St Louis Riley's Coffee and Fudge
Chicago Intelligentsia and Metropolis
NYC Grumpy
Pittsburgh Aldo
Dayton Oh, forget it
Newark NJ, drink the water
Columbus Oh, Crema Cafe
Las Vegas, the green mermaid reigns, drink beer

Hey all, I'm in the navy and about to make a port visit in victoria bc. (in fact I'm typing this from my iPhone aboard ship in the strait of juan de Fuca right now.) I saw the recommendation above for that one place in victoria. Anyone have any more? I wish I could make it to Elysian room but that looks like a 2 hour ferry ride.

I take "away from home" as meaning far far from home.

Phoenix, AZ: http://www.luxcoffee.com/ Lux Coffee Bar

This place has awesome espresso's. Maybe it's because they use a commc'l lever. Maybe cuz they roast their own beans. This place convinced me that 'spro's using lever is the way to go.

It also helps that you can get great Italian style Pane next door, Pane Bianco - related to Pizza Bianco fame of Phoenix.

Tacoma, WA : Satellite Coffee

St Paul: Kopplin's

I will add a few more which have not been mentioned yet:

Newton, MA Taste
London, UK flat white, Milk Bar

Navin

I am enjoying this thread.

And I thought of another one: Seattle: Trabant in the U District. They started apparently with Intelligentsia and now make fine coffee with the 49th Parallel Roasters out of Vancouver, BC.

Orange County, CA - Kean Coffee (Newport Beach), Chapman Coffee House (Orange, CA)

On vacation here in SW NH just had two really exceptional double espresso's at Prime roasters in Keene. The blend was a custon one using their Demon blend and other coffees. It tasted so wonderfully balanced. Great richness without being extreme. There was soft chocolate which was also in balance. The crema persisted through the whole cup. This was as good a cafe/professional espresso as I have had in recent memory. It is as good, but very different from Cafe Grumpy in NYC.

They have a La Marzocco and use a Mazzer grinder. The cup was Inker made in the round bowl style like the Nuovo Points but less thick than the latter. Quite nicely made.

Very friendly people.

Clearly worth a try.

KS

My wife and I found a great coffee shop in the Destin/Panama City Beach area. It's called Amavida Coffee. They have a roaster in Panama City, a shop in Seaside, and a shop in Seagrove Beach.

They roast several different varieties, but I was especially glad that they also roast Malabar Gold for use in their coffee shops. I've had a couple of espressos in their shops and each one has been excellent. So far, it is the only one I've found in this area that's good.


This was the first time I had ever tried Malabar Gold. It was very smooth and had a thick, persistent crema.


If you are ever in Seaside or Seagrove, I would give them a try.

Beezer wrote:Santa Cruz: Verve Coffee Roasters, Fins, Lulu's.

Santa Rosa: Ecco Cafe.

I second the call for Lulu's. I had two of the best ristrettos I've had in a long time when I was there just a week ago, and they only charge $1 per shot! Another good one just south of Santa Cruz (just east, actually) is The Ugly Mug in Soquel. Particularly great milk drinks.

Ecco Cafe is not a cafe. Though they've been kind enough to pull shots for me, they aren't open for walk-in espresso.

Sonoma County Wine Country, CA: My Friend Joe in Sebastopol pours good shots, and will do it over if a shot ain't right. That's how it ought to be! Flying Goat in Healdsburg makes very good drinks & particularly good espresso. An excellent foil to too much red wine...

I am stoked that this thread continues to garner information that I hope to use in the future. I was back in Mobile and had to downgrade my recommendation for Satori Sound. I edited my post above.

But I did make it back to Carpe Diem Cafe on Old Shell Rd. across from Springhill College. The double ristretto, although far from great because it was a tad sour, had nice body and good crema. I enjoyed the finish for quite a few miles as I travelled north from that coffee oasis.

They have a website: http://www.springhillcoffeeroasters.com

I was in SF this past weekend and came across Roma in North Beach. It's right on Columbus...near Stockton, I think. While their roast was rather dark for my taste, there was a fine balancing sweetness & body about halfway through the shot. The cooler it got, the more subtleties came through. I wound up having four shots there in two days, and all were consistent.

Cheers,
Paul

Did you get a chance to check out 4 Barrel while in SF? Or Moto or Ritual or Bambino?

malachi wrote:Did you get a chance to check out 4 Barrel while in SF? Or Moto or Ritual or Bambino?

Is Bambino new? I'll be in SF for a couple days this fall and already planning to check out Four Barrel but it would be nice to add some other new places to the list.

Clarification for something posted previously by another user - Ecco Caffe in Santa Rosa CA does not have a retail cafe operation. If you're buying beans from them and arrange to pick them up at their roastery on a roasting day it's possible if not likely that you can get a shot pulled while you're there but it is not a retail operation.

