the_trystero wrote:For the Austin locals, which places that serve good coffee are away from the SXSW masses?

Houndstooth. Excellent espresso. Away from the mobs. Accessible from Mopac, so you can stay off I-35:

http://goo.gl/maps/a6b9i

Agreed; and I think Once Over is the standard for the south side.

crusty cup wrote:I tried Cenote but the espresso was thin & over extracted. They were using a La Marzocco Linea and Nuova Simonelli Mythos so I am not sure what the problem is, maybe stale coffee.

The espresso could have been stale, but I think it has more to do with the focus-or lack of focus. I was hoping that Cenote would be coffee-centric, but it really isn't. I suspect that they make more money on food, beer and wine than they do on coffee. They have great espresso tools-Cuvée requires that they do-but my go to drink there is the CCD. I stay home for a shot or go someplace with more engaged (and better trained?) baristas.

FWIW: It's definitely worth visiting Cuvée sometime, especially if you know you'll be day tripping west of town. I had a couple great shots right from the source. If you really want to know what Cuvée is capable of, make a date to go see Lorenzo Perkins at their on-site training center. You can even have him make you an espresso using one of their darker roasts (for fans of the Italian vein). In my experience, no one pulls a better shot than the roaster's master barista.

http://goo.gl/maps/hPL4G

(Trystero, you might add this to your SXSW list, too, depending on what else you'll be doing and how much time you have. It's so far away from the crowds that it's 20 or 30 minutes out of town. It's an unique setup for a roaster. It's in the country, surrounded by ranches-Willie Nelson's is just across the highway and over the rise-rather than in a rundown city warehouse or similar. Just make a date first, as a lot of people here take off work during SXSW. My impression is that they don't get many visitors by virtue of their location, but they are very hospitable if they know you are coming.)

crusty cup wrote:Agreed; and I think Once Over is the standard for the south side.

Must be. A buddy of mine turned me on to Houndstooth, and his favorite place down south is Once Over. I need to make a trip there soon.

(Just checked the location so that I'll remember to stop in when I'm in the area next. Great neighborhood, but it's right in the thick of it during SXSW.)

Represent! Way to go Houndstooth:

http://sprudge.com/jonathan-aldrich-jon ... hamps.html

Jonathan Aldrich, Houndstooth Coffee, Austin, TX - South Central Brewers Cup champ!

Jonthan Aldrich competed and won his first-ever Brewers Cup title using MADCAP Coffee Company's San Sebastian, a coffee from the Huila region of Colombia. It's produced by a small shareholders organization called OCCICAFE, and has been a star on MADCAP's seasonal offering sheet for three years running.

Mr. Aldrich's winning routine employed the ABID Clever Dripper (available here via Espresso Parts) and Kalita 103 filters (buy here via Olympia Coffee Roasters). "I think these are absolutely the best filter for the Clever," Mr. Aldrich told us, and he mentioned that he used a very light water rinse on the paper itself, around 8 ounces. Mr. Aldrich brewed using 21 grams of coffee to 340 milileters of water, which he described as being intentionally "a little weak" to showcase the structure and clarity of flavor in his coffee.

His method involved stirring the coffee 5 times after 100 millileters of 201°F water, then 5 more times after the rest of the water was poured at the 30 second mark. His total steep time was 2 minutes, followed by a 90 second draw down. In our exit interview, Mr. Aldrich talked up the virtues of brewing with Clever: "I think the Clever is a great way to brew coffee in shops - it's not a head down, look at the water brewing method. It's a fairly simple brewing style that frees you up to look at the customer, make eye contact, and have a conservation." They use the Clever Dripper behind the bar at Houndstooth, where San Sebastian is a staff favorite.

Mr. Aldrich would like to shout out Sean Henry, the owner at Houndstooth, as well as the rest of the staff at Houndstooth, the folks at MADCAP Coffee Co who brewed and tasted with him all weekend, and all of his friends in the Dallas coffee scene, particularly those involved with TNT DFW. A Texan through and through, pretty much the first thing Mr. Aldrich did upon winning the Brewers Cup was to tweet the hashtag "#TEXASFOREVER".

Houndstooth is soon to open a second shop Downtown Austin in the next 6-8 weeks (after SXSW), and will be opening a shop in Mr. Aldrich's home town of Dallas in the next 4-6 months. Congratulations to Jonathan, Houndstooth, and MadCap!



Link to roaster: http://madcapcoffee.com/

That Colombia from Madcap is great stuff. I bought a bag because of a tip from a barista at Houndstooth and promptly recommended that roaster for HB list of favorite roasters.

