Dropped in to do some writing today at a newer coffee shop in the area. Chapelure is a coffee shop/pastry shop that is on the east side of MSU's campus. I've never ventured there. With the addition of the Heights at Eastwood Town Center on the north side of Lansing, Chapelure added a new location.

As I walked in the place is very spacious and very hip looking. Plenty of table space to park for awhile, though, some of the seats are missing power. Luckily, I had the place to myself. Had a nice comfy chair and a giant table all to myself. Not as cool of a table as Lula's, but certainly room for 8 if I wanted to have a party.

When I walked in I asked if I could run a tab. The counter peeps looked befuddled a bit and then said no. Its ok, I guess. Just more receipts I need to turn into my wife. If I weren't a rookie here, I would have double ordered to save them and me some time and paper.

First order was a standard latte with a shot of mint. Not bad. Nothing was scalded, which is a good thing. The barista actually stayed at the espresso machine while steaming the milk and pulling the shot. Latte was a little weak/thin. Don't know if that's because of the beans or the pull or a combination of both. They certainly didn't measure the weight of the shot as they were packing it. This is one of the reasons why Strange Matter is the top of my list in Lansing. Cara and her crew allow coffee to be the main attraction, and it is always done exceptionally!

Second order was a regular coffee. Here is the downfall of the place in my opinion. When I asked what they had on tap, they said they had "House Blend." Asked for a shot to try, which they were open to doing. As they were doing that, I asked what else they had. Their response was a bunch of flavors, which I could have gotten in a french press. I guess they get a point for actually mentioning a single origin coffee that they didn't have, though they only mentioned the country. Flavored coffee is not coffee, nor am I fan of the french grit, so I opted for the house. I could have drank it black, but it was a little bitter, so I hit it with a little cream. It was the worth the $1 refill charge.

Unfortunately for this place, I witnessed a crime against coffee while I was parked. One of the counter people was making a new batch of "House Brew." She pulled out a tupperware of coffee (no no #1), pulled the designated plastic measuring cup, scooped, leveled it off, and ground. No weight measurement (no no #2). Sad coffee. Even if it had a chance as "House Blend," it lost all its opportunity at the leveling off process before going into the 2 gallon brewer (no no #3). Even more, I'm sure if I had wanted to talk coffee with the counter people, we wouldn't have much to talk about.

The shop does offer handmade pastries. The display was very beautiful and looked crazy good. However, I'm trying to control my sugar/carb intake because I want my pancreas to love me and last a long time. If you are in the mood for a pastry and some average coffee, this place will scratch the itch.

The high point of the place was the blazing fast internet--which is one of the ways one should judge a coffee joint. If I'm going to park, that means I'm going to work. To work I need the net. Chapelure's speed test was 180meg up and down. Yes, 180meg. Up and down! Makes me dream of the day when I have fibre access at my house and at my office. Granted, I'll only need that speed to watch the speed tests...but it would be awesome.

OVERALL RATING: 6/10
Coffee - 4/10
Staff - 3/10
Seating - 6/10
Atmosphere - 8/10
Internet - 10/10