Archive for July, 2008
‘Sounds like Coffee’ Sounds Good
Sounds Like Coffee Bulletin Board, originally uploaded by andai. Sounds like Coffee is a small interesting coffee shop I checked out yesterday morning. I had seen the shop a couple of days earlier and had planned to visit the place on my last morning in Victoria. The first thing I noticed about the place was that the each of the three cup sizes, the tall, the grande and the venti each has a different design stamped onto the cup. I liked the design on the tall size the best which was some alien looking avatar listening to music on headphones. The service there was great and everyone was pretty friendly. I noticed that a number of the people coming in for their coffee were pretty familiar with the baristas. The barista who made my coffee was from England and had a really cool English accent. My latte was rather decent, coffee was strong and the roast was ok. I am not sure who roasts their beans and I would be interested in finding out. Some of the interesting tidbits I found out about the store, the [...]
Dolce Vita Coffee Art… Well Not Quite
Dolce Vita Coffee Art, originally uploaded by andai. Updated to change the tone of the language... I was on my way back from having high tea at the White Heather Tea Room when I drove by Dolce Vita Coffee Art. Even though I had drunk quite a bit of caffeine today, I decided to stop by and get a cup for two main reasons. First, I really liked their name and their logo colors and I was thinking, this seems like it must be great coffee. Second, I didn’t think that I would pass by that route again so now was the time to try the place. Besides, I have already planned to stop by ‘Sounds Like Coffee’ coffee shop the next morning on my way out of Victoria BC so I was unlikely to have room for an additional 12 oz. So stop I did. To be honest, this was not one of my best Victoria BC coffee sampling experience. Not because it was the worst latte I tasted here in Victoria, but simply because I had such high hopes for what I was going to get. Although the barista did a decent job with pulling the coffee and all [...]
Salt Spring Coffee Company Stands Out
Salt Spring Coffee Cup, originally uploaded by andai. This past Sunday, while I was on my way to Victoria BC I was hanging out at the Tsawwassen ferry terminal waiting for the next ferry to come in so I popped into the Tsawwassen Quay Market complex area. There I discovered Sea Spring Coffee kiosk. The place looked nice enough so of course I had to get my usual. While I was in line waiting to place my order for a double tall latte, the gentleman ahead of me heard me discussing this coffeehouse and he told us a little about Salt Spring Coffee Company, how great the company was and also a little about the owner whom he knew. Salt Spring Coffee Roasting Company comes out of Salt Spring Island in British Columbia and they are actually pretty progressive. They serve 100% certified fair trade and organic coffee and are pretty active in environmentalism matters. Read more about their activities in their News section on their website. Anyway, I got my latte, added my usual four packs of sugar and took a couple [...]
Super Alert and All Caffeined Out
Coffee at the Murchies Tea Salon, originally uploaded by andai. I am sitting here completely alert and buzzing after having drunk more than my daily share of caffeine for the day. It started out with breakfast where I had, in addition to my breakfast, a good cup of English breakfast tea. From there, my wife and I went downtown Victoria to a Japanese restaurant called Konpira where I drunk some great ocha (or green tea in Japanese). By the way, I have had great sushi in all sorts of places including great restaurants in Seattle WA, Vancouver BC, Tokyo, Kobe and Kochi Japan. I can honestly tell you, Konpira has the freshest and best sushi I have ever had! Anyway, after lunch we then proceeded to Murchies to try out their coffee which I though was rather interesting! From there, we then headed on over to White Heather Tea Room for a great high tea. There I specifically asked for an extra strong pot of their house special blend of breakfast tea. The tea was great and so I proceeded to finish the whole pot. [...]
Serious Coffee in Victoria BC
Serious Coffee Sign, originally uploaded by andai. I stopped by Serious Coffee this morning to get a latte while en route to Butchart Gardens. I remember seeing their sign the night before as we were coming into Victoria BC and at that time I was a little skeptical. My feeling was that a coffee shop with a name like Serious Coffee probably may not have great tasting espresso but since I happened to be driving right past them, I decided why not try them out. Besides, they may actually have some interesting paper cup design. So I did my usual, ask for a double tall latte, an extra cup and an extra sleeve. What I didn't do was ask if they use whole milk which is what I prefer in my latte. The other reason why this is important for me is that lattes will taste different when made with whole milk vs 2% vs non-fat. For me, all things being equal, the less fat, the less creamy and the more 'harder' the latte tastes. This is what my latte tasted like, more on the harder side whereas I prefer the creamier taste. [...]
