Man Seeking Coffee 2.0

Trick or…Coffee?

Halloween activities most typically involve costumes, collecting candy or cavorting in the Castro (or the location du jour), but I, unintentionally, managed to associate Halloween with the anniversary of this blog. That’s right. I started writing Man Seeking Coffee two years ago on October 31, 2007. So I’ll start this post by patting myself on the back, saying Happy Birthday to me, and by extending an enormous thank you to all of you.

It boggles my mind to think that I’ve only been writing this blog for two years. In part, my amazement stems from the fact that my obsession with coffee has been going on for much longer, but that’s not the core of it. Mostly I’m amazed by the strides the coffee industry has taken in just the past two years.

In the Beginning…

I’ve hardly been blogging since the pioneering days of bad Bay Area coffee you might read about at that venerable institution, Coffee Ratings, and its accompanying blog, The Shot, when the one bright spot was Mr. Espresso. When I started two years ago, Blue Bottle was then a well-established roaster and kiosk-vendor while Ritual was finally coming into its own as a roaster and even beginning to expand, with their Flora Grubb Gardens location. New roasters, such as De La Paz were starting to make their mark, while other high quality roasters, such as Barefoot, Pacific Bay Coffee Company, Ecco Caffe, Flying Goat, and Moksha were thriving, but mostly in the outer reaches of the Bay Area.

The Expanding Bay Area Coffee Roasting Empire

Still, the coffee scene was far from where it is today. Mr. Espresso’s finest coffees were not available at Coffee Bar and Ritual had to yet expand to Napa Market or its current, many wholesale clients. Blue Bottle’s manifest destiny was not yet realized as James Freeman had yet to open the Blue Bottle cafe, Ferry Plaza and SFMOMA kiosks and brand new Jack London Square roasting facility and coffee bar. Blue Bottle also lacked a presence, as it does today, in New York, LA, Tokyo and a number of top-quality bay area restaurants (check “find us” on BB’s website).

The most important change in the last two years, however, may have been the emergence of Four Barrel Coffee, which I watched go from back alley kiosk to store front to fully fledged roaster. While determining true causality can beguile the best of us, it seems hard to deny that Four Barrel’s arrival correlates with a huge growth in the local industry. First is the arrival of highly acclaimed roasters such as Verve, intriguing newcomers such as Scarlett City, and soon-to-be roasting companies such as Sightlass (currently serving Verve). Second is the massive increase in new, wholesale client cafes focused on great cafe design and superior quality coffee.

The March of the Wholesale Clients

In San Francisco, some of the many new wholesale clients include Haus (Ritual and De La Paz), Stable (De La Paz), Epicenter (Barefoot), farm:table (Verve), and Sightglass (which will eventually be roasting). Other wholesale clients worth noting include: Mojo Bicycle Cafe, which switched from Ecco to Ritual and De La Paz; Dynamo Donuts, which focuses on donuts but serves quality Four Barrel; and upgrades at Specialty’s, promising an experience worthy of their Intelligentsia beans.

More exiting for me, given where I live and work, is the recent explosion of wholesale client cafes in the inner East Bay, which include great new spots such as Local 123 (Flying Goat), Subrosa (Four Barrel), Remedy (Ritual), Modern Coffee (Verve and Four Barrel, and a heavy guest rotation) and Cafe 504 (Blue Bottle and Ritual). Of course, these join what are still relative newcomers (within the last two years), such as Awaken (Taylor Made) and 33 Revolutions. This newest wave of wholesale client cafes appear to offer both extremely high quality coffee, more or less on par with what’s come to be expected from their affiliated flagship roasters’ cafes. And, what they can’t match in quality, they typically compensate for in variety, offering coffee from multiple roasters or via a variety of brew methods.

