After 5 yrs in NYC (lovely tap water and not a bad town otherwise , ) we bought a place in Santa Fe. I'd welcome your thoughts about local coffee resources (cafes or even roasters.) Also, there is not a lot of easily-accessible info on water characteristics, so thoughts on water are welcomed. I'm on the Eastside and I understand that that has a different well sources than other locales. Heatgun roasting at 7400 ft will take some adjustments, I guess----but there's a lot of guessing with HG under any circumstances.

Three years ago we visited Santa Fe/Taos and I felt the coffee scene left a lot to be desired. Might have changed since then.

B|Java

Next time I'm there I'll try to hit Ecco, Betterday (Stumptown), and Ohori's. Betterday looks to be the most promising. Let us know what you discover!

If there isn't anything excellent maybe I'll move out there and open something up! I like Santa Fe.

...open something up! I like Santa Fe.

The traffic was as bad as the coffee.

I've yet to try Betterday, looks like the real deal and is certainly on my list. Is new, and a little off my usual Santa Fe walking path.

There are a few local roasters, of which Aroma is was* my favorite for espresso. You can get a taste at Ecco*. Some like Ohori, but the one time I bought their espresso it seemed overroasted to my taste. If you get down to ABQ, you'll want to visit a small roaster/cafe called Michael Thomas Coffee.

My current favorite SF cafe is Downtown Subscription (see Lever Workhorse), which is a nice stroll down Garcia street off Canyon Road. They use Allegro beans, pull a nice espresso on a La San Marco lever machine.

the_trystero wrote: Let us know what you discover!

Yes, please do.

the_trystero wrote:If there isn't anything excellent maybe I'll move out there and open something up! I like Santa Fe.

If you do I'll buy a season RailRunner pass.

*edit: I stopped by Ecco in SF recently, and can't say it was a hit. Really burnt - not sure whether or not they still use Aroma.

Boldjava wrote:The traffic was as bad as the coffee.

Hahah, ouch, last time we were in the middle of a 12 hour drive and the congestion in the city center was atrocious.

homeburrero wrote:I've yet to try Betterday, looks like the real deal and is certainly on my list. Is new, and a little off my usual Santa Fe walking path.

There are a few local roasters, of which Aroma is my favorite for espresso. You can get a taste at Ecco. Some like Ohori, but the one time I bought their espresso it seemed overroasted to my taste. If you get down to ABQ, you'll want to visit a small roaster/cafe called Michael Thomas Coffee.

My current favorite SF cafe is Downtown Subscription (see Lever Workhorse), which is a nice stroll down Garcia street off Canyon Road. They use Allegro beans, pull a nice espresso on a La San Marco lever machine.

We fueled up at the gas station right by the Ohori on Pen and St Francis on the way out of town, they were already long closed for the day at that point but I was wondering how they were.

Glad to get names of established places. I've seen a fair number cafes and counters with respectable machines sitting there, so I suppose it's a matter of connecting with a place that cares. Funny, though, I realize that it takes a pretty special coffee or circumstance to pull me into a cafe these days unless I'm traveling. That's too bad, because I'm the sort of person who should be out supporting good (commercial) coffee on a daily basis instead of exclusively playing barista at home. So, if not supporting a greater cause, it's more of a comfort factor----knowing there's an excellent place for when I'm in the neighborhood and to assure myself that only the best surpasses what I wake up to each AM.

Any unique water circumstances to report? Working with Los Angeles water was tricky but doable. I suppose that Santa Fe isn't that much more of a challenge (if they don't run out entirely.)

Interesting traffic comments. Haven't owned a car for 5 years---guess I better buy one or two. Ouch!

homeburrero wrote:
My current favorite SF cafe is Downtown Subscription (see Lever Workhorse), which is a nice stroll down Garcia street off Canyon Road. They use Allegro beans, pull a nice espresso on a La San Marco lever machine.

.

If that's the place I'm thinking of, I had a pretty bitchin pull there 10ish years ago. They definitely used a lever machine. One of the first really great straight espresso shots I had actually. Memory is a bit fuzzy but location looks about right.

Congratulations. I love Santa Fe. I lived there for a couple years in the early 2000s-best quality of life ever-and still go back a couple times a year to visit friends and beat the heat.

Whenever we visit, I check out Yelp and so forth to see what's new. The specialty coffee scene shows some signs of life. Even if it is generally behind the times, one good venue would change everything in a city the size of Santa Fe. It's an upscale market, so someone will figure out how to do specialty coffee there.

Please let us know what your favorite places are once you get to town.

[Downtown Subscription is definitely worth a visit. I was not a coffee nerd when I lived in Santa Fe, but I always liked that place. I've picked up Allegro beans at the local Whole Foods and been impressed.]