The Little Podcast of Kalamazoo - Fourth Coast Cafe - Coffee shop review

The green canopies of the Fourth Coast Cafe jut out from the old brick building near the corner of Vine street and Westnedge avenue in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The only twenty-four hour cafe in the city and, as far as I know, in the state is a social hub for a community of college students, alumni, free thinkers, and everyone else. It's a shining beacon of warmth and caffeine in even the darkest and coldest nights. The side door might be closed in the winter, but the front door is never locked.

As I enter through the glass door, the scent of coffee mingles with the smell of the street and the smoke of a couple on the sidewalk talking about politics, philosophy, and the latest additions to their record collections. To the right of the stairway, which leads up to the Crow's Nest restaurant, is another glass door which swings into the cafe. My ears are treated to snippets of conversations ranging from chess moves to stories of drunken debauchery. To my left, a barista turns on an industrial sized coffee grinder as another presses levers on a well used espresso machine, eliciting a low hiss as espresso fills a tiny metal cup. The place smells of old art, new coffee, fresh tea, and human energy. This coffee shop is where people come to meet with old friends and new minds. This is where they come to plan, and at times even create, new works of poetry, drawings, novels, and everything else which breaths life into life. This place is the living breath of Kalamazoo.

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I add a little sugar to my drink and fall in love with the dull clank of the spoon against the thick walls of the tall glass cups the cafe uses. I look around and see that my usual table, in the center of the room,  is taken, so I make my way to the bar stools and take a seat there. The chairs are surprisingly comfortable for being simple wooden seats. It's clear that the cafe knows well that people come here to stay for long periods at a time.