Coffee Elsewhere

While there’s no way I could fully cover the last two year’s of change abroad…er…beyond the Bay Area, I’ve spent too much time on this blog covering that growth not to give it a brief mention. Certainly there is Intelligentsia’s expansion into to LA (1,2), Stumptown’s expansion to New York and Counter Culture Coffee’s increasing saturation up and down the east coast. In part due to the efforts of these three macro-micro roasters, and a handful of others, New York and the greater LA area are hardly the coffee wastelands they were just two years ago. And changes have been happening rapidly in countless other cities across the country, including coffee mainstay cities such as Portland. (I won’t even dare to touch the foreign market.) It’s reached the point where this near-exponential growth is getting difficult to follow.

What’s next for Man Seeking Coffee?

Of course, there’s no shortage of coffee to write about, and given a new job, new school schedule for the kid, and far too many cafes to cover, I’m getting increasingly behind. I hope to get caught up soon, including a collection of reviews from a past trip to the Northeast. I also plan to continue to cover spots further afield, reporting back on coffee from new cities rarely covered and those I’ve been dying to get back to for some time.

More importantly, though, I’m working to make this blog better. In just a few days, Man Seeking Coffee will be closing its doors to begin some much needed upkeep and improvements. Don’t worry, you’ll still be able to access everything here while I work behind the scenes. I just wanted to give you the heads up in case things seem a bit more quiet than usual. Stay tuned for further details and I’ll see you on the other side.

coffee@home: Intelligentsia Los Inmortales and El Machete

Beans: Los Inmortales El Salvador and El Machete, Panama
Roaster: Intelligentsia Coffee and Tea
Rating: 3+ and 4-

At the risk of sounding like a total Intelligentsia shill – having recently touted both Culture and Third Rail - I’ll go ahead and give my plug for these two fine coffee from Intelligentsia. Of course, this review may only do you half good since the Panama coffee, my slight favorite of the two, can no longer be found on Intelligentsia shelves. Sorry for the less than prompt reviewing.

Overall, I found both coffees quite good, but I should add that I was somewhat handicapped in my usual regimen of reviewing as I consumed these mostly in New York without access to much of my usual at home equipment. I did get to cup each but only after they had aged somewhat. I mostly consumed them via French Press and Moka Pot, ala James Hoffman’s suggested method.That said, I’ll keep this short.

Los Inmortales

This coffee was a bit bolder than I imagined it would be, full-bodied and slightly viscous and syrupy, yet still surprisingly subtle in its flavors. I picked up on some nice chocolate notes with grapes and apple. The acidity was mild but just a tad juicy. It was also characterized by a very earthy, loamy aroma. I enjoyed this coffee a lot and appreciated it’s understated manner although at times I wished it would have been a bit more pushy.

El Machete, Panama

This coffee came out loud for such an otherwise light and clean coffee. I should add, perhaps in seeming contrast that this coffee did have a bit of viscosity to it, but it was thick without being clingy. It was full of tropical fruit: kiwi, papaya, coconut with a very candy-like sweetness and tang. I should clarify that it was not a tropical fruit bomb. The fruit was pronounced and immediately notable but it was intricately layered with distinctive flavors slowly unraveling. I look forward to meeting this coffee again next year.

Journey to the Center of Beverly Hills

Name: Urth Caffe
Location: 267 South Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills, CA
Rating: 2+

The tacky, smoothy poster standing on the sidewalk in front of Urth Caffe’s Beverly Hills store was the first sign that the coffee here might take a back seat. The second was the well lit display case filled with frilly pastries that immediately greets you upon entry. Then there is the fact that the full menu is posted over top the counter while the list of coffees being brewed that day is relegated to the immediate left of the front door above the condiment and water counter such that I didn’t see it until after my coffee was in hand. By the time I approached the cashier, I barely noticed the 10-12 coffees Urth roasts and sells stacked behind the counter or the 2 group Bravo espresso machine (one I’m not familiar with) viewable behind the racks of things for sale when standing on my tippy toes.

The reason why I was there of course is that Urth Caffe constitutes one of those obligatory coffee stops due to its long time standing on espressomap.com and frequent mentions on various coffee boards. As a coffee pilgrim, I’ve been remiss not to visit it before now, even though, as suspected, these recommendations seem to usher forth from the past at a time when Urth still ruled. The coffee in today’s LA, as it has in most cities, has greatly improved.

