Compass Coffee — Restaurant in Arlington

A really good cold brew! If you're anywhere in the DC area near a Compass Coffee during springtime, then you must try their Cherry Blossom Cold Brew. This beautiful pink coffee drink has the flavor of cherry vanilla. It's a limited offering that is basically their classic cold brew that is topped with their house-made vanilla and pink cherry blossom syrups. It's unique, and very good. I think the cherry blossom syrup gives it the pink color.

Some of the the other menu items are the mint cold brew, turmeric honey latte, lavender latte, and so much more that may also be seasonal. They have different teas as well. You can also get a cold brew growler which I thought was cool. I didn't see any K-Cups there, but I ended up purchasing some online just to try the coffee. The Waypoint dark roast coffee is very good. You get free shipping on orders over $35. I would have bought them at the store but I didn't see any.

I love the bi-level layout of this shop in Rosslyn. There weren't many people there at 7:00am. I was told that many people still work at home. But, people are slowly getting back to the morning commute again. I sat downstairs near the fireplace and had a nice view of the city streets. I headed upstairs just to see what was there. It's a very large space. Plenty of places to plug in to work, or to study. There's even a large room in the back for groups and meetings. Lots of different types of seating as well.

This coffee roaster is local to DC, and was founded by 2 Marines so it's a Veteran-owned company. I didn't know any of this when I was visiting the Rosslyn area. I was just happy to see a local coffee shop that was close to the Hyatt Centric hotel. A coffee shop that is not the usual Starbucks. A place that makes their own simple syrup. A good staff who work quickly to get your drink made in a reasonable amount of time. It was a...

Look at bottom for Bean review!!

Ambiance: 5 Stars. This is really a perfect coffee shop to do work in, and great interior design. The tins are also aesthetic, but more about this in the bean section.

Service: 4 stars. It’s really 50/50 whether I get somebody that’s happy and excited to talk to me about the coffees available. Sometimes they can be dismissive and generally sad. For context, I usually go in around 6:30 when there is no line so I can pick out beans to take home. It’s the end of the day – you can’t expect everybody to maintain high energy. The vibe is probably different as a morning coffee shop.

Beans: 2 stars. I’ve been consistently disappointed with their beans ever since they took the “Roast Date” off their tins. Yes the tins a beautiful, but they are pushing old, oily coffee. Everything is overstocked to look beautiful, so almost nothing is fresh. The coffee is also expensive for only 12oz – you get much better value out of something like Counter Culture. They should really put the “roast date” back on the tins.

My latest bean - First Bake – was truly awful. The tin had a layer of oily sludge at the bottom because the beans were burnt to a crisp. “Dark roast” is an understatement.

Cardinal is a good medium roast – kinda hard to dial in on an espresso machine because of the oils. Since even their mediums are oily too (oils decrease as the roast gets lighter), my best guess is that they aren’t cooling the beans fast enough after the roasting process.

I’ll be looking into other roasters going forward. That being said, a great coffee shop for when...

Before May 31st when the union was announced this was one of the highlights of my morning commute. I recognized every barista and manager by face and was in the shop so often I almost picked up on the shift schedules. I never had a bad experience in the 2 years I’ve been coming here. It was both a welcoming / gracious way to start the morning and a great efficient spot for coffee before hopping on the metro.

When the call for the union started, my first plan of action was to boycott the mobile app as preferred by the unionizing staff, but with each visit the atmosphere, product, and service has become unrecognizable and an outright embarrassment of its former self.

Last week I stopped in and I recognized only one of the baristas I’ve come to consider a constant in the morning. Her defeated face said everything it needed to without a word being said. I felt enraged. I took my last completely rotten cold brew poured by untrained incompetent new “staff” and threw it in the trashcan outside.

I wish I could still support the baristas I’ve quietly grown to know but I recognize my consumer dollar is a powerful tool in the equation. I’ll be taking my daily $10 (a privilege in this economy) elsewhere. Hope others choose the same.

If the union terms were met and the issues were resolved without any retaliation to the baristas, I would return as a daily customer.

Stay strong friends and absolutely shame disgusting greedy management who get in the way of...