This isn’t a coffee shop.  It is a wine bar that happens to serve great food.  It is tidy – one might say tiny.  Most of the seating is at three sides of a square-shaped bar.  Many of the customers are regulars, presumably living in the condo building Mulberry resides in.

After having appetizers and cheese at he bar, I ordered a cappuccino.  Presentation was perfect, right down to the sugar cubes.

Just don’t forget to order the “Devils on Horseback” as well. Trust me.  Yelp doesn’t lie.

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.

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, 2012

And 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.

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).

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:

Counter Culture

Cuvee – local Austin roaster since 1998.

Intelligentsia

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.

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 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…

I recently stopped by and was surprised by the half-price coffee drinks before 11am!  Take that, Starbucks.  I didn’t take a picture of the scene, but there was a film crew shooting a coffee-conversation scene the day I stopped by.  This place has a cool vibe and a nice area for sitting outside on the patio – shaded from the heat, but also sheltered against the rain. The inside seating area is pretty small, but if you want an intimate conversation, it’s perfect.

Drip Coffee

A Latte in a to-go cup

The latte was good but not remarkable – they don’t waste any time on decor or flair – just delivering a quick cup of coffee.  I managed to resist the dessert display… but it sure was tempting.

Yelp Reviews again are mostly positive.

I recently received a Yelp email reviewing coffee shops in Austin and it gave me a few new ideas to try:

• Austin Brevita
• Anderson’s,
• Geniune Joes

It also recommended Flight Path, which I’ve been to before (back when it really was on the flightpath, and it was so noisy when a plane went overhead that you couldn’t think).

I’ll have to try out the other locations (they’re on my list!).

This is a "double" Vietnamese coffee, pre-stirring.

After stirring, it has a nice rich color

From the street or parking lot, Triumph Cafe doesn’t look like much – yet another strip-mall cafe.  However, Triumph has a hidden gem of a back patio, surrounded by a lot of greenery and shade – a nice little oasis.  In the spring and fall in Austin, its a perfect place to sit outside and talk a bit too long over coffee or lunch.

There are other places to get Vietnamese Pho and other cuisine, and I like some of them better. But this place has a nice laid back atmosphere, and they didn’t look at me funny when I ordered my Vietnamese coffee hot instead of cold (usually people will pour it over ice, but I’ve never been a big fan of ruining my coffee with ice)…

(yelp reviews here, mostly positive, especialy with regard to the coffee)