My Antigua Sumatra Java was described on the marginalized coffee menu as spicy, earthy, heavy and full-bodied. It struck me mostly as teetering close on the edge of the tar pits. OK, it wasn’t really thabt bad, but the joke was irresistable. It was simply very roasty and, despite its freshly brewed and very clean characteristics, it was more or less on par with the dark-roasted coffee you might find at any of several major chains. Brewed commercially and stored in airpots, this coffee was didn’t yield much in the way of comlexity having to do with the bean. Urth also offers their French Roasted decaf, and, at various points in the day, their Vienna Roasted blend.

The espresso, in contrast, was too shabby. My demitasse held a lighter red, slightly bubbly crema that dispersed rather quickly. The espresso, noteably, was ground to order (due to procedure or high traffic, I’m not sure) and surprisingly fruity and sweet, with notes of dark brown sugar and the suggestion of blueberry. It had a tangy acidity that was in check with the sweeter elements although the shot yielded to a somewhat unpleasant, bitter aftertaste.

While Urth’s espresso is by no means a great, I can see why this cafe has survived so long and earned the past kudos it has, especially when you factor in the cafe’s socially conscious mindset that was still a realtively new concept in LA coffee when Urth began back in the late nineties. Of course, one also can’t disregard the fact that the heavy flow of traffic that late in the afternoon and the fact that Urth is opening yet another cafe in Pasadena means that its owners are clearly making the right business decisions, even if these decisions may take factors other than elevating coffee into consideration.

A Million Things to Say About LAMILL

Name: LAMILL
Location: 1636 Silverlake Blvd., Los Angeles, CA
Rating: 3+

LAMILL is not your ordinary cafe. It’s a full service restaurant that happens to focus intensely on and roast its own coffee. I’d loosely classify it as a cousin of Blue Bottle’s Cafe or perhaps the new Intelligentsia Venice when you consider range of options, level of service and overall aesthetic. LAMILL presents diners with a selection of coffees, multiple brewing methods, knowledgeable wait staff, and a setting that’s hip enough to impress a date, but relaxed and friendly enough to enjoy coffee (and food) with family and friends. I report the latter from experience since my recent visit included my wife, daughter, parents and brother who sportingly came along for the ride.

As the hostess led us to our table, I couldn’t help but ogle at LAMILL’s chic, bordering on Rococo, design. The lavish display of coffee equipment includes: a gold-plated, 3 group La Marzocco GB/5; three Clover brewing machines matching the restaurant’s exterior red; several shelves of siphons, Eva Solos, chemex brewers and Frieling press pots; and a bevy of grinders, hot water dispensers and cups. The seating is comprised of black benches which match the black onyx tables, green faux alligator skin swivel chairs that surround the bar, and a number of light blue faux ostrich print chairs whose color matches the top of the bar and the light blue Malkonig grinder. This bold, yet carefully thought through aesthetic is united by way of a roman-themed mural that conquers the back wall.

The multi-page coffee menu might prove a bit daunting for the coffee-unitiated. The concept, however, is simple and the wait staff seem willing to talk things through as best they can for a busy place. You select a coffee and a brew method and that’s pretty much it. The ideal scenario would probably be to visit LAMILL with a small gaggle of coffee-loving friends so as to maximize your ability to try various coffee/brew combination. I was with my family however, who don’t mind sharing, but have a limited repertoire of coffee they like to order. While I never did try theirs, I can report that my mother found her vanilla latte one of the best she’s had next to those from her beloved Kaffa!, and my father was pleased his decaf from the Clover. My wife drank tea and my daughter seemed content with her hot chocolate accompanied by potato chips dipped in whipped cream (I believe the city of Berkeley will officially expel us when they read this). I think everyone enjoyed the beignets, which appear to be a new family tradition.

