Bob Peyton’s sleek espresso bar in formerly foreboding Alphabet City is a magnet for caffeine-starved hipsters. And me…decidedly not a hipster. Still, I like their espresso – a lot – and I like their music. I was glad to hear the Strokes’ “Take it or Leave It” and Nirvana’s “Dumb” fill the room. Given the killer combination, I wasn’t surprised to discover Peter Meehan recently selected Ninth Street Espresso as one of the city’s top espresso bars, in a recent New York Times write-up.

Peyton’s counter features a Synesso espresso machine. He starts with Counter Culture Coffee beans, imported from Durham, North Carolina. According to Meehan, Peyton uses exactly 21 grams of coffee for each 2 to 2¼ ounce shot of espresso. He uniformly applies 30 pounds of pressure to the grounds and brews the coffee at precisely 203 degrees. Peyton is that committed to brewing the perfect espresso. The baristas are then gauged by the amount of leaf- or fern-shaped fronds they can artfully pour using milk. Peyton has supposedly poured a 28-leaf “rosetta,” though none of my drinks topped a dozen.

The Ninth Street Espresso employees refer to themselves as “the pirates” and even hang a black pirate flag, sporting a cup and saucer logo. The pirates have come up with some funny rules, which are framed near the counter. I especially like “Be Nice or Go Home” and “Unattended children will be given an espresso and a free dog.”

We split a Macchiato ($2.75) – equal parts espresso and milk; and a Latte ($3.75) – more milk; the drinks were easily some of the best I’ve had, so smooth, they didn’t require any sugar. They were also topped with some lovely “latte art.” And check out the pin in the middle; they’re free at the counter and sport Ninth Street’s “pirate” logo.

We were already fully caffeinated, but we couldn’t resist splitting a Cappuccino ($3.50) with milk and foam. Delicious. If you’re scoring at home, that makes Ninth Streeet 3 for 3.

Ninth Street Espresso is out of the way, but well worth a sojourn. With a huge window and plenty of natural light, it’s also a relaxing place to sit and read the paper. And the music is hard to beat. Plus, despite the pirate theme, the staff is incredibly friendly. Even better, they’re opening a second location on January 5, 2007, at 136 E. 13th Street, around the corner from Union Square.

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This entry is filed under Coffeehouse, New York City.