Cafe du Monde Coffee Review

Cafe du Monde in New Orleans is famed for their coffee and donuts, although they use a fancy French name for them, "beignets." Worth it or hype? Investigative reporter and coffee fiend Ted investigated during a New Orleans trip on Jan 2011.

Seriously though, I was there for a conference and had a chance to visit the original coffee shop on Decatur Street. This isn't a review or commentary on their packaged coffee you can buy just about anywhere in New Orleans, but of primarily of the coffee and also the coffee shop because just like frog legs taste different in the swamp than in a fancy French restaurant, the taste of coffee is influenced by environment.

First, the coffee. It's good, quite good. It's not an especially dark roast at all, as I expected, but a rich and deep full flavored flavored coffee with nutty tones and a creamy mouthfeel and taste. I didn't do back flips over it, but it is very good.

The coffee is blended with a little chicory, traditional French Roast style. This adds just a little and barely perceptible bitterness that counterbalances the sweetness of the beignets well, and is fine without them as well. Let's get something straight: this is NOT flavored coffee (which I think sucks personally), but a traditional way of preparing coffee in France and New Orleans too I'm told.. No chemicals are added to impart an unnatural flavor to substandard beans as is the case with most flavored coffee (hey, if you like flavored coffee, that's cool too - it's all about what you like!). Cafe du Monde Coffee is very good coffee!

Their biggest seller seems to be Cafe au Lait, coffee with a lot of milk, warm milk, added. I ordered black coffee to better get the coffee taste, the only other choice. They didn't seem to have any cream about, but gladly added a dollop of milk to my cup.

The tables are a pretty good place to sit and hang out in New Orleans, and although some people complain the service can truly suck, it was fine when I was there and service was friendly. Quite possibly this may be as it was cold, extremely cold for locals and many tourists too.

The "take out" window is a small hole you talk through and lines reportedly get very long, although were non existent during my trip, probably because of the temperature. It would be worth waiting in line maybe 10 minutes, but certainly not 45 minutes like some people report. The local service creatures inside the small take out hole are friendly, efficient, and primarily female.

The beignets? They are very good, the best I've had. They are square French donuts, served warm and sold by the three pack, and covered in powdered sugar. People rave about them and they are worth trying, even if they are not your typical kind of thing. But let's be serious folks, they're just donuts! Damn good donuts, but donuts just the same. They do go very well with the coffee.

Cafe du Monde gets a positive review. If nearby, it's worth a visit. And if you are tired of getting Bourbon Faced on Shit Street, it's very nearby.