Espressopilot's Search for Great Espresso on the Road: Milwaukee

Talk about your favorite cafes, local barista events, or plan your own get-together.
pcrussell50
Posts: 4010
Joined: 15 years ago

#1: Post by pcrussell50 »

Pasted from my brand new blog:

Intro post: http://espressopilot.blogspot.com/2014/ ... great.html

First review, Milwaukee:http://espressopilot.blogspot.com/2014/ ... today.html
In Milwaukee on a layover today. A few blocks walk from my downtown Hilton layover hotel, I found by googling:

Stone Creek Coffee

List of observed geek cred:

-the door handle was a used portafilter bolted to the wood door, i've not seen this before, cool
-the machine was a four-group La Marzocco Linea
-there were two grinders, a K30 Vario used primarily, and a doserless Super Jolly that i did not see used at all. i bet it had decaf in it.
-there was an AeroPress (good geek sign), and a dedicated pourover grinder. they made an aeorpress drink for a customer, and weighed both the dose and the extraction
-i ordered (as always), a shot of espresso and small-amount, milk drink (machiatto, cortado, gibraltar, cappuccino, etc...) the shot was bright and third-wavey the way i like them, an indication that the beans are not too dark.
-the barista did not weigh either the dose or the extraction (things i do at home), but i asked her and she does weigh the dose from time to time as a calibration check. she said she extracts by volume, and has a little beaker she uses to check on volume every so often so she can adjust the machine to reproduce that volume
-there were no oddities or foibles in her prep technique. she dosed straight into the bottomless portafilter and did a stockfleth move and a standard, single-stage tamp without overpolishing or rapping the tamper against the portafilter after a partial tamp
-Peter
LMWDP #553

User avatar
Boldjava
Posts: 2765
Joined: 16 years ago

#2: Post by Boldjava »

Stone Creek near the train depot is excellent.

Also try Colectivo on Humboldt (the roastery) and the Colectivo down on the Lake (Lincoln Memorial) for its unique setting.
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LMWDP #339