The Children of Torrefazione
Torrefazione Coffee, originally uploaded by andai. One of the best business decisions Starbucks made a couple of years back was to buy Torrefazione, Seattle’s gourmet coffee chain. Right after this, the company then turned around and made one of the worst business moves... shutting down the Torrefazione stores. I was not excited when I heard that Starbucks has bought Torrefazione, but I was pretty disgusted when I found out that Starbucks was shutting down all the stores. What on earth where they thinking? Although Starbucks like to think of themselves as the purveyor of fine coffee, I think of Starbucks as the Wal-Mart of coffee. Whether they like it or not, Starbucks is turning espresso into a commodity. Starbuck’s coffee has become an expensive commodity but a commodity nonetheless. In other words, there is nothing special about Starbucks with its myriad of lookalike stores and automated espresso drinks. I think this has deep implications for Starbucks and its business including opportunity for [...]
The Essential Espresso
Essential Bakery Coffee Cup, originally uploaded by andai. The Essential Bakery store on Madison is one of the coffee shops I tend to frequent. In part because it is on my way to work so this turns out to be rather convenient. I am not implying that the coffee is not great and the only reason I visit the place is due to ease of access. Granted, there are a few other coffee shops I would probably go to instead all things being equal. I think my main issue with Essential is that of consistency. There are some baristas you will find who make a really great latte, but then there a couple whose barista skills are nothing to write home about. One lady in particular, who is really nice, but only made a so-so latte stood out to me. What I first saw her she was being trained and it so happened that every time I got my latte, she is the one who pulled the espresso. Fast forward about 4 weeks, I was at the shop for my usual after an absence of a while (I had stopped drinking coffee and was making proper tea in [...]
Ballard's Sip & Ship
Mail, Shipping and Coffee..., originally uploaded by andai. Ballard Mail & Dispatch (located at 1752 NW Market St) also known as Sip & Ship is a fun place! Where else can you get your 100% fair trade latte while shipping your packages or picking up some stationary? I don't normally hang out in Ballard but having passed by this place a few times, I just had to check it out. I am glad I did. I really enjoyed their coffee. It was a pretty good latte, and I really liked the roast. I also found the staff there to be very friendly and helpful, not just the barista, but the two guys who were working the shipping counter. If you find yourself in Ballard, please check it out and let me know what you think...
Arosa Coffee and Golden Waffles
Arosa Coffee, originally uploaded by andai. Arosa coffee is located down the street from where I live, right on Madison. I was told about this place by a work mate would swear by their waffles. Supposedly they are known for having some pretty awesome waffles, but me not really being a waffle sort of a guy (I pretty much swear by crepes instead) I was more interested in their coffee. But this explains why their coffee cups have a tasty looking waffle as part of the logo. So I popped into the store a few days later and ordered my latte. The two baristas were pretty friendly and helpful. They also had no problem with me talking pictures in their store. And what did I think of the latte? Actually it was pretty decent. I enjoyed it and I would certainly go back. In fact, the only thing preventing me from going back is that Essential Bakery is also on the same street in Madison Valley and if I need to sit down and hang out on the laptop, Essential has free Wi-Fi and a larger variety of decent eats. Maybe [...]
Dilettante’s Hot Chocolate… Ready to take off!
Dilettante's Coffee Cup, originally uploaded by andai. Ahhh yes… who doesn’t like Hot Chocolate! When done right, it makes for a wonderful refreshing drink. But when done wrong, can leave a bitter taste in your mouth. Whenever I am at SeaTac airport, especially in the morning, I will go to the Dilettante espresso stand to get a cup of their hot chocolate. They do serve lattes, mochas and other espresso drinks but I go for their hot chocolate for two main reasons. First, Dilettante is well known for making great chocolate and chocolate desserts. Secondly, it’s not easy getting good hot chocolate drinks here in Seattle so whenever I can get good hot chocolate I try not to pass up the chance. Now considering that I am buying within the airport lounge, the drink actually wasn’t bad at all. Yes I have drink much better. In fact the best hot chocolate in my opinion is that of Trophy Cupcake. I had some a few months back, and it was really, really good. But what I really need to do is to go visit [...]