Update on LA: Add Choke to the list. Motorcycle/scooter repair shop near Silver Lake area on Normal Ave. Not open early in the morning (10 AM opening on the Saturday that I visited). Very austere operation with a classic 2 group Faema E-61 and a rad old deco style grinder. Pretty good shot and very good macchiatto.

I also tried LA Mill. Atmosphere not my cup of tea and some of the food items are crazy expensive ($12 for a bowl of soup and $16 for a basic panini). But the espresso, machiatto and cappa I had were above average and the cup of Kenyan Gichi from the Clover was truly outstanding. Shots at Intelly were by far the best of any I had on my recent LA visit (mid July 2008) but I did have some very respectable espresso elsewhere. Nice to have so many options.

Update on NYC: I'm hearing great things about El Beit in Brooklyn. Also had a chance to try Gimme's tiny little shop on Mott Street when I was in NYC last month as well as trying Everyman espresso on East 13th (in the space where 9th Street Espresso had a branch for a short spell). Both were very good and worth a visit. Everyman is serving Counter Culture and although I enjoyed my shot of Toscano fare more than the La Forza I think both were nicely pulled shots.

Bar Bambino is probably a year or so old now. Not a "coffee bar" but rather a restaurant and wine bar that serves good coffee.

Mojo is a bike shop / coffee bar.

4 Barrel rocks of course.

And then there is Ritual and perhaps Bluebottle to add to the mix.

Thrown in a trip to Toronado, a trip to Uvo and a trip to Alembic... Good times.

Already mentioned, but Cafe Grumpy in Chelsea NY is just awesome - the people there were really nice and the coffee was superb. I had an iced Rwanda from the Clover and a few shots of Heartbreaker Blend from the Synesso. An experience I'll never forget.

Ninth Street Espresso in the Chelsea Market NY was another great location, serving Stumptown Hairbender from the Marzocco and also as an iced coffee.

Gimme Coffee in Manhattan NY served some nice shots of Leftist Blend. I saw some great latte art being poured here.

Clarification for something posted previously by another user - Ecco Caffe in Santa Rosa CA does not have a retail cafe operation. If you're buying beans from them and arrange to pick them up at their roastery on a roasting day it's possible if not likely that you can get a shot pulled while you're there but it is not a retail operation.

This is not entirely accurate. They do have a small bar inside a bookstore in downtown Santa Rosa, complete with a two group LaMarzocco Linea. I've had a macchiato there which was very nice. I don't think the shop is labeled as "Ecco Cafe", it's just part of the book store. Still, you can in fact get Ecco espresso served to you there, so I think it belongs on the list.

malachi wrote:Bar Bambino is probably a year or so old now. Not a "coffee bar" but rather a restaurant and wine bar that serves good coffee.

Mojo is a bike shop / coffee bar.

4 Barrel rocks of course.

And then there is Ritual and perhaps Bluebottle to add to the mix.

Thrown in a trip to Toronado, a trip to Uvo and a trip to Alembic... Good times.

I'll take note. Alcohol has long been off the menu for me - actually a blessing as I'd never have time to check out the coffee offerings properly if wine or microbrews were added to the mix.

I've been to the Bluebottle kiosk in Hayes Valley as well as the cart at the Ferry Building but do want to check out the cafe when I'm in town. It will be an abbreviated visit - arriving late Wednesday night and the leaving late Friday afternoon for a Saturday wedding in Fresno. But I should be able to squeeze most if not all of these places in.

Beezer wrote:This is not entirely accurate. They do have a small bar inside a bookstore in downtown Santa Rosa, complete with a two group LaMarzocco Linea. I've had a macchiato there which was very nice. I don't think the shop is labeled as "Ecco Cafe", it's just part of the book store. Still, you can in fact get Ecco espresso served to you there, so I think it belongs on the list.

While it serves their coffee, it is not owned or run by Ecco.

malachi wrote: by malachi on Fri Aug 01, 2008 11:02 am

Bar Bambino is probably a year or so old now. Not a "coffee bar" but rather a restaurant and wine bar that serves good coffee.

Mojo is a bike shop / coffee bar.

4 Barrel rocks of course.

And then there is Ritual and perhaps Bluebottle to add to the mix.

Thrown in a trip to Toronado, a trip to Uvo and a trip to Alembic... Good times.

I am off to SF next week for the week and welcome the new names. For my palate - I have been doing Blue Bottle at the stand on Linden; good straight shots. I have found Ritual good but a bit inconsistent. I didn' know there are two others, 4 Barrel and Bambino in walking distance; and motorcycle espresso. Are the shots good? I am a two-wheeler with two vintage BMWs and a Vespa. I got hooked on it 37 years ago. It took until several years ago to get hooked on straight shots. Oh well.