Flight Path is still there although I haven't visited in over ten years. It was started by a guy named Terry. The espresso was always properly brewed but had some horrific aftertaste that I couldn't abide. I don't know why. I tried to convince him to change his offering but since his initial success was in place he wouldn't think of it. At one time it was so popular they had to wall off part of the dining room because so many patrons were parking in resident's driveways. Eventually he sold the shop to one of his baristas.

I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it. I also wrote a Yelp review of HT that shouldn't be too hard to find.

On advice from this thread, I tried Caffe Medici today. It was the only one in walking distance from my hotel, Sheraton Austin. It was close to a mile, but worth the walk. The espresso was very third-wave'ey. Salty and sour. Not under extracted-sour though. I generally prefer the more traditional, sweet caramelly taste and normale extractions instead of ristretto... but that's me.

Anyhow, they had nice immaculately clean La Marzoccos with naked PF's and E-doserless, big Mazzers. For a good place, I rate this place only 50th percentile in "careful shot crafting" category as they did not weigh either the dose or the extraction and did not time the extraction. She extracted by volume, into a shot glass, then dumped it into a room temperature espresso cup. It was salty and sour, but not as extreme as the shot in my recent trip to Vivace in Seattle.

I discovered that if I took my time drinking it, little sips at a time, with plenty of time to take in the finish, it was actually quite nice. With my personal favorite, very middle of the road, sweet carmelly, normales, I usually down a double in two, maybe three slugs. I don't know why. A possible topic for a different thread will be to poll HB members as to how they drink their espresso. Many small sips or few big slugs.

I will go back to Medici next time I'm in Austin.

-Peter

Most posts in this thread deal with coffee shop recs, so this might not be the right place for this question but in any case does anyone know if there is a local Austin "homebrewers" club where home baristas get together on a semi-regular basis to discuss coffee topics, tinker with machines, and learn skills? Or perhaps one of the quality shops like Medici's or Anderson's has some events like this? Given the amount of nerds and espresso drinkers in this town it seemed like there might be an existing group already.

I'm eagerly awaiting the arrival of my first "real" espresso machine - an Expobar Office Lever and a Vario grinder, and I also ordered Eric S' thermometer adapter for the E61 grouphead. Based on my research it seemed like this was the optimum combination of shot-pulling/latte-making abilities and price. As a barista newbie, though, it would be nice to compare notes and do some hardware tinkering.

Thanks,
Alex

I'm not aware of any such get-togethers. I'm sure a few of the local baristas will talk to you about making quality shots. I've discussed with Ryan and Steve of Medeci, Lorenzo of Cuvee, Daniel and Sean of Houndstooth...

There are (or were) latte art throw-downs monthly here. Check with the Medici employees about that.

pcrussell50 wrote:On advice from this thread, I tried Caffe Medici today. It was the only one in walking distance from my hotel, Sheraton Austin. It was close to a mile, but worth the walk. The espresso was very third-wave'ey. Salty and sour. Not under extracted-sour though. I generally prefer the more traditional, sweet caramelly taste and normale extractions instead of ristretto... but that's me.

Anyhow, they had nice immaculately clean La Marzoccos with naked PF's and E-doserless, big Mazzers. For a good place, I rate this place only 50th percentile in "careful shot crafting" category as they did not weigh either the dose or the extraction and did not time the extraction. She extracted by volume, into a shot glass, then dumped it into a room temperature espresso cup. It was salty and sour, but not as extreme as the shot in my recent trip to Vivace in Seattle.

I discovered that if I took my time drinking it, little sips at a time, with plenty of time to take in the finish, it was actually quite nice. With my personal favorite, very middle of the road, sweet carmelly, normales, I usually down a double in two, maybe three slugs. I don't know why. A possible topic for a different thread will be to poll HB members as to how they drink their espresso. Many small sips or few big slugs.

I will go back to Medici next time I'm in Austin.

-Peter

Room-temperature cup? Inexcusable.

When I walk in a new place I usually ask them how the espresso is, then let them know I'm not in favor of any sort of sourness. The Medici blend they are serving does not have to be sour; it is more forgiving than Meritage (also from Cuvee.)

If that was Megan (tall brunette with red lipstick) I know she'd be happy to re-make it. She normally extracts into a clear shot glass, but I assume that's to see how much of the shot is crema. The FB80s have shot timers but they're kinda hard to see from a customer's usual vantage point.

It sounds like you got a bad shot there, for whatever reason. There have been some new hires.

Thanks crusty cup - it's been a while since I've been to Medici so I'll stop by soon.

Here's one for y'all's radar:

http://cenoteaustin.com/

Not quite open yet, but will be serving Cuvée coffees (and Rockstar Bagels). Delicious concept.

Facebook update on Cenote:

"Last inspection passed today! we will be putting the finishing touches on the place in the next couple weeks. Opening day on 3/25. get a sneak peak during SXSW when spotify will be hosting day parties at Cenote!"

http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?s...6157726724

Looking forward to being able to walk to good coffee, and to having a source of fresh Cuvée coffee nearby.