Lambertville Trading Company, Lambertville, NJ

Some miscommunication along with map and timing issues found our group coffee-less at the end of our Peddler’s Village visit.

Because coffee and/or dessert are crucial to the end of an awesome day with family or friends, we all pulled out our phones* and began searching out our options.

*What on earth did we do before smartphones?

Only about ten minutes from Peddler’s Village is Lambertville, NJ, which you may recall from this  Coffeehouse Adventure.

We were greeted by a brightly lit menorah and a beautifully trimmed Christmas tree as we walked towards the sweet sustenance we were craving.

I was particularly excited because this was an impromptu visit to Lambertville Trading Company (LTC), one of the coffeehouses on The List.

We arrived a half hour before they closed–not my favorite thing to do to baristas, especially one all by herself for the night. Though my years in retail were few, I worked enough to know that the last half hour of the night is when you hope for no customers, a quick and easy close and a fifteen minute head start on going home.

As with most of the coffeehouses in Coffeehouse Adventures, LTC is a cash only establishment.*

They offer so much more than just coffee, hence the ‘trading company’ part of their name. They have coffee related items, as well as a handful of different varieties of gourmet chocolate bars. Yum.

*We were lucky that Lance’s Uncle Gordon was treating.

Some of us were a little more excited than others about our coffee fix…

…alright, to be fair, if the camera was pointed at me that is the same face I would have been making.

As has been my effort in the last couple of Coffeehouse Adventures, I ordered their house blend. For how late it was in the night, I expected the coffee to taste old, lukewarm or worse. I was pleasantly surprised to find my coffee not only still piping hot, but it had the beautiful, smooth, light flavor I crave. Lance ordered an iced vanilla latte and though the sweetness was clearly present, it was a pleasant sweetness that didn’t overpower the espresso.

My family members made fun of me because I was a tad bit excited about being there, so I also became a tad bit familiar with the barista.

When ordering my Oreo bar I called her ‘Buddy’.

I didn’t mean to offend, I was simply so excited about not only finding coffee but also about the tempting look of this chocolately treasure that I allowed my emotions to flow over to the barista.

She was a good sport though and didn’t seem to mind, even though Uncle Gordon and Sam called me out real good on my high level of comfort.

We later learned that her name is actually Cassie, though for the rest of the night she was ‘Buddy’. We also discovered through a series of questioning delivered by yours truly that she loves her job as a barista at LTC.

Uncle Gordon bought me a pound of the house blend and despite my indecision, she willingly and happily ground the beans for me when I finally decided ten minutes later that yes, I wanted them ground. I also learned that there isn’t a single thing she dislikes about her job.

Sounds like a great place to work if you ask me.

Thanks for putting up with me, Cassie. You made our night even more enjoyable.

Just this morning I brewed a pot of my delicious LTC House Blend and am happy to say it is just as delicious as it was there in the coffeehouse that night.