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coffee_world.jpg
Originally uploaded by minhi.

Ok, so i’m in San Diego visiting some obscure bakery that my folks need to visit (old friends) and while waiting for them I see this building across the street.

Walk over and there is a cute little note that says: “Taking a rest break, back in 5 minutes.” I hang around and a nice little old lady (not meant to be denigrating, it was very movie like) opens the door and hustles me in. It’s a quaint little shop, only sells coffee beans.

Now there were a number of red flags, no on-site roasting, coffee in bins etc. But I still bought 8oz of mocha yemen, why? Well it’s a small business, been in San Diego for 30 years. That’s 30 years selling coffee. Yes, they don’t do things the ideal way, but they’ve been in business for 30 years so what they’re doing is not completely wrong.

What i’m trying to say is I’d like every time i buy coffee beans to be fresh from the roaster etc.

But it’s rare to get that and if I turned my nose at this nice lady (or worse actually criticize her) what does that do but hurt her business? The mocha yemen she sold me *IS* considerably fresher then what i can get at the grocery store (and most Starbucks) so it is better coffee–maybe not the absolute best but i think the karma from supporting a small coffee beanery makes up for some of that.

And to followup with my last post, sometimes i’ll buy a bag of espresso beans from Murky, even if the roast date is over 10 days past. Generally I want the absolute best but i’ll still support Murky, 10 days old is not ideal but it’s not ready for the garbage either. I know some people will say you have to stick to the absolute freshest but again i think there is some karma in supporting small businesses. I think 21 days is a little old for coffee beans, but it’s still very drinkable.

murky4.jpg
Originally uploaded by minhi.

well, despite the title this is actually the Counter Culture Coffee Toscano blend. Murky started selling their espresso blend recently, which is great but the last two times i’ve been by to pick up a bag–the bags on the shelves are about 10 days old. It usually takes me 2 weeks to finish a bag so i prefer to get them 1-2 days off roast.
I think they only get new bags every two weeks so i need to figure out when the deliveries happen.
So my thoughts on this blend? It’s a light roast but still darker then the Terroir blend. It’s much more forgiving then the Terroir too. As a straight espresso it’s a rich coffee flavor with just a touch of caramel and tobacco–not much chocolate though. So in a cappucino it’s a little too mild in my opinion. I really like the chocolate flavor and right now i think the Caffe Fresco Ambrosia is the best for that.
Next on my list is the Intelligentsia Black Cat and Kid-O blends.

my coffee shop disclaimer

If you’re reading this you might think i’m negative about coffee shops. And that’s not true, in DC I have Murky Coffee which makes fantastic espresso drinks; why? Because they stick to the proper recipes creating drinks in the correct proportion and they focus on the process of making espresso drinks. This is not a dramatically new concept, all good restaurants make a commitment to good ingredients and good processes and you end up with a great final product.

The biggest reason that i harp on the drink recipes is that it makes a huge difference to the taste. You are drinking an espresso drink or a coffee drink, you are not buying a coffee flavored milk drink. But when you look at what’s in your cup that is in fact what you are drinking at most coffee shops.

I want you to remember these things because if a shop neglects to adhere to these things then it’s highly unlikely to result in a good cup. And that might be ok, why? Because maybe that’s not their focus, maybe their focus is food or wifi or tea or whatever. But for me, i look for these things because I don’t want to pay $3 for a marginal poorly created drink.

Looking for these signs is a good way to set your own expectations–if you see untrained baristas making the coffee drinks, order tea or try the coffee instead.

I can apply the same analogy to a restaurant, if you walk into a chinese restaurant and the menu is in chinese then that’s a good sign they know what they’re doing. If they have fish tanks in the back then i bet their seafood is fresh, same idea, look for the signs.

espresso con panna caffe fresco
Originally uploaded by minhi.

yes, i know i’ve already posted an espresso con panna picture but this one has a nice whip cream peak–that was quickly sucked down by the crema.

If you’ve never had an espresso con panna, it’s not like a macchiato the amount of milk you’re adding is very small, maybe a teaspoon’s worth of dairy. so it only takes a slight edge off but also brings out the chocolate flavor, just like a little suger. And when you pull a ristretto with the Caffe Fresco Ambrosia it has the consistency of hot chocolate. And i mean hot chocolate from made from real chocolate and a molinillo.

morning cappucino
Originally uploaded by minhi.

things are getting better, the foam on this was much smoother, velvety then my previous attempts. Again still can’t figure out the latte art thing, grrrr.

these mugs are from ‘just mugs’ i bought a set of 4 for $10 which is pretty decent for cappa cups. They’re a little light, so heat retention is not very good but they’re broad and shallow–which i prefer over the skinny tall ones.

I also have a set of these as demi-tasses but they suffer the same problem of being too light but that set only cost $5! I bought them to use as bar sets because if i break them i don’t really care all that much.

While I’m talking about cappucino’s let me give you the correct recipe:
1 part espresso
1 part steamed milk
1 part foamed milk

so for a 2oz double shot of espresso, add 2oz of steamed milk and 2oz of foamed milk for a total of 6oz.

Yes that’s smaller then even the smallest size drink you can get at most coffee shops (which is normally 8oz and you have to ask for that). At most coffee shops the smallest size is 12oz the difference in volume is usually made up with milk.

Now a problem with my math above is that it assumes a double shot of espresso. Typically an order at a coffee shop includes a single shot of espresso (1-1.25oz of espresso) which works out to about a 4oz drink. Which fits into a cup a little bit larger then the pasquini espresso demi-tasse on this page! At a bad coffee shop this works out to about 11oz of steamed + foamed milk + 1oz espresso in the smallest size they sell!

and then there’s the problem of poorly foamed milk or even worse reheated milk!

double-macchiato1
Originally uploaded by minhi.

a double macchiato the hard way 🙂
As i said before if i want a macchiato I usually split them into two cups. I don’t always wuss out though. These are from last nite, tonite I made an espresso con panna instead. The foam here is a little hard, but they were tasty. again caffe fresco ambrosia blend.