Shock Talk in SoHo.

Shock Coffee president Jeffery Rosen talks shop-coffee shop-with the New York Daily News. Read about the expanding New York coffee culture, coffee for kids, and chewable coffee.

A shop in SoHo adds yet another jolt to NYC

September 13, 2006 - Alessi may be famous for its iconic whistling teakettle, but as of today, it's going into the coffee business.

A sleek espresso bar has opened in Alessi's flagship store at 130 Greene St. in SoHo. It's run by the same people who own the two Joe coffee shops, famous for their fanatical baristas who grind their beans to order for absolute freshness.

At Joe at Alessi, New Yorkers will be encouraged to stand, Italian style, at the 16-foot coffee bar to down their espresso drinks, prepared with the help of a gleaming $14,000 La Marzocco machine from Italy.

"It's going to take some getting used to for people who like sitting in coffee shops," says spokesman Michael Gitter. One perk of standing at the bar is being able to watch the Joe baristas, known for putting artistic flourishes in their latte foam.

As at the other Joes, the store will soon offer coffee classes. "Coffee Sense" courses are also being taught by illy every Tuesday through Oct. 3, at the Time Warner Center as part of illy's "Beauty Has a Taste" exhibit. The exhibit, a celebration of all things coffee, will showcase an array of highfalutin espresso machines, as well as photos of coffee growers worldwide.

"Coffee's appeal just keeps on growing," says Jeffrey Rosen, president of Shock Coffee, based in Woodside, Queens. Rosen, who calls his coffee hypercaffeinated (they select arabica and robusta beans with high caffeine content), says, "people are becoming as knowledgeable and picky about coffee as they are about wine."

At the same time, coffee is becoming more and more appealing to the younger set. "Kids who used to drink sodas for breakfast are now drinking coffee," says Rosen, whose company motto is "sleep is overrated."

Indeed, more and more coffee-flavored products seem to target youth, including Rosen's own line of Shock-A-Lots chocolate-covered coffee beans. "Each bag has the equivalent of two cups of coffee," he says.

First there was Coca-Cola Blak, cola with coffee essence. Newer products include General Mills' Caribou Coffee granola bars - coffee you can chew (eww). This year, Wrigley test-marketed a Doublemint Kona Creme gum at some 7-Elevens. (The gum is no longer on shelves.)

But it's not all about the jolt. Several beauty-product companies have launched coffee-flavored lip balms and glosses, including Bare Escentuals' i.d. Buzz Latte Lip Balm. And when Van Gogh introduced its coffee-flavored vodkas, it launched a decaf version as well, for those who don't like to mix their vices.

And Patrón has introduced a coffee-flavored tequila, XO Cafe. It packs a percolator's punch in its frosted bottle.