I have decided that my new hobby is trying out new coffee shops. You laugh, but I am being quite serious. Hey, Nancy my counselor at L’Abri said I needed a hobby! Puzzling is great, but sometimes it’s just not very convenient.
So I am very serious about finding THE best white chocolate mocha in Indianapolis. After I figure that out, I will go on to Skinny Vanilla Lattes, and after that, the best brewed coffee. So I go out armed with my handy (though not always trustworthy GPS) and google to find that “best coffee place”. I think I may have found it already, but I continue trying. Hint: It’s not Starbucks. 
Most of the time I am going alone because — well, not a lot of my friends have the freedom that I have or the other ones don’t have the passion for coffee that I have and would find it boring (and I don’t want to listen to complaining about coffee shops — they are my happy place) As a side note, I am finding it interesting to see how people react to the single person coming in and that is definitely a factor in how I rate them. Though, still, if any of my friends would like to join me in my quest, I shall welcome it.
The other day I tried out Monon Coffee Company located in Broad Ripple. The first strike against it was parking. 
There was only street parking. I happened across as one person was leaving. I parallel parked, which I’m okay not. I am not great, but I am okay at. I like ease of parking. I did go around 6:30 pm, though, and it was Broad Ripple so perhaps at other times it’s not so bad.
Once inside, it was largish, but not overwhelming, and there were a fair amount of people. It was your typical “Broad Ripple” fare. The gentleman at the counter was very nice and friendly. They were having issues with the espresso machine, but that’s okay. I seem to have that affect on espresso machines, for some reason.
The price was decent. $3.67 (?) for a large WC mocha. The downside to that,though, is unlike all of the other coffee shops that I have tried, they only provide one shot for that price. I did end up getting another shot for free this time because of the machine not working quite right, but I am glad that I asked. For this quest of mine, I am getting all of them large and those generally are two shots, if not three. So if you choose to have another shot added, it would be more.
BONUSES: They have a “frequent shopper” card. I am not sure why more places do not do this. . If I’m going to be spending money on coffee, why not have it adding up to a free one? They also have gluten-free snacks. Granted, they were completely out of every.single. one. BUT…they had options of four different things, if they were in stock. I meant to ask when they would be re-stocked, but I forgot. The prices on the gluten-free was very reasonable (for gluten-free things!)
So overall, I don’t know that I will be going back, simply because it wasn’t that easy to get to for me and sadly they did not have the best WC Mocha. So far I would rate it 7th out of the ones that I have tried. If I were walking on the Monon with a friend though, I can definitely see myself going there or perhaps if I ever got a bike. The barista was friendly. It was clean. They have funky coffee shop humourous comics. (I like places that make me laugh.) Plus, they are doing what — ever since I became gluten-free — have thought that funky coffee shops should do, and that is provide allergen-free things to eat. I have been surprised that I have not seen this at any of the other shops. So that is a definite plus in their favor.
