frequently asked questions (updated June 2006)

Q: Why "murky coffee?"
A: See "About Us"

Q: What makes your coffee so good?
A: Total commitment to the best quality possible. For those who've known us over our few years in existence, we've made significant changes on more than one occasion to our coffee. Each change represents a new step in our own knowledge and education in coffee and espresso.
But what drives us more than anything is our love for people. Coffee is important, only because people are important. We care too much not to seek the best of the best in coffee for our people... that means you.

Q: Who roasts your coffee?
A: Counter Culture Coffee in Durham, North Carolina.

Q: What kind of equipment do you use?
A: Our espresso machine is a 3-group semiautomatic La Marzocco Linea. Our coffee brewers are FETCO Extractor Series. For espresso grinders, Mazzer/Rio Normales. For drip brew coffee, Malhkonig grinders.

Oh, and Apple Computers are the official computers of murky coffee.

Q: What about your other stuff?
A: Our breakfast pastries are from Hawthorne Fine Breakfast Pastries in Severna Park, Maryland. Our evening pastries (in Arlington) are from Dolce Europa, an Italian pastry importer. Flavored syrups are from Stirling Gourmet Flavors. Our juices are delivered fresh, twice a week from Naked Juice. Teas are from Intelligentsia Tea Traders, Chicago, IL.

Q: Do you have Wi-Fi?
A: Yes. At both shops. Speeds are about 3-4 mbps downstream, 384-768 kbps up. No filesharing or other bandwidth hogging, or you will be drawn and quartered!

Q: Are you owned by Starbucks?
A: Yes, we are. I mean, no. No, we're not.

Q: Any 'house rules' at murky?
A: The only real rule right now is that you can't sleep, or appear to be sleeping, in the shop. Other stuff is common sense stuff, like don't wet the bed. Oh, actually, there's one more rule, but it's not really a rule, because it's more about enforcing an existing rule. If you play Monopoly, you MUST know that the $500 in the middle that you get if you land on "Free Parking" is NOT a bonafide Monopoly rule. Neither is the "you have to go around the board once before you can start buying property" rule. Know your Monopoly rules. That's the rule, buster.

Q: Are you gonna renovate the shop?
A: Yes. To be honest, neither shop is really, appearance and facility-wise, what our vision for the greatest coffeebars in the world are. We're in the early stages of planning renovations. For now, the plans include new flooring throughout both shops, new paint throughout, and central A/C and heat in Arlington. Updates to the exterior of the Arlington shop require approval from the historic preservation board. That was just an FYI.

Q: What's with the off-limits green room in Arlington?
A: It's our training and cupping lab. We know of no other two-shop coffeebar company anywhere in the world (that isn't roasting coffee) that has a dedicated training room and full-time coffee-quality manager and trainer. Why do we? Because it makes your coffee better.

Q: Did you know that Phil Collins's "In The Air Tonight" was written about this guy who drowned and...
A: It's a lie. Read about it here.

Q: Can I buy wholesale coffee from you for our business?
A: No.

Q: Please?
A: No, but we'd be more than happy to help you get in touch with our roaster. They can take care of you much better than we ever could.

Q: Why the obsession with "Napoleon Dynamite?"
A: Because, "I see that you're drinking 1%. Is that cuz you think you're fat? Cuz you're not. You could be drinking whole if you wanted to," might be the greatest line in all of cinema. Yeah... it's either that one, or, "But my lips hurt real bad!"

Q: Can I/my band play at murky coffee?
A: We're currently trying to develop our live musician program.  In the mean time, shoot us an e-mail.

Q: How can I get my art displayed?
A: For now, until we can get a coordinator in place, email us at art2006@murkycoffee.com.

Q: What's with all the laptops?
A: Blame yourself. You're probably reading this on a laptop yourself. Seriously though, we're happy to continue to offer free wi-fi for our customers. If you're reading this, please know that we do prefer that at the Arlington shop, laptop-people find seating upstairs. Just a preference, that's all. A secret preference. Like how Kennedy preferred blondes. Shhhh!

Q: I have a group/church/party/class/family/cult that wants to have a meeting/get-together/party/rave/tournament/flashmob... who do I contact?
A: We do NOT reserve rooms or tables for groups. There is currently one group that meets on a regular basis for whom we accomodate 'reserving' the upstairs, but that's all for now. Otherwise, we're happy to accomodate your group. Feel free to, in the nicest way, ask people to relocate themselves to another table or seat so that your group can fit in a particular space. That's the best we can do. Aaight?

Q: Do you have a site feed?
A: Is THIS a site feed? If so, then yes. If not, then yes, but we don't know where it is.

More FAQ's coming soon.

Have any more questions?  E-mail us.