My brother and I shared a a 16 oz. Eva Solo of LAMILL’s Esmeralda Geisha ($10).  The brew method was an easy decision for me since it was the method with which I have had the least experience but probably the most excitement. As this piece (which appeared a couple of days after my visit) explains and based on what I’ve read elsewhere, the Eva Solo promises a more cupping-like quality coffee due to the way that it strains the coffee as you pour. My choice of coffee was a bit more labored. While I really enjoyed the Geisha I had last year and have been intrigued by past cups, LAMILL’s is a different lot (Batch 9 vs. Batch 7) and yet still from last year, a fact made painful given that the 2009 auction just concluded. The waitress assured me that the Geisha she had earlier that day was still good.

I probably should have listened to my intuition. This Geisha was clearly good, but just didn’t speak to me. I certainly noted that it was complicated as it hit me up front with an unexpected syrupy, dark sweetness not stereotypical of a Geisha, gradually yielding to some very luscious tropical fruit and a lemon-like acidity. It was simply neither as surprising nor as unbelievably delicious as I felt a Geisha should be for approximately $5 a cup. Of course, it might have been the brew method, but my bet is largely on the age of the coffee (or perhaps the roast).

My espresso, fortunately, was more up to par. The attractive, off-center demitasse held a dense shot with slightly mottled and fairly substantial crema. It was very round, full, rich and slightly buttery, with prominent notes of fairly bitter chocolate and a touch of dark brown sugar. It was a mostly sweet and mellow shot, yielding only a a slight pucker from me as the rest of the flavors subsided.

On the way out, I couldn’t turn down the recession special – a $2 cup from the Clover – so I ordered the Ethiopian Limu to go. What I drank wasn’t bad, but it was probably worth about $2, given current Clover prices. It had no profoundly negative characteristics but otherwise didn’t compel me to write much either, which is a bit disappointing given the position LAMILL has sought to occupy within the coffee world.

Overall, LAMILL is a top notch spot. The service is friendly and completely unpretentious. LAMILL also provides more brewing options than I have yet to encounter in a cafe (although the new Intelligentsia Venice will match them once they open any day now). LAMILL also offers an impressive food menu that my family only barely explored. That said, while I found the coffee very good, it lacked a certain something I would have expected from a coffee roaster and cafe of their stature. In the end, I would certainly recommend them, especially for a coffee afficianado, but hope you’d modify your expectations accordingly.

The Intelligentsia Opening That Almost Wasn’t

Intelli-Venice Ain’t Got the Power

In case you’ve missed the buzz (1,2), last Friday was the Grand Opening Party for Intelligentsia’s newest cafe on Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Venice. The irony, of course, is that the cafe is not yet open. Doug Zell, himself, recently posted about how Intelligentsia is still waiting for a final inspection from the city. Some folks I spoke to made it sound like the preparation for last Friday’s party resembled a rural electrification project as the cafe’s crew hastily cobbled together enough power to make this party happen.

The latest official word on the cafe’s actual opening date appears to be nothing more precise than “soon.” From what I’ve gathered in speaking with folks over this past weekend, this loosely translated to “any day now with a strong possibility of this weekend with no guarantees.” (And further wrinkles may ensue as evidenced by this recent tweet.) Of course, the belated opening and further belated start to the roasting operation of Four Barrel Coffee taught this blogger that incredible patience is required when awaiting the opening of a cafe; these things rarely go as planned. That lesson, however, doesn’t stop me from despising the city of LA for ruining my memorial day weekend vacation plans!

A Sweaty, Crowed Room Just Doesn’t Cut It For Coffee

The good news is that I was able to make the party – at least, if you actually accept my poor quality cell phone pictures as genuine evidence of my attendance. What I encountered were long lines to get in and huge mobs of sweaty people barely moving around inside. I can only hope the cafe will less crowded, better lit, quieter and not nearly so hot when it does eventually open. People were approaching the line with questions about what club folks were waiting to get into and I heard snippets of conversation which included such phrases as “Aren’t those the cool guys from KCRW?” and “Isn’t he a friend of Emile Hirsch?” It was all “very LA” and mostly just made me feel both old and like a tourist.

