Shauna Eats Sunnyside

Dazed and Confused: The Quest for Iced Coffee

B and I are always on the hunt for quality iced coffee in Sunnyside. We recently conceptualized the summertime challenge of hitting 14 iced coffee shops in our ‘hood and ranking them against each other for the purpose of naming the ultimate cup.

In a six-hour span, we consumed small iced regular coffees (sweetened with milk and sugar) at record pace. We considered many elements in today’s increasingly cracked out deliberation - brew strength, size-to-price ratio, milk/sugar content, and overall palatability - and scored each coffee on a scale of 1-10.

1=”tastes like a boot”

10=”liquid magic”

Below are our overly caffeinated findings, in descending order from phenomenal to “meh.” At times, we surprised ourselves…

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WINNER
1 - Baruir Coffee

Baruir Coffee
40-07 Queens Blvd (b/w 40th and 41st Sts)
Sunnyside, NY 11104
(718) 784-0842

PRICE: $2.50

SCORE: 8.00/10

Sweet lord, this shit was spot-on. Strong brew (slightly bitter, in the best way possible) with homemade iced COFFEE cubes - as they melted, the caffeine grew more concentrated, rather than diluted. As the storekeep suggests, “This is not Starbucks, this is not Dunkin’ Donuts…”

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RUNNER-UP
2 - Daco Romano Pastry Cafe

Daco Romano Pastry Cafe
46-11 Skillman Ave (b/w 46th and 47th Sts)
Sunnyside, NY 11104
(718) 433-0339 

PRICE: $2.00

SCORE: 7.88/10

Strong brew minus the bitter tinge indicates super-fresh beanage. Largest sized cup for the cost. Well mixed, not too milky. Five other customers in our range all ordered the iced coffee - popularity speaks for itself.*

*As it was our seventh stop of the day, my Ivy League-educated compadre was forced to blow out their bathroom.

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3 - Starbucks Coffee

Starbucks Coffee
46-09 Queens Blvd (b/w 46th and 47th Sts)
Sunnyside, NY 11104
(718) 472-5215

PRICE: $2.28

SCORE: 7.25/10

The dark horse of the competition… supporting a corporate conglomerate makes my skin crawl (*much like OD’ing on caffeine*), but damned if Starbucks’ new brew isn’t significantly less bitter than the previous house blend and fuckin tasty as hell, to boot. They now do liquid sugar - a growing trend, it would seem. Smaller cup for the price, but ingredients are well blended with a refreshing aftertaste. Snaps for the public restroom - B and I both broke the seal.

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4 - Starberry Frozen Yogurt & Gelato

Starberry Frozen Yogurt & Gelato
Queens Blvd (42nd and 43rd Sts)
Sunnyside NY 11104

PRICE: $2.17

SCORE: 7.13/10

Another surprise contender. Remarkably light on the palate despite the milk content, and the only iced coffee of the day to come from a chilled running beverage fountain. No funky aftertaste, well-balanced and teasingly sweet. They make it hard to hate, so we’re forced to love…

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5 - La Marjolaine Bakery & Pastry

La Marjolaine Bakery & Pastry
50-17 Skillman Ave (b/w 50th and 51st Sts)
Woodside, NY 11377
(718) 651-0495

PRICE: $1.50

SCORE: 6.88/10

Intense concentration of sugar, dark roast, and a shit-ton of cream - it only got heavier as time passed. Bakery mistress poured hot, fresh-brewed coffee over cold cubes. Small in stature, with cinnamony aftertaste and an obnoxiously long straw. As B remarked, “Rich, as I’d expect everything from a French bakery to be.”

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6 - Nourish NYC

Nourish NYC
43-15 Queens Blvd (b/w 43rd and 44th Sts)
Sunnyside, NY 11104
(718) 433-4443

PRICE: $2.44

SCORE: 6.50/10

Intriguing prep method: Pre-chilled brew poured into plastic cup; small shot glass of (not enough) shit brown liquid sugar stirred vigorously, then combined; topped with a dash of organic milk. Coffee connoisseurs will dig this distinctly fragrant dark roast with chocolately undertones - we’re pretty sure it’s this brew they’re repping.

