One of the coffeehouses on The List is five minutes away from Lance’s work. Five minutes! A five minute drive to pure coffee heaven. Can you believe it? If I worked there, it would not be good for me financially. It also might not be good for our relationship, but that’s another story.
We went to Rockn’ Joe this past winter and then again last week when I was up to visit Hubby for the Food Truck Frenzy. I loved it in the winter, and I loved it even more in the summer.
The outside of the building sang softly of beauty and comfort. The open windows of the shop were a particularly pleasant touch. While inside there were a few pairs of friends meeting up for a cup of coffee, I loved that the outside area was filled with people reading and enjoying their Rockn’ Joe.*
*Note: This was the Cranford location, however, there are five Rockn’ Joe’s in New Jersey.
On my first visit to Rockn’ Joe, I ordered a Caramel XTC which involved their homemade caramel sauce. Delicious. It will make you rethink that Caramel Macchiato you always order at Starbucks. On our more recent visit, I went with a cappuccino. The cappuccino had more milk than a typical cappuccino, but I prefer mine more wet, so I had no complaint. Lance ordered an iced vanilla latte and it was possibly the best iced espresso drink I’ve ever experienced. It wasn’t overly sweetened and had a perfect balance of milk and espresso. I was a little jealous.
While the coffee is truly wonderful at Rockn’ Joe, it is the food that I think will keep me coming back. While they have sandwiches, salads, and other specialties that I would love to try (the croissant French toast sounds incredible) it is the baked goods that sold me. The first time we went I ordered their crumb cake which is a monster piece of crumb cake better than any crumb cake you’ve experienced in your life. Many crumb cakes are either too dry or the ratio of crumble to cake is too even. At Rockn’ Joe, the cake is moist and the crumble perfection.
On this most recent trip, though I desperately wanted another piece of heaven’s crumb cake, I decided to try their coffee roll, and I was certainly glad I did.
We went later in the afternoon, so of course, my coffee roll hadn’t been made within the hour of our arrival. In most cases, a baked good like this would require some nuking to regain the moist and soft texture that such a treat should have. However, this coffee roll had a thin layer of sugary moistness on the bottom that even now is making me drool, and it was light and full of flavor throughout.
If you find yourself around North Jersey, or if you happen to be visiting my Hubby at work, make sure you check out a Rockn’ Joe. The coffee, the treats, and the environment all make this a coffeehouse I wish were around the corner from our home.
Leave a Reply