Monday, August 12, 2013

CC: Dollop Coffee



Subject: Dollop Coffee Buena Park and Lakeview
Location: Chicago, IL
Free WiFi ? : yes
Rating: Both 6+ [see key]

Rarely in my travels do I get to hit two (or more) different locations for the same shop on a single trip, but sometimes I stumble upon such luck. While walking through Chicago, I first came upon Dollop Coffee of Buena Park one sunny morning and then the next day, I found myself loitering by the Lakeview location. Both serving Metropolis Coffee, I was able to capitalize on the opportunity to try out two Dollops in one trip.

At their original Buena Park location, the run-of-the-mill brick exterior does a fair job cloaking the beautiful interior, with its swanky wood furniture and decor, gorgeous layout and warm lighting. For my libations, I ordered an espresso of the Red Line Espresso Blend and a drip of La Callandrina. The espresso, pulled short with a dark brown crema, delivered notes of bittersweet cocoa, cumin, blood orange, buttermilk and a little pepper. The drip proved equally delicious, with flavors of honey, wheat, pistachio, snickerdoodle and sesame seed amidst a medium body.

Heading south to the Lakeview location, a relatively recent shop acquisition from former Kickstand Espresso, it is a little smaller than Buena Park though it lacks none of the charm. In regards to the coffee that afternoon, I had the Red Line for the espresso and the Good Soldier blend for the drip. The espresso proved well-liked, with bits of dark chocolate, deep citrus, vanilla, cumin and malt, showing an overall dark but tasty infusion. The drip held out smatterings of challah, tomato, molasses, cucumber and nutmeg among a medium body, confirming a similarly toothsome 
filtered infusion.

With a highly-praised third spot in the Streeterville neighborhood (which I did not make it to), Dollop seems to be a great shop to visit, no matter the location. Give Dollop a dollop of your time next time you're in one the aforementioned Chicago neighborhoods.

3 comments:

RS 2007 Gold said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Element 46 said...

Fantastic blog, even though i'm the other side of the pond I find the site a great read, thank you.

Annie said...

I know how great it feels to find a good coffee shop and then find that there is more than one in the same area...discovered Ground Espresso Bars during my travels to Ireland and fell in love!