Andy F.
Yelp
Coffee tried. Result, failure.
I noticed a few Yelpers post photos and checking in to Try Coffee, and that got me interested. Well, perhaps I'll try again.
Try Coffee is located inside Box Jelly, an office/work space for rent place. It's in Ward Village, above the new Roger Dunn Golf Shop. It's not easy to find and get to. Try Coffee is on the second floor. You will see signs hanging from the side above from the parking entrance across Merriman's. There are many 30 minute parking stalls downstairs, so you don't need to drive around and around up the parking structure. From the ground floor parking, you can walk to the middle and take the elevator or escalator up, but I discovered a couple of hidden staircases right before you enter the parking structure.
When you arrive, you're asked to stop and scan a QR code to enter your info, but it didn't seem like anyone did that before coming in while I was there. Silly me for following directions and being a caring citizen.
The coffee choices at the moment are Papau New Guinea, Peru, and two types of Ethiopia. I chose pour over Papau New Guinea. But it didn't matter what I chose because the coffee was not prepared well at all. It was very weak and under extracted. Not sure if it was due to the coffee grounds being to large or water wasn't hot enough or just not brewed for long enough, but in short, the coffee was sour and watery. Not a good way to start the day!
Another issue I had was with the plastic lid, the spout melted a little from the heat and changed shaped to where I couldn't open it correctly and be able to drink from it. Also, the spout was an incredibly small hole that's not suitable for drinking anyway. I hope they switch to something more....user friendly.
Other than that, Try Coffee is a nice place to sit and enjoy your drink. It's very open and spacious, and it's open balcony has nice views of all the new condos and future condos in the Ward area. Everywhere is clean and neat. The barista was very friendly, personable, and informative. Very nice guy! He said he'll bring in new, different coffee beans every so often, so it wouldn't be the same coffee from the same regions all the time.
Overall, I might be a coffee-snob, but the difference between a well-brewed and a not well-brewed coffee is huge! The coffee missed the mark, and the lid was very subpar, but the service was excellent, the place and environment were comfortable and enjoyable. Definitely a nice place to sit and relax for a bit and enjoy the views of all the condos, and think that not too long ago, none of them existed. I might try Try Coffee again, but perhaps ask to brew it longer or make it stronger.