Been hanging in DC the past few days. It’s great to get away for a while, but it feels exhausting too. Despite being in a big group, I managed to escape a few times and do a few things I wanted to do – entirely coffee related. First I visited the La Colombe in Chinatown, but it was a bit disappointing. The baristas seemed apathetic, not knowledgeable about the product offering, and they even forgot to make my drink. And there was Wi-Fi is that shop!! That’s absurd! My favorite thing about their shops is the lack of Wi-Fi. Unsatisfied, I walked to the Blagden Alley cafe to see if it was any better. Ah yes, so much better. The Blagden Alley staff was super friendly, and one of the baristas told me about Qualia, a local DC coffee roaster. Qualia has a cafe a few metro stops north, so after enjoying an espresso and pour over at Blagden Alley, I headed up to Georgia-Petworth and bought some beans at Qualia. Considering that I consumed a draft latte, two double-shot espressos, and a pour over in the past two hours, I chose to forgo drinking any coffee at Qualia. Looking forward to getting home and brewing those beans.