That is funny. We head up there on weekends with the kids to do the TacoDeli / Houndstooth combo and while I have had many conversations with him, he never pulled me a shot...until last weekend. And, I was thinking that the shots he pulled were better than any I have had up there. They have a lot of different coffee in there now. Seems like they have increased their offerings since the new store opened downtown.

brooksbrokid wrote:We moved to Austin from Sydney, Australia in August this year. We love a lot about Austin but the coffee scene is awful (opportunity!!!). Don't get me wrong, I can get a superior cup of coffee here and I'm frequently at Caffee Medici, Houndstooth, Thunderbird and Once Over.... I love em! (I haven't made it to Progress or JP Java yet, bound to be more). But we were spoiled in Sydney (Melbourne even better!), hand crafted excellence on almost every corner.

If you do come and don't have kids, you'll be fine. Live close in to the university, South or Old West (Clarksville).

Unfortunately school's have dictated our location priorities and, like every other middle american city, the best schools are in the burbs, 20 minutes away from the above mentioned jewels. Out here, there's nothing but the big S.

Chris, welcome to Austin. Sounds like maybe you are in Westlake based on the schools comment. We did it the other way and moved from Westlake to Clarksville. If you find yourself on 6th headed west, feel free to pop in for a shot...the timer turns the machine off at 2:30pm.

Frank is my personal favorite in Austin, especially when Joselyn is behind the machine.

Longshot here, but were you at the West Austin park this afternoon? There was an Aussie there who I had not seen before.

-Jason

FWIW: there are a couple post-worthy new coffee destinations in Austin.

My favorite is Salt & Time a specialty butcher shop with fresh baked goods and the first ever retail location for Cuvée Coffee. They also serve sandwiches. You can stop in for lunch and a shot of espresso, and take home cured meats, a baguette and whole bean coffee. The storefront is on the north side of E 7th, just east of Chicon (across the street from La Michoacana). Here's the website:

http://www.saltandtime.com/

If espresso and barbecue is more to your liking, then head further south to the Buzz Mill on East Riverside. They feature coffee from Bootleg Coffee Roasters, which will deliver fresh-roasted coffee to your home by bike or motorcycle. The brick & mortar building is a coffee shop; a trailer out back serves barbecue. Here are the relevant links:

http://buzzmillcoffee.com/MAIN/

http://www.bootlegatx.com/

There is also a new specialty coffee & microbrew destination on its way that is destined for the Progress Coffee location on E 5th:

http://austin.culturemap.com/news/food_ ... brew-brew/

That sounds like a winning combination. I'm looking forward to being able to get Handsome Coffee Roaster's product even closer to home.

I had a great cup of espresso the other day at Once Over. They ordered espresso from Caffe Calabria in San Diego. Now Caffe Calabria isn't widely known for their espresso. It was unapologetically dark and thick - possibly one of the bitterest cups of espresso I have ever had. But it was smooth, the crema was right, and I was glad they didn't pander to the sourness craze that is sweeping the "high end" espresso world. I think the staff wasn't quite sure what to make of it - they looked at me kind of like Carl Spackler eating the baby ruth candy bar in Caddyshack. I considered it pretty decent espresso though, if a bit uninvolving. Therefore, take everything else I say with a grain of salt.

On a related note, Houndstooth opened their Frost location recently. They've started ordering coffee from several new roasters and are serving it there. I liked their Coava Kilenso; I thought it was remarkably free from the sourness that characterizes 90% of the espresso they serve at Houndstooth. La Forza remains my recent favorite though. (Favorite: Zoka espresso of 2002/3.) If you like lightly-roasted sour espresso then you'll love Houndstooth. It's come to my attention that one guy is more or less completely responsible for making their espresso selection, and he's got a palate that favors sourness. (Some people insist that isn't the case.) If you're like me and you're not too crazy about a bright flavor profile then you might try Caffe Medici in Clarksville; try to find Ryan or Steve-O as they have pulled some pretty smooth shots for me in the past. Their Medici blend from Cuvee is decidedly more neutral compared to the more sour Meritage blend. Once Over has their Dead Fingers blend from Cuvee, also less sour than Meritage. Juan has pulled very nice shots for me there. I really don't get by either Once Over or Medici enough to meet their baristas though. I'm not really a big Cuvee fan (I find it undistinguished) but it has kind of taken over the gourmet espresso scene here, in part because of the easy access.

Going back to Frost though, I have to say that store attitude there is very nice, even refreshing. It's a direct result of commitment from the staff and support from the owner, as well as a capable manager. Plus the space is very nice with thoughtfully rich, but understated decor. There's an outdoor area with a cactus garden, and a bar with seats, several which are right next to the espresso machine. I told them I was going to put a couch in there and go to sleep on it but it hasn't happened yet.