No Foam Please
All Things CoffeeMonkey Nest in Austin
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Monkey Nest is located along a revitalized Burnett Road corridor in Austin, TX. This area has been a tough-luck area for retailers in the past, but over the last 10 years, it has been gradually getting spruced up. New shopping centers, mixed-use development, and refurbished store fronts have made a big difference. This section of town, in my mind, is anchored by an Amy’s Ice Cream and Phil’s Ice House to the north, and Torchy’s Tacos and Blue Star Cafeteria to the south.
Monkey Nest, inbetween, looks to be trying to be a “third place” – seating is plentiful. The coffee is good too. However, I did make the mistake of trying the Monkey Spicey Mocha. A sip or two is great, but this is a bridge to far, spice-wise, for a full drink. I wanted to drink a gallon of water by the time I was halfway done. A bit too heavy on the cayenne!
The straight up mocha is a better choice. Yelp reviews are generally positive, which is a good sign this far into their tenure on Burnett.
Barefoot Coffee
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A cousin took us to Barefoot Coffee on a recent visit to the Bay Area. It is hidden in a nondescript shopping center in Santa Clara, like so many good coffee shops and restaurants in California. But as soon as you step up to the sidewalk you see good signs – people sitting at round tables outside, sipping coffee and talking, relaxing in the cool weather. Inside, it is clearly a coffee aficionado’s dream come true. There are bags of coffee beans along one wall, and a bar for ordering specialty drinks.
I tried the Cubano – the sugar is caramelized in the shot itself. I still had to sweeten it a bit for my taste, but it was damn good. Comes complete with coffee art.
Two of our party ordered the Caramel Brulee – a drink with caramelized sugar on top (blow torch and all). Two thumbs up.
Finally, I had to buy a bag of the Honey Edlyna. I didn’t know what a honey process is, but I wanted to find out. Thanks to Google, I found this video that explains it a bit, but this article on barista exchange does it one better. There’s a lighter color mixed in with the normal color of the roasted beans, and it sticks a bit to the scoop once you grind it up. I’m assuming this is a byproduct of the honey processing. I didn’t realize it was going to be $18 when I picked it up. A bit pricey. But the smell of this coffee is nearly worth the price. I ground it this morning, filling the kitchen with the smell, and made it with a french press. Worth every penny. But if you’re on a budget, check the prices first.
Barefoot gets my recommendation. Ratings are high on yelp – especially considering it is in California.
Update: Since the first french press, I also tried this as Vietnamese drip with condensed milk (just a little), and french press with condensed milk, and french press with a little skim milk and sugar. I can’t decide which is my favorite but it is hard to go wrong with a strong french press brew.
Handsome Coffee at Houndstooth
Who doesn’t want the barista to call out “Handsome Latte for Scott!” as they set the drink on the bar? Why yes, that handsome latte is for me. On my last trip to Houndstooth Coffee, I noticed they had a new espresso bean option (there are usually at least two options)- the “Handsome Roast”.
I ordered a latte and, because I need to cut down the bitterness of coffee a bit more than that, added two brown sugar packets. And that latte was perfect, espresso art and all.
But it turns out that’s not all. After my colleague and I each raved about our Handsome coffee, I got back to the office and not long after, saw this tweet from Phil Gilbert:
RT @1shot4theroad: first @handsomeroaster is on dieline and now @dinnerpartydnld ! my nerd life goals are complete... publicradio.org/columns/dinner…
—
Phil Gilbert (@philgilbertsr) January 07, 2012And so it turns out Phil is involved in the Handsome Coffee Roasters project. Kudos to these guys for serving up great product, and for Houndstooth for consistently impressing me with their coffee (no matter what I order). If they aren’t serving it as one of the espresso options when you get there, you can always buy a bag of the Handsome Coffee beans to take with you.
Cappuccino at Perry’s
Perry‘s is a fine steakhouse in Austin, and yet my favorite dish is their Famous Pork Chop. But like any fine restaurant, Perry’s also has an excellent after-dinner menu.
When we celebrated my parents’ 50th anniversary at Perry’s, I snapped a picture of the dessert trio and a Cappuccino. Both were excellent, and you won’t be disappointed. (And for dinner, I’d recommend the pork chop)
Cappuccino
Yelp Reviews are pretty positive, as of this writing (4.5 stars).
Agua Azul: Excellent Food, Excellent View on NYE
Agua Azul is an excellent restaurant, though it doesn’t look like much from the road – it is up a flight of stairs, which affords you a compelling view during the day, but it feels completely private and isolated when you’re on the premises at night.
We had our New Year’s Eve dinner, followed by dessert… and coffee! For dessert, I had this excellent cafe mocha:
Mocha at Agua Azul
Like most restaurants in Costa Rica – you might not go there for the espresso, but you shouldn’t be afraid to order it.
Houndstooth Coffee
Houndstooth coffee brings an excellent coffee snob’s selectivity and taste on coffee to central Austin, and yet the owners and baristas are humble, friendly, and helpful. To me, this cafe is the closest to Blue Bottle Coffee that Austin has to offer.
If you want a double nonfat mocha, no problem – it will be more subtle than a typical Starbucks drink, with more espresso flavor coming through. If you want to try something different, they have a variety of coffees and roasts available, and will help you navigate the options. In other words, you don’t just order espresso, you select a specific espresso bean on their menu (though, if you order a mocha, you might not notice the difference). I’d compare it a bit to consulting a sommelier, you’ll get more information than you really need to make a choice, but the richer descriptions give you a deeper context to the coffee you’re drinking.
Cafe Mocha @ Houndstooth
Houndstooth is well located in a new shopping center that also sports a Taco Deli (best tacos in Texas) and Floyd’s 99 barbershop, as well as Uchiko, the little sister of Austin’s favorite sushi destination, Uchi. I think the following picture from their site tells you a lot about the origins of Houndstooth:
Prepping for the Opening
Houndstooth carries coffee from three (at least) roasters:
Cuvee – local Austin roaster since 1998.
Of course, it should go without saying that you can get a variety of espresso drinks, as well as french press, pour over, or siphon. I haven’t been disappointed yet, and I’ve been back to Houndstooth more than a dozen times now. One of the Yelp Reviews seems to agree with me, giving it 5 stars:
Part of it is the rotation of espresso roasts so you can get something slightly different every time. Part of it is their meticulous attention to detail. Part of it is the beautiful (and I’ve heard very expensive) custom La Marzocco machine. Sean takes his coffee seriously, and it’s evident in everything that Houndstooth does.
No argument from me.
Marlins: Proof that Good Coffee is Everywhere in Costa Rica
Marlins is not the kind of place you expect to get a good latte. But I peeked behind the bar and I could see the legitimate espresso machine, so I took a chance.
After a long hike in the Manuel Antonio park, we were starving and really enjoyed our meal (heavy on the fruit). And this Mocha kept me going the rest of the morning:
Marlins Cafe Mocha
Cafe Milagro: My Favorite in Costa Rica
We recently took a family vacation to Costa Rica. It might surprise you to know that not everyone realizes that Costa Rica is a haven for coffee lovers. Cafe Brit is the largest local company – their new store in the airport is very impressive. But it is the little roasters and cafes that always get my attention.
Cafe Mocha @ Cafe Milagro
In Manuel Antonio (and another in Quepos), there is a fantastic little placed called Cafe Milagro. They’ve been roasting since 1994, and serving coffee and espresso nearly as long. If you frequent the location in Manuel Antonio you’re likely to run into the bilingual proprietors (originally hailing from Colorado). The shop has a nice patio in front and back. The front is nice for watching people walk by, with frequent interruptions from tour vans and cars. The back patio is surprisingly secluded and green, you’d hardly know the main road was just on the other side of the restaurant. The wait staff were incredibly understanding of the challenges of eating with small children, and would frequently stop by to distract our kids as we were waiting for food, or as the kids were waiting on their parents to finish.
Back to the coffee. Cafe Milagro has several different roasts, and they sell ground coffee as well as whole bean… but they also make delicious espresso drinks, hot and cold.
Another Morning's Latte
The food at Cafe Milagro is better than you’d expect, especially breakfast. Like most places in Costa Rica you can get fresh fruit galore, and juices that you (or your kids) will love.
I took home a bag of the Quince 15-year anniversary roast, and a bag of espresso beans. The Quince roast has made for a fine French press several times already. It is strong, but not too bitter when prepared this way.
Never fear: you don’t have to travel all the way to Costa Rica to try it out, if you’re willing to pay $10 (flat rate) shipping and handling to have it shipped to you.
Kohana Coffee Sampler
I just received a Kohana Coffee sampler thanks to the good people at Kohana Coffee here in Austin. It came in cute packaging and includes quite a few samples to try. You can follow Kohana Coffee on twitter as well.
Kohana Sampler, in case
Once opened, an assortment of roasts awaited me – a few medium roasts and a few dark roasts.
Kohana Sampler, Opened
We tried the Kohana Blend medium roast first, on Mother’s Day morning. The first surprise was the different color beans in the bag. The aroma was fantastic, and the coffee was rich and smooth (at least, it was the way I take it, with cream). We made it in a pretty standard drip coffee maker so you don’t need special equipment to enjoy the coffee, but I do want to try it in a french press sometime. I wasn’t the only one raving about the coffee that morning.
Kohana Blend
I’ve tried two of the dark roasts now (including Austin Rocks), and two of the medium roasts (including Kohana blend), and I definitely prefer the medium roasts – they have a rich flavor without any bitterness – although my wife tells me I just may be making the coffee too strong which might put the dark roasts a bit over the top. The Kohana blend is by far my favorite to this point – but we’re only halfway through the samples! Several more to try over the next couple weeks for our weekend coffee.
Look for another update on this space in a few weeks!
Lola Savannah
On the recommendation of a friend in Austin, I went a little out of my normal routine to try Lola Savannah coffee. Too far away from home and office for a regular pit stop for me, but it does have an excellent location near 360 and Mopac. The only downside I can see is the extremely limited parking (not much of a problem first thing in the morning, but I’ve been to Grove Wine Bar next door and parking at mealtimes is tough).
Lola has a feel that is somewhere between bar and coffee house. The color palette is coffee house, but the bar setup implies you might want to have a glass of wine in the evening. The furnishings are a combination of leather seating and modern surfaces. There are coffee bags decorating the ceiling.
A view from the back of the coffee lounge
But down to the main event. The coffee. I tried a double cafe mocha, and it was fantastic.
A double cafe mocha
It was rich, but without getting overpowered by the chocolate (even at the bottom of the cup). The foam on top was just right (I noticed it, but it didn’t interfere with drinking). They took the time to do a little foam art as well (always a nice touch that says either “you’re special to us” or “we’re just that cool we can do coffee art and still make money”…). There are some pretty awesome looking desserts in the display case, but it is 8am. I had heard (via Yelp) that there were good breakfast tacos, but I didn’t see any, and this blog is about coffee anyway, right?
Bonus points for having power plugs scattered about inconspicuously. And more points for commenting on my shirt (a picture of a coffee cup running on empty with all kinds of warning / danger signs – a bit like your laptop battery display).
Yelp Reviews are overwhelmingly positive. The Lola website has a little “virtual barista” to recommend coffees to you if you’re not sure what to order. I’d recommend just consulting the barista though…
