watch the baristas have a good time talking with each OTHER if you want a social experience.
I dunno. I've been coming for a long time to this location and watched the ebb and flow. I used to find the baristas more friendly and welcoming back in the day. As soon as the panda bear arrived, less so. It is nice to get beans from another roaster than CC. But I also noticed that the flavor profiles are sometimes not even close to what is on the package. I drink a LOT of coffee from almost all of the best third waves and find most of my disappointment comes not from the beans, but from the disparity of profile notes to what actually hits my palate. I wonder why?
And the pourovers often now all taste the same papery dull acidic sour no matter which i choose. This is sad as once, not that long ago, the other barista hand poured a bean that totally nailed the blueberry...it was so forward you might have sworn he squeezed a few into the brew. (He did not. :D).
They have recently upgraded the seating and there is a sweet little courtyard.