No Foam Please
All Things CoffeeArchive for Coffee Beans
Barefoot Coffee
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
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.
Real Simple Boasts about 7 Coffees
Looking for something to change up your coffee routine?
Real Simple (the magazine) boasts about “7 Buzz-Worthy Coffees” – giving some recommendations for coffees you can try to change up your coffee routine…
- Pete’s Coffee Uzuri African Blend
- Counter Culture La Golondrina
- Starbucks Pike Place Roast – I have to admit to liking this one myself. But when I buy beans for regular coffee rather than espresso I like to find something different to buy.
- Jim’s Organic Sweet Love Blend
- Stumptown Coffee Roasters Kenya Gaturiri Reserve – molasses and black currant? count me in.
- illy Whole Bean Coffee Medium Roast – All of the illy coffees are fantastic in my opinion. There is nothing quite like the smell when you crack open a tin of illy coffee. Now, for some reason Real Simple says that you can only get it in “ground” rather than whole bean, but the picture says “whole bean” and I’ve never had trouble finding illy whole bean coffee…
- Gimme! Coffee Rwanda Remera
So, if you’ve been stuck in a rut with your daily coffee routine, try one of these to change up the routine… But I’ll add a couple more ideas to the list:
Ruta Maya - a fantastic organic coffee from right here in Austin. The Cubita (black package) has a great aroma. They’ve been in business in Austin for years, importing from Central America. And then there’s Third Coast Coffee, another good local roaster. Or Kohana Coffee (love their website, haven’t tried the coffee yet!)….
Do you have to move to Austin to find these? Of course not! No doubt there is a small roaster in your town (or two, or three, or ten) to try out. If there’s an organic grocery store (Whole Foods, Sprout, etc) or a Costco, those are good places to start looking for alternatives that might be local (at least, they are good places to look for options in Austin, along with HEB and Central Market).
Happy hunting…
