I recently attended a conference in Honolulu. (Yeah, I know: a dirty job, but someone's gotta do it. ) We stayed in Waikiki, a crowded shopping mall set in paradise. But can you find good coffee there? Fortunately, right in the conference hotel was this promising sign:



First impressions were highly positive. Anybody else recognize this machine?



Here's another look:



Wow, a 3 group Mistral! So how was the espresso? Well... not bad. The baristas clearly knew what they were doing, and even poured latte art. Here's a typical capp: decent but kinda foamy. I drank drip coffee most of the time.



Kona coffee is a bit on the pricey side:



Yes, it's good. But not that good.

That setup looks great (love that machine), and I wish I knew about this place when I was there over a year ago. I didn't even try espresso while I was there since most of the places didn't look too promising, so I spent my money on some Matsumoto's instead. Oahu is such an awesome place, even more outside of Waikiki which is a bit hectic.

Spresso_Bean wrote:Oahu is such an awesome place, even more outside of Waikiki which is a bit hectic.

Definitely. But you have to know where to go. For example, we waited an hour in the hot sun just to get into crowded Hanauma Bay, when a few minutes further down the road was beautiful (and beautifully empty) Sandy Beach. Another fortunate find: the 400-acre Hoomaluhia Botanical Gardens, complete with friendly ducks and wild pigs and perhaps a dozen people, only 12 miles outside Honolulu.

I thought, cool, a mistral, and then you moved for the second photo. The horror of it all, look at that brown and white crusted steam wand. Say it isn't so!? Feed that Barista to the sharks!

cannonfodder wrote:I thought, cool, a mistral, and then you moved for the second photo. The horror of it all, look at that brown and white crusted steam wand. Say it isn't so!? Feed that Barista to the sharks!

From what I observed, they were very good at maintaining standards, even during high demand periods. I must have taken this pix at a bad moment. So let's have compassion, and just feed him to the sea turtles.

Far more troublesome to me is Dan's hope springs eternal phenomenon, which strikes me hard and often. For example, here was a coffee bar with top-flight equipment, operated by trained baristas, using beans of no little reknown (Kona), roasted in-house... and I found myself selecting their drip coffee. When I returned home, I pulled a shot of Rocket Coffee Roasters' Brazil Daterra on my lowly Vetrano and ahhh... life was good again.

The truth is, I'm a spoiled brat when it comes to espresso! (prolly not just espresso )

A reprieve is issued for the Barista, a stern warning and a slap with a Flounder will suffice.

Isn't it strange how that first shot after returning home from a business trip (unless it was to Chicago) is the best shot you have ever had?

cannonfodder wrote:Isn't it strange how that first shot after returning home from a business trip (unless it was to Chicago) is the best shot you have ever had?

That's right, and you know why? Latest weapon in my espresso arsenal:



Mistral shmistral! If the blokes at Honolulu Coffee Company had one of these...

Thanks Dan!

I couldn't get enough of the kona coffee when I was in hawaii.

I live in monroe wa and just discovered a local roaster, http://vinaccio.com, that has a kona blend I am excited to try! so far their other coffees I've tried (Sky Valley Mud, Stevens Pass, Quattro e Uno) have met or exceeded my expectations so looking forward to the kona.

RapidCoffee wrote:That's right, and you know why? Latest weapon in my espresso arsenal:

I got one way back with the first production run. The new ones have a larger HB logo, does that make my tamper a collectable?

My HB tamper arrived today...

cannonfodder wrote:I got one way back with the first production run. The new ones have a larger HB logo, does that make my tamper a collectable?

Probably. People collect the damnedest things. (I may have the only purple H-B tamper, is that cool or what? )

Purple is the coolest! So while you may currently be the only one, I doubt you will be for long. Enjoy your purple-only status - for now. Muha, muha-ha-ha

And it would look really good sitting atop a purple accented Mistral.