A NYC coffee company stirred up an unexpectedly steep controversy last week by moving its cinnamon shakers from the condiment bar to behind the counter.
Bleary-eyed employees of Culture Espresso, Culture 307 and Culture 36 arrived at 6 a.m. on April 17 to open up shop and stumbled upon official-looking memos titled “NOTICE OF STRIKE” hung up with bright orange tape at all three Midtown locations.
“Dear Culture Espresso Overlords,” the laminated notices began.
“It is with great dismay and aromatic sorrow that we, the undersigned members of S.P.I.C.E., formally serve this Notice of Strike in response to your recent and unilateral decision to discontinue the provision of cinnamon,” they read.
The group of jokesters — which called itself the Society of Peelers and International Cinnamon Extractors or SPICE — paid homage in its hilarious letter to the cinnamon peelers, or harvesters, of Sri Lanka and the island of Java.
As grounds for its strike, the pseudo group charged that the move was a “direct attack on flavor freedom and the inalienable right to sprinkle,” downright “flavor discrimination,” and marked a “descent into bland conformity.”
The group milked it, saying it would boycott beverages “effective immediately” and peacefully protest with signs like, “No stick, no sip!”
The action came with a tall order: “We demand the immediate reinstatement of cinnamon at your condiment bar, behind the counter, and in your hearts.”
And they weren’t simply blowing steam.
“Failure to comply within 48 hours will escalate this matter to the International Tribunal of Spicy Justice,” SPICE threatened.
Culture Espresso apologized for the “grave error” in social media posts on Monday.
“We had, in an effort to promote cleanliness and efficiency, moved our cinnamon shakers only to behind the bar and not available to customers,” it explained.
Shakers at the three shops were returned and the good sports wrote, “The cinnamon will once again pour as freely onto your drinks as your hearts desire.”
“P.S. Whoever did this, the commitment to laminate and post these at all 3 of our locations in the middle of the night is one of the funniest things that has ever happened to any of our early morning crew,” the café owners wrote.
“Thank you for the laughs,” they added with a prayer emoji.
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