Yesterday I visited, for the first time, Whole Foods Market in San Antonio (Blanco Road).
I went in and first think I noticed, they have a coffee shop, I get closer and... Surprise! They have a customized 3 Group La Marzocco Strada, With Glass panels, glass back, and purple paint. An amazing machine if you ask me.

So I get there, start talking the barista and got what they called a Brown Sugar Cortado. Basically, a double with some milk and foam. Pretty close to a real Cortado. They used a take-away cup without asking (which was really depressing as I wanted to stay and they had warmed up, nice porcelain cups). Milk wasn't steamed much, Barista told me they heat up to 120. Coffee was OK, but for the kind of equipment they have, I was expecting more. Barista only told me they use always the same beans, in both Caffeinated and Decaffeinated.
They do use an amazing, rich and creamy milk, I later checked and the half gallon goes for about 5 bucks (Lazy Meadows Cream Top whole milk)

I also asked for the Latte, which they make with brewed coffee, not espresso.

Price wise, they will sell you a Double for 1.7 $, which is not bad. Most other speciality drinks will be in the neighborhood of the 3 bucks for a 12 oz. Plenty of options.

I would say, if you are around, give them a try. Definitely worth trying, specially now that Local Coffee is (IMHO) pretty bad. I would definitely do some of my grocery shopping there so I can get a espresso while shopping!

After getting home, I looked for the customization of this machine, and found that was the first one of a series of machines that Espressoparts was customizing for WFM four years ago. I don't know if they ever did more than that. Link:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/expressoparts.com

And also, an image from them so you don't need to head to the link if you don't want to.

The Whole Foods here uses Super Automatics... It's kind of unfortunate, but then again, I'm not sure if there is a lot of room to play with Allegro's stuff. I find it interesting they make their lattes with brewed coffee.

Ouch. I guess the plan of making several never got real.

I was also surprised that the latte had no espresso on it.

I think TIa Hoffman had a lot to do with helping improve Whole Foods espresso service in the state of Texas. She's doing different things now, mainly with Illy, as well as being a co-partner in a new cafe in Houston. Her and her husband have very deep roots in our SCAA Barista and roasting community as far as teachers and volunteers go.

We have a similar WF setup near me in Bellaire (part of Houston), Texas. It's a 3 group Strada, LM Swift grinder, and their mediocre Allegro beans. The barista are, meh, and so I never get anything there despite the fact that I'm in that store like 3-4 times a week. Honestly, my espresso at home is waaaay better.

Espresso at home is always better. And it's true for me too. The baristas are hit or miss. They do have a really knowledgeable girl that you can tell she is passionate about coffee... There are others that is a no-go for me if theu are working.

In any case, it is nice to see they try. I don't know what will happen with their sample policy if you want to try espresso beans they have for sell. Maybe they can get a free espresso other than the ones they have for sales in the coffee "shop".

emradguy wrote:We have a similar WF setup near me in Bellaire (part of Houston), Texas. It's a 3 group Strada, LM Swift grinder, and their mediocre Allegro beans. The barista are, meh, and so I never get anything there despite the fact that I'm in that store like 3-4 times a week. Honestly, my espresso at home is waaaay better.

My whole foods is the same, and they roast in shop, coffee is mehhh. However their food is awesome, not their regular food section with soups etc. Mine has a restaurant section that does some killer pizzas in their wood oven, had a crazy honey arugla something pie that was awesome. Do specials also, like 8 bucks for a craft beer and pizza or great burger.

But yeah, even though they roast in shop the coffee is still mediocre, hell my lowly (in comparison to their setup) home setup makes far better espresso and drinks.