My wife and I decided to venture out of Charleston to Huntington, the home of our alma mater, Marshall University, to try out a new coffee shop we heard about. We jumped in the car with our tiniest child and got on our way to Grindstone Coffeeology.
When we pulled up, we were immediately struck by their use of a shipping container to house extra seating and a deck. They have a beautiful shiplap exterior, with nice signage, giving the shop a modern feel. When we went inside, we were immediately welcomed by two smiling employees, the aroma of fresh ground coffee beans, and baked goods. They have a rather extensive menu, but we managed to narrow it down to an iced dirty chai latte, a cold brew (black only), and a blueberry muffin to keep our tiny terror at bay.
The blueberry muffin was a little dry, but it really did not matter with the flavor it packed. There was a wonderful crumble topping sat atop this baked good which had a clean, blueberry driven, flavor. Our tiny tornado seemed to enjoy it as much as my wife and I did.
My wife’s iced latte was flavorful, without being overly sweet (a pet peeve of hers). The added espresso (the dirty portion) did not crowd the taste of the tea whatsoever. If you like a semi-sweet drink, give this a shot (obvious espresso pun intended).
My cold brew was fantastic. As someone who drinks cold brew coffee more often than I probably should (**sips while typing**), I can tell you that many places try to pass off iced coffee as cold brew; this is not one of those places. By cold steeping the coffee beans you release a lot of the flavors, without the bitterness that comes with your normal cup of Joe. This was one of, if not the most, smooth cold brews I have ever had.
The coffee shop was clean, and the seating inside the storage container was awesome. In fact, you would never know you were in one if you did not catch a glimpse of it outside. A lot of attention went into the construction of this place, all the way down to installing electrical outlets with USB chargers built in. All in all, we decided we absolutely would make the trip back down for more of their coffee based drinks, and we will probably leave with a bag of beans or two next time.