Even I have to admit though that the party was pretty spectacular and even more amazing was that with the exception of the grilled charcuterie, the tips to the hard-working baristas, and the time spent in line, the entire event was free: entrance, wine, beer, espresso, cappuccinos, brewed coffee, and amazing DJs like Peanut Butter Wolf. Like it or not, this highly organized and amazing event only further establishes Intelligentsia as a marketing genius and an operation highly organized enough to pull off such an event, even if the grandiosity of this party also provides further evidence that Intelligentsia may have surpassed its indie status marking it as something of a coffee roaster singularity.

The Lay of Intelli-Venice Land

Most interesting to me was simply seeing what the place looked like. For some reason, despite the multiple concept drawings and photos, I’d imagined espresso machine “pods” dotted about a large room. Instead, the bar more closely resembles a large rectangular island in the middle of a not particularly large room. The baristas move about inside this space manning one of several stations. Located roughly at each of the four corners is a 2-group Synesso. The modded, 4-group La Marzocco that, ironically, first pulled shots for Starbucks occupies a space in the middle. The back-most wall of barista island serves as the brewed coffee (and tea) bar where – similar to Silverlake’s LAMILL, you’ll be able to enjoy coffee brewed in a multitude of ways including (halogen-powered) siphon, Clover, Eva Solo and Chemex.

In case you’ve missed the other plans (1,2), there is basically no seating for the cafe. The idea is that folks will wander from station to station, trying out different coffees, often ordering flights. The one area of actual seating is the stadium style seats (reminiscent of Camper/Foodball), positioned right behind the brewed coffee bar at the back of the cafe. There will supposedly be no tables and certainly no internet.

And the Coffee?

I did manage to wrangle some siphon coffee that I know was Ethiopian and which I can only assume was the Kurimi given Intelligentsia’s current offerings. I thought it was decently good, but then again, it’s rare for me to really love a siphon coffee. A better measure of this cafe’s potential – and a shining star at that – was the absolutely mind blowing shot of Rwanda Muraba that I sipped quietly in the corner (the La Marzocco is not yet running and may not be for a short time). And just to clarify, the Rwanda is the espresso that helped Mike Phillips snag 3rd at the World Barista Championship. The Rwanda was an explosively fruity, yet somehow balanced, buttery wonder. Now I’m not that amazed that Intelligentsia is turning out this kind of quality espresso, but I was impressed that the baristas were able to do so while working in conditions comparable to a nightclub – a scenario that even their intense training most certainly did not cover.

To Wrap It Up…

I really will be looking forward to getting back to Venice. That said, I’m by no means chomping at the bit. This cafe is bound to be great given Intelligentsia’s high standards and will undoubtedbly be one of the best cups of coffee in that city, but I wonder if radically new cafe concepts haven’t already jumped the shark. (For that matter, I wonder if that phrase has already jumped the shark.) Perhaps there’s nothing truly revolutionary left to do with cafe design or, at least, nothing left that’s going to blow my mind. Fortunately, for Intelligenstia, I believe that plenty of folks are still going to find this space a thrilling, if not somewhat confusing, encounter with coffee. More importantly, though, as with all the other Intelligentsia cafes, it’s what’s beneath the hood that matters. Itelligentsia’s intense training and extremely high quality coffee will almost certainly guarantee an amazing coffee experience, brewed whatever way.

(Update: See the comments below for the latest information)

coffee@home: Colombia Micay

Beans: Finca Santuario Colombia: Micay
Roaster: Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea
Rating: 4-

I picked this coffee up at the The Grove in Albuquerque, waffling between it and the Agua Preta from Brazil. I ultimately picked the Colombian (and, yes, Colombia is spelled correctly as I learned) coffee largely because I was intrigued by the descriptor “licorice root.” Only later did I find a some other information on this coffee (1,2), suggesting nothing but good things. I couldn’t agree more.