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7 - Dunkin’ Donuts

Dunkin’ Donuts
41-28 Queens Blvd (at 42nd St)
Sunnyside, NY 11104
(718) 361-6825

PRICE: $2.58

SCORE: 6.00/10

Our priciest of the day. D&D rivals Starbucks with new liquid sugar - unfortunately, their balance is off…WAY too sweet. A trusted product that’s earned the favor of NYC’s finest. Convenience may outweigh quality (two locations in Sunnyside), but it’s still the working man’s go-to cuppa’ joe. Bribery factor: Bases Loaded sticker game won us a $1.99 personal pizza.

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8 - La Flor Bakery & Cafe

La Flor Bakery & Cafe
53-02 Roosevelt Ave (at 53rd St)
Woodside, NY 11377
(718) 426-8023

PRICE: $1.50

SCORE: 6.00/10

Tied for cheapest of the day (with La Marjolaine and 52nd Station). Notably robust, dark brew with cumbersome sugar granules in an annoyingly wee to-go cup. Size wasn’t worth the price, but the quality was still solid. Our second and third bathroom stops, respectively.

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9 - Dave’s Bagels & Grill

Dave’s Bagels & Grill
43-20 Queens Blvd (b/w 43rd and 44th Sts)
Sunnyside, NY 11104
(718) 784-6222

PRICE: $2.00

SCORE: 5.50/10

The most exciting part was the bendy straw. Standard convenience store blend of nutty and creamy (too much milk). Overkilled by ice and stubborn grains of sugar that refused to dissolve. No matter what you order from Dave’s posse, they always manage to feign irritable. We chucked the last quarter of the watery brew.

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10 - Dee Thai Restaurant

Dee Thai Restaurant
46-17 Queens Blvd (b/w 46th and 47th Sts)
Sunnyside, NY 11104
(718) 786-3137

PRICE: $2.50

SCORE: 5.25/10

Thai iced coffee is a different beast than a regular Americano. Dense layer of syrupy cream and pungent coffee, and I swear I detected the effervescent fragrance of curry. Ungodly sweet, even by Thai standards. We grimaced through every gulp, which grew harder and harder to keep down… but Alec Baldwin sipping threw us into an amped-up fit of hysteria.

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11 - Alpha Donuts

Alpha Donuts
45-16 Queens Blvd (b/w 45th and 46th Sts)
Sunnyside, NY 11104

PRICE: $1.65

SCORE: 5.00/10

Small cup, a lot of ice. Cheap, weak brew with authentic greasy diner street cred on its side. Non-complex flavor that got weaker as the glacier within melted. Meh, just meh…

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12 - Aubergine Café

Aubergine Café
49-22 Skillman Ave (b/w 49th and 50th Sts)
Woodside, NY 11377
(718) 899-1735

PRICE: $1.90

SCORE: 5.00/10

In theory, Aubergine shoulda ranked higher. But their coffee’s really nothing special. Not particularly flavorful, not super weak. We pounced on liquid sugar at the self-serve counter (all the rage, comrade), but an abundance of waiting-to-melt ice ruined the balance almost immediately.

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13 - 52nd Station Coffee House

52nd Station Coffee House
51-11 43rd Ave (b/w 50th and 51st Sts)
Woodside, NY 11377
(718) 424-0302

PRICE: $1.50

SCORE: 4.25/10

A last-minute addition to the list after we determined that, since it has the word “Coffee” in its name, it would be hard to pass by. Fairly new Peruvian joint with only a faintly detectable aroma of kitty litter, coffee is passable for that neck of the woods but far from memorable. Standard pre-brewed and chilled, doused in more milk than necessary and relatively weak. Store owner hocks random glassware from a folding table out front.

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14 - The Grind

The Grind
39-24 Queens Blvd (at 39th Place)
Sunnyside, NY 11104
(718) 730-1050

PRICE: $2.00

SCORE: 4.25/10

The first stop of our adventure yielded milk-laden sugar water that grew colder and more disjointed as we sipped on. Snaps for liquid sugar, and they set the bar high on bendy straws. Unfortunately, little-to-no lingering coffee flava got us off to a disappointing start.

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Final note:

For the record, I got shat on.

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Methodology key: