I'll be sharing my free time with some friends who like coffee but aren't into the details and nerdy aspects like me. We're going to go to some museums too, and hit cafes/roasters at the same time. So far, I think my plan is to visit Luce, Xela, and Blendin as they're all kind of near each other and not too far from where I'll be staying (Medical/Museum District). And I'm prioritizing places that roast their own. I'll try to hit any others if the opportunity presents itself. At least that's the plan at this time.

Ok, I figured I'd report back for posterity. These are the ones that I got to as I had just the better part of one day free and was going to museums too.

Luce Coffee Roasters - The modern minimalist place. Coffee was nice, and they had a few single origins dialed in. Was balanced too much on the bitter/roasty side. But maybe that's just my preference and the coffees they offered at the moment. Barista's were competent but didn't know much about what they were doing. So they were trained well but I'm not sure they understood the why of what they were doing. But that's not that important, and they were detail focused and skilled.

Xela Roasters - The hipster place. It's all outdoors in the middle of a far out blue collar neighborhood. You order at the window and drink outside. They pulled looooooong shots (like 1:4) and tried to lecture me a little about how long is superior. It was ok. An espresso was the size of an Americano! Got some interesting notes but I didn't think it was as balanced. I also didn't like the subtle condescension of the barista. Was a chore to talk to. That was my experience at least. My friend was with me and had a cortado the size of a latte (presumably because the size of their espresso is so gigantic) and loved it.

Blacksmith Houston - They use sourced coffee, but that's not bad necessarily. I had coffee from Modern. They didn't offer anything else but one coffee, but it was very nice. They also had a really nice looking food menu.

Blendin Coffee Club - My favorite. I went to the downtown location. Amazing balance, offered all their single origins as espresso, which was a lot. First cafe that I've been to to have an EG1. Not that that necessarily beats every other grinder, but it was cool to see one in real life. I had 2 single origins. They were clear, balanced, and delicious. Great baristas too and fun and open to talk to.