I went to figure 8 and had both of the espressos they offered and both were pretty incredible. Also, my non-specialty coffee mother was blown away by the pour over she received and said she finally understood what i see in coffee, ha.

I also went to the houndstooth downtown and brown coffee in san antonio and received very good shots from both.

So a related question: where would you all recommend for buying beans in Austin (for making espresso at home)? Previously I had heard good things about Andersons, but was kind of surprised to only see it mentioned once in this entire thread. Cuvee seems to be getting a lot of love though. I live up north so shops in north Austin would be preferred.

Where exactly "up north"?

You might be able to find Wild Gift locally. They roast in Georgetown. It looks like Lampost Coffee carries Wild Gift.

It seems like many roasters roast early in the week, then deliver the coffee to their wholesale accounts later in the week. I've had the best luck finding fresh coffee at coffee shops on Thursdays or Fridays. That's typically when coffee from out-of-town roasters will arrive (because it goes in the mail on Monday or Tuesday). Grocery stores are a total crap shoot in terms of freshness.

Eastsideloco wrote:Where exactly "up north"?

A few miles north of the domain. I dont mind driving a little bit, but I'd like to find some good beans north of downtown.

Eastsideloco wrote:You might be able to find Wild Gift locally. They roast in Georgetown. It looks like Lampost Coffee carries Wild Gift.

It seems like many roasters roast early in the week, then deliver the coffee to their wholesale accounts later in the week. I've had the best luck finding fresh coffee at coffee shops on Thursdays or Fridays. That's typically when coffee from out-of-town roasters will arrive (because it goes in the mail on Monday or Tuesday). Grocery stores are a total crap shoot in terms of freshness.

Thanks for the tips. Maybe I'll make a trip up to Lampost this weekend. As much as I love HEB, I am definitely trying to avoid grocery store coffee, regardless of brand.

I'm wondering if anybody from Austin has tried coffee from these guys, Summermoon? It may not be to everyone's taste, but I just saw them on TV and it sparked my curiosity. Here in the Bay Area, Mr Espresso has perfected the craft of firewood roasting, but they use a cleaner, indirect method of heating the beans, so they don't taste like BBQ.

Anyway, new and different things are often a nice change of pace. I'd be curious if anyone here has tried them. I imagine an Indo with a kiss of smokiness would translate in to something traditional tasting for coffee roasting methods in some Indonesian countries.

SummerMoon wood roasted coffee. I'll add it to the post.

I wanted to give my recommendation for Red Horn Coffee House & Brewing Company in Cedar Park, TX off 1431 (Whitestone) and Parmer. I've been going there for about 8 months, they opened just as I moved in to the neighborhood. They roast in house on a massive Deidrich roaster, and recently have been stocking house Costa Rica and Ethiopian S.O.'s. They also always have a plentiful and fresh stock of 4-7 different Wild Gift S.O's and Blends. I pretty much exclusively buy my beans from here, and occasionally will meet with friends there or grab drinks there when not pulling at home. Shot quality has been consistent and training seems very good for all the trappings of good technique across staff.

Also would like to arrange an Austin area HB meet up. For those interested, PM me. Particularly interested in anyone who has a Ceado E37s, and would be interested in a side-by-side comparison against the Compak E10 OD Conic. We can make a post out of it for the benefit of others on HB.

BladeAndStone wrote:I wanted to give my recommendation for Red Horn Coffee House & Brewing Company in Cedar Park, TX off 1431 (Whitestone) and Parmer. I've been going there for about 8 months, they opened just as I moved in to the neighborhood. They roast in house on a massive Deidrich roaster, and recently have been stocking house Costa Rica and Ethiopian S.O.'s. They also always have a plentiful and fresh stock of 4-7 different Wild Gift S.O's and Blends. I pretty much exclusively buy my beans from here

Thanks for the recommendation, I will have to check them out. What (approximately) is their price for beans?

Wild gift goes from $14-$16 for 12oz, depending on variety. $16 for their Redhorn label SOs, can't remember if 12 or 16oz since I've been going with wild gift for a few months.