Sweatshop

OUR ARTICLE

New York is a blend of cultures from all around the globe, but you may be surprised that a little bit of the “Land Down Under” has made its way into a sharp coffee shop in Williamsburg – Sweatshop Coffee.

Described as an Aussie espresso bar and café, Sweatshop Coffee is the success of two Australian mates who studied design and worked for places like MTV and GM before creating their own digs.

Don’t look for love, look for coffee. We found the coffee – and we love it, too.

The design is simple with a mostly black and white aesthetic and a slick blonde communal table for 12 to 14 people. The café was designed for creative hustlers to work and collaborate indoors during the frosty months of winter and spread out onto the outdoor patio in the warmer seasons.

While many coffee shops are simplifying their design around the U.S., there’s not many who serve up Melbourne-style coffee like Sweatshop’s Australian iced coffee that consists of espresso, cold milk, and vanilla ice cream. Even their “cap” or cappuccino is dusted with cocoa powder in true Aussie fashion. Other items on the menu may be familiar but labeled in Aussie terms. For instance, an esky is iced coffee, their sparky – an espresso tonic – and the magic drink? A flat white.

Add a grilled cheese with a bit of vegemite, an acai bowl, or a “brekkie bun,” which involves a fried egg, organic bacon, cheese, onion jam, and arugula on a toasted ciabatta bun, and you’ve got yourself a rounded out Aussie coffee experience.

The shop is also one for pithy sayings and quotes. Their paper coffee cups read, “Death before decaf,” a line that William Wallace screamed out in Braveheart on his deathbed. Or was that “Freedom”? Either way, we know what he was getting at.

As you leave Sweatshop Coffee, you’ll notice a large quote on a painted black brick wall that reads, “Don’t look for love, look for coffee.” We found the coffee – and we love it, too.