Jessie M.
Yelp
Listen, I HATE to be the person to make these kinds of accusations, but the bitter truth about this place is that there is a Heavy racist vibe at Heavy Water Coffee.
There are a few reasons here. For starters, and yes I realize this is a smaller example (we'll get to the bigger ones later), but just ARRIVING to a Latinx community that has drastically pre-existed your lifestyle and forcing a dairy free diet down everyones throats is giving "white savior" energy. I realize this probably wasn't their intention and this isn't the hill I want to die on, but this is the definition of institutionalized racism - the idea that you know better than the community that already lives here and you're going to help them with your modern idea of health. Since then, they have integrated dairy products, but I'm not convinced that its for any reason other than making money off of the very community they were unknowingly alienating.
The main reason for the racism claims are a bit more damning. You're going to read this and think I'm exaggerating, which adds to the ridiculousness of the reality of the situation. Do I dress a bit like a "cholo" as the white community would dictate? Sure, but that doesn't justify me walking up to the counter and the owner exclaiming "Whats up holmes" loudly and proudly for the whole cafe to hear. I tried my hardest to write it off as a joke or someone feeling a little too comfortable, but I just couldn't get past it, so I tried to address it.
All i asked was, "Hey man, why do you feel comfortable saying that to me." To which he replied, "Oh come on dog, I grew up around here and MULTIPLE Mexican friends of mine sad it was ok to talk like that!" He chuckled as he said this to me which made me realize it was going to be a pretty pointless discourse so I chose to just walk away. You can't really reason with someone with their heels so violently dug into their own ignorance.
I exited and took a sip of my coffee. To make matters worse, who ever roasted this batch of Guatemalan had essentially took a blow torch to the beans. The initial sip was overpowering, with a skunked beer after taste. If you're going to be rude and ignorant, the very least you should do on the other hand is produce a decent cup of coffee.
I write this not necessarily to get this shop "cancelled." I genuinely hope the leadership at this place and the community surrounding it read this and use it as an opportunity for growth. I personally wont be returning, but I will say to my fellow Latinx brothers and sisters that this shop is currently not run by "allies" as they would have you believe.