This coffee worked best as a french press. It was spicy, with semi-sweet chocolate, licorice (which I did taste although it could have been the power of suggestion), a bit of plum, and a really crisp, slightly piney, lime-like acidity. Overall, it was nicely clean and incredibly well-balanced with the sharp acidity being bright and clear without overwhelming the rest of the cup. It worked less well as a pour over – producing a more muted cup. And while not terrific, it was a fun espresso, coming out a tad bright but with much more pronounced fruit: grapes, apricots and dried mango.

I don’t really have much more to say other than that I certainly recommend this coffee. Oh, and how drinking Intelligentsia is making me excited to get down to the new Intelligentsia, opening May 8th.

coffee@home: A Tale of Two Anjilanakas

Beans: Anjilanaka, Bolivia Black Cat Espresso Roast & Anjilanaka, Bolivia regular roast
Roaster: Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea
Rating: 4-

For many of you, this coffee needs no introduction.  If you are not one of those people, then let me clarify that this coffee, or at least the espresso-roasted version of it pictured on the left (“Black Cat” is the name now given to all of Intelligentsia’s espresso roasts), is the coffee that Intelligentsia barista, Mike Phillips, used to win the 2009 United States Barista Championship. The coffee on the right is that same coffee, but roasted for non-espresso use.  For those of you who still don’t know what I mean when I say something like “barista competitions,” then I’d recommend my description of a related, past competition as a good place to start. You also might want to note that Mike Phillips will be representing the US at the 2009 World Barista Championship this upcoming weekend in Atlanta.

That said, I should point out that this coffee didn’t win the competition. It was a combination of Mike Phillip’s technical and presentation skills along with the tastes he was able to produce with this coffee that won him this competition. What I can produce at home, especially in the espresso department, will most certainly be a lesser form of the drink that wowed those judges. Nevertheless, I was excited to get my hands on some, especially since I missed out on Kyle Glanville’s 2008 USBC winning coffee (oh, and in case you missed it, Kyle Glanville also works for Intelligentsia).

Over the week or so I explored this coffee, I really came to like it. Neither roast wowed me at first, but the espresso and non-espresso versions were quite good and offered a subtle complexity that I really enjoyed exploring over time. It’s the kind of easy going coffee that sneaks up on you a little when you realize how nicely balanced everything is even if there isn’t a wealth of flavors or aromas.

The tasting notes on the bags – mostly grapes and figs with a bit of cocoa – were pretty much spot on, with a few additions. To the regular roast, I’d add apple and some floral, perfumy notes. To the espresso roast, I’d add, in particular, a kind of buttery mouthfeel along with red wine. For both, I very clearly noted blackberries.

I was an equal opportunity brewer. I gave the non-espresso roast some time in the espresso machine and the espresso roast some time in the french press and pour over ceramic cone. I never did try the espresso roast in the siphon, but I did use the siphon for the non-espresso roast. Not surprisingly, I preferred the espresso roast as espresso. For the non-espresso roast, I waffled between the siphon and the French Press, depending on whether I wanted clarity or aroma – but appreciating both equally. While it was passable as espresso, the espresso roast, was, not surprisingly better in that medium. While the non-espresso roast worked well enough as a pour over, I thought it lacked some of the complexity that came through in the other brewing methods.

One of the more interesting points about this coffee is simply that it hails from Bolivia, a country that’s been struggling to produce quality coffee over the years, largely due to its extreme elevation and the impact that has on transportation. The country has been producing some increasingly impressive coffees in the past few years. This win will likely be a big boost for their coffee.

There is a twist to the story, however. Mike Philips has now announced a last minute coffee switch in advance of the WBC. This time around, he’s picked a coffee from another emerging coffee country, Rwanda. The details of that coffee are yet to be released, although I’m sure Intelligentsia will be selling that coffee in due time as well. Until then, I’m going to pull my second bag of Anjilanaka from the freezer this weekend, kick back and enjoy some good old barista competitions through…some kind of live feed…or blogging effort…or…well, at least I’ll have the coffee.