Best Cup of Coffee 2008

The City Paper's Best of Baltimore Dining Art by Mel Guapo.

It's not too far past midnight and I'm sitting here in a mixture of feeling stoked and shocked - all at the same time.

The Spro has won the City Paper's Best of Baltimore 2008 "Best Cup of Coffee."

Wow.

Holy Shit.

Part of me wants to kneel down and Thank the Lord. Part of me wants to cry. Part of me wants to jump up and down. Part of me wants to streak naked down the streets of Towson. I'm struck with a sense of accomplishment. After all, it's been nearly ten years since we started Jay's Shave Ice in a little shack in Timonium producing the highest quality product that we possibly could - and consistently being ignored by our local press. I'll admit, it was a bitter pill to swallow every year that the Best of... came out and we were never listed.

And it was just a few weeks ago that we were profiled in Baltimore Magazine, not to mention the book Coffee Drinks being released and a mention in one of the Mexico City dailies, it's been a media busy few weeks for us at The Spro.

It's like it's all coming at once.

But none of this is possible without a great team backing you and making it all happen. Not to mention a group of people whose work and toil were built upon, culminating in today's recognition. People like Al and Polly and our parents, who helped us get started oh so long ago. A legion of hard-working staffers at Jay's Shave Ice - many of whom we are still friends with today. Mentors like John Sanders and the crew at Hines. Coffee friends like Nick Cho, Daryn Berlin and Jon Lewis, who have inspired and helped us along the way. And, of course, our very hard-working barista team at The Spro: Arianna, Glenn, Beta, Ruth, Katie, Cristy, Ana and Allie. Not to mention Jennifer Haire and the wonderful people at the Baltimore County Public Library who've welcomed us into their home.

Hard to believe, but surprisingly incredibly satisfying.

I guess I'll be going to the Best of Baltimore Party on Thursday night...