Stops We Love: SubAlpine Coffee
(2015) This one feels like cheating. When I do a write-up about a stop, it means I hoofed it to the location via the trusty steed and people watched with my cycling gear on. If one were to regard my previous article, one would realize the weather did not cooperate in the Adirondacks for a bike ride. As a matter of fact, it became a matter of safety. Sadly this coffee visit was vehicle aided.
The counter from the glassed-in porch.
Staying in Keene, NY is enjoyable. If we were to stay in Lake Placid it makes it a bit more difficult to head down the hill for fourteen miles just for a cup of coffee. The evil green and white S that leaves me deciding to not have coffee altogether dominates Lake Placid itself. So when I got wind of a new coffee shop a couple miles yonder in the town of Keene Valley, I decided it would be a good way to take my mind off the constant question, “How about if I went riding now?”
SubAlpine Coffee is tucked into a corner of the hamlet of Keene Valley. When coming into town from Route 87 it’s easy to miss. It’s part of a resurgent lot that once housed a hopeful gas station and garage. Sometimes that gas station saved me. Now I have to plan farther ahead. Today it’s replaced by the coffee shop and the Keene Valley Fitness Center.
The cement countertop and the back tables.
Upon walking into the shop the newness wafts over one. My first spy was the bottle of Battenkill Creamery chocolate milk. I yanked that out of the refrigerator like it was the last bottle on earth. Scanning the scene it was of a house-turned-coffee-shop that established a welcoming environment.
It had a concrete wrap-around bar. Several tables were in the back. Two high top tables were in the finished porch. The coffee came in big glasses. I like reusable glasses. This place did it right. An order of cappuccino was also ordered as well as a chocolate chip bar that finished the visit off nicely.
Strangely this place has its own Kombucha tap. One can walk out of the shop with a standard bottle or a growler of the tea. People must be in love with this stuff in Keene Valley. I’ll admit I’ve not had it, but that’s not to say it’s sitting on the door of my fridge regularly. It just means someone else in the house drinks it.
The Kombucha taps (note the growlers behind).
In the end I decided not to ride in the weather. If it wasn’t raining, it was snowing. If it wasn’t snowing, it was glare off of the roadway that could lead to some nervous over-the-shoulder glances at approaching traffic. With this new coffee shop in Keene Valley it could be worth the ride down from Lake Placid in the future instead of turning toward the speed road of 9N which is flat considering the surroundings. Perhaps this can lead to the exploration of new Adirondack roads on another trip inside the Blue Line. If that’s the case, then the coffee shop’s presence is indeed a good one. Hopefully they’ll have installed a bike rack by then.
