Coffee controversy boils after ice refused

ARLINGTON, Va., July 18 (UPI) -- A New York man says he regrets the boiling tempers that resulted from his blog post blasting a suburban Arlington, Va., coffee house.

Jeff Simmermon, a Time Warner executive, wrote in his blog that a barista at Murky Coffee refused to serve him three shots of espresso over ice, citing a policy forbidding employees from compromising the integrity of the beverage, The Washington Post reported Friday.

Simmermon wrote that he was able to order a glass of ice with an espresso and mix the drink himself, but that led to a lecture from the barista that his behavior was "not OK" and the drink was against store policy. Simmermon said he unleashed a string of profanities on the barista before leaving the store.

The resulting outpouring of responses to Simmermon's post -- with responders taking both sides of the issue -- led to store owner Nicholas Cho releasing an open letter defending his employee and clarifying his store's policy of "no espresso over ice."

Simmermon said he regrets the controversy stirred by his post.

"I'd like to let this thing fall off the radar," he said. "It's a tiny cup of coffee and there are wars and genocides out there, man."