Tin Cup and Cafeinado / Hammer Museums

CoffeeBeer >> Double Shot Buzz >>Tin Cup & Cafeinado

During my trip to America this year, after I spent two weeks with my sibling group in Bakersfield, my friend Mistah Rick came down to meet me, and we drove up to Fresno for a night so that we could visit my uncle before continuing on to the Bay Area. On the morning we took off from Bakersfield, we decided it would be good to get a bit up the road before we stopped for coffee and breakfast. So after doing a bit of online research we decided to try a coffee cafe located in the small city of Shafter, 23 miles northwest of Bakersfield, just off I-99.

When we reached Exit 37 we turned off and drove west, passing a seemingly endless series of suburban strip malls. We finally located the complete weirdness of Tin Cup Coffee. Passing by a seemingly endless boulevard of suburban strip malls we finally spotted a large building which appeared to be the only outstanding feature in Shafter. We were a bit confused about the incongruously vast car park, considering there were only a handful of customers in the cafe; but we later discovered that the cafe is connected to the Ford Theatre which hosts many events. The theatre is also run by the cafe owners.

As we walked in we passed old wagon carriages on display, and on one side of the cafe was a stage obviously for children’s entertainment, near a wall devoted to mothers. My “cortado" was served in a large paper cup filled to the brim with milk. Oh well, it was my first meal of the day, so I suppose the milk would be good for me. But my cortado looked just like Rick’s cappuccino. For breakfast Rick went for a yogurt granola strawberry parfait, and I had an Everything bagel with cream cheese.

After we ordered our coffee and pastries, we sat at a window counter where we had a view of the Adept Dental Group, Adventist Health, and a taqueria , proving there was at least one other place in Shafter to eat.

Apparently the city of Shafter began as a loading dock and post office for the Santa Fe Railroad in 1898. Named for General William Rufus Shafter, a key figure in the Spanish Civil War. Shafter was incorporated in 1938 and became a city in 1995. It’s currently the safest city in the Central Valley, but according to the AI on my phone, it has a higher property crime rate than the national average.

Besides the items we had, Tin Cup has a big food menu, offering paninis and wraps, salads, oatmeal, breakfast burritos, avocado toast, biscuits and gravy. The coffee they use is from Bakersfield’s own Covenant Roasters, who provide jobs for former foster youth. And the Ford Theater has various facilities the public can hire, including an event hall, a conference room, and a private gathering room. So the place definitely seems to be a needed centre for the community.

When I was still in Bakersfield, my adopted brother Kim and I drove all the way across town one afternoon to have a couple of pints. It was a sizzlingly hot triple-digit afternoon, as is common in Bakersfield in June, and before driving all the way back we decided to stop for a quick shot of something caffeinated, so we stopped at a drive-through espresso place called, appropriately enough, Cafeinado. When we pulled up and parked, we saw that there was outdoor seating, but somehow the air conditioning in Kim’s truck sounded like a much more appealing environment.

I hopped out and made my way through what felt like the infernal fires of hell until I reached the very normal and friendly take-out window, where I bought two double macchiatos. When I took them back to the truck, I was so overcome by the heat that I ended up spilling some of mine in my lap. But what I did manage to get down me was quite good, and it did help rouse us enough for the process of getting home and out of the heat.

Aside from coffee drinks, Cafeinado also sells things to eat including sandwiches and bagels (which appear to be heavy on the meat options), Hawaiian bread, French toast, grillers, and chilaquilas, also heavy on the meat, although there is a grilled cheese with jalapeno and bacon, which I’m sure you could get without the bacon. Drinkwise they offer a lot of sweet things including horchatas, agua fresca, and Mexican style coffees (including iced versions, which is what I probably should have ordered). I can’t think of much else to say about this place, except that it is a handy place over on the brewery-rich but coffee-barren west side of Bakersfield. And it’s most definitely not Starbucks, which is always a good thing. Apparently if you sit outside on a hot day, you can enjoy the misters, which we didn’t know about, but we will next time. What fun to sit in the shade on a blistering hot day, sipping an iced cappuccino, with a cooling mist blowing all over you. It makes me think of those days in my youth when we’d prop a hose with the sprinkler attachment up in a tree, turn it on, and sit underneath it. Yes, I know, it does seem like a waste of water; but for just a little while, it’s heaven.

Speaking of unique experiences reminds me of a very recent and extremely short WhatsApp exchange with my Bay Area friend, who has been spending several weeks travelling through Alaska with his girlfriend:

Following an afternoon yesterday on the Gustavus ferry, a last night on the outskirts of Juneau, and another crack-of-dawn departure on the ferry northward to Haines, we are done shuttling around on the water for now. This afternoon we had time to witness a very popular fishing area on the Chilcoot River where it drains from Chilcoot Lake. Frisky salmon are constantly jumping, fishermen wade in the middle of the stream, bald eagles perch high on spruce trees, and brown bears are known to wander out of the woods to steal your catch. People are instructed, "Do not forfeit fish to bears. Let's not teach bears that anglers provide them an easy meal."

After we grabbed a nice pizza in town we walked over to Haines Brewing for my first good chance to taste an Alaskan beer on the premises. As we were leaving, we realised that we had missed a chance to explore the Hammer Museum down the block. Well, maybe in a few weeks when we again pass through Haines. You'll definitely have to check out the Hammer Museum on your way back. I've visited the Hammer Collection in LA near Eileen's house, but it was just all modern art. But a museum that features actual hammers? And, according to their website, 2,500 of them? I'd be so excited.