CC: Metropolis Coffee Company

What's a Coffee Commentary?

Subject: Metropolis Coffee Company
Location visited: Chicago, IL
Free WiFi ? : yes
Rating: 6+ [see key]



Whenever I visit Chicago, it feels like I rush through city. Always rushing back and forth to see things or in this specific case, to grab lunch and show my good pal of mine a broad glimpse of the city (in the end, we saw most of the tourist spots under 3 hours...).

But as any serious coffee lover knows, you don't go through Chicago without making a coffee stop. My last time through, I hit Intelligentsia (always a good cup) but this time I wanted to pop in at Metropolis Coffee Company, a roaster/coffeehouse that has received much acclaim for their coffee as well as their espresso (a sweet-smelling melody to one's ears).

So, in order to make our time well-spent, we parked up near Metropolis in the far north of Chicago, which actually turned out to not be metered! We got there early and so hit the place before we began our whirlwind tour.

The shop is long, with some outside tables and a clean modern exterior. The inside blew me away with the square footage of the space, the nice art, and how every single piece of furniture was occupied by someone (obviously some local love).

As mentioned, they roast their own and (wo)man do they do a good job. Since they offer drip as well as french press for coffee, I figured I'd try the press. The coffee was beautiful, with a buxom body and just the right acidity (I forget which coffee it was, *tear*).

The espresso also knocked my socks off, with a really sweet tang that hit my tongue with sniper precision. The baristas, who were excellent in delightful service, had stellar skills in pulling the shots well.

I failed to note the tea (but I bet it's good!).

The fact that Chicago has such a gem really made my day. If you're ever nearby, make sure to make a side trip to sample Metropolis.

CC: Brew Ha Ha!

What's a Coffee Commentary?


Subject: Brew Ha Ha!
Locations visited: Philadelphia, PA (now closed) and all of Delaware
Free WiFi ? : yes
Rating: 5+ [see key]


*Updated 1/30/18*

Walking the city on a cool summer night tends to be a very relaxing activity (though my fiance' would tell you otherwise; she doesn't like wandering). Yet what Philly boasts in serene walks it lacks in evening business hours, especially in coffeehouses. Now, you may exclaim "Who drinks coffee at night!?" and I will tell you that many would rather gather at a coffeehouse for decent java then a noisy nightclub. But I digress.

Brew Ha Ha! is one of those places that I always managed to pass at night, when it was closed. I never really came in the area any other time, but I figured one day I'd hit it when it was open.

That day came one recent, humid summer day when I had some time to kill one Friday afternoon as I waited for a friend. I was walking along 12th St, looked up and there before my eyes it stood open and buzzing with customers. The shop is in an old building with beautiful front windows and a nice exterior paint job. The inside is very expensively and stylistically designed, with really nice furniture and some beautiful pieces of art.

But the pleasantries stopped there. The coffee was La Colombe, a tedious cup of joe that constantly fails to serve up to its hype. The espresso was pulled rather well, but the espresso itself came out jagged with a charred finish and a bitter aftertaste (I deduce it was more the espresso then the barista or machine). I failed to note the tea.

While Philadelphia has many coffeehouses, Brew Ha Ha! joins many other Philly coffee establishments in the realm of mediocrity (can't say I'm surprised, as its West Chester location faired no better). If you're looking more for a place to hang out with friends during the day and not so much a stellar espresso, try Brew Ha Ha!.

Update 8/16/07
Turns out that the West Chester location (Cream and Sugar Cafe) is no longer a Brew Ha Ha! branch. My mistake!

Update 11/25/07
Soon after writing this post, Brew Ha Ha! shot me an email to notify me that they were dropping La Colombe because of poor quality and picking up another East Coast roaster, Caffe Pronto out of Annapolis. When I heard this, I jumped clear out of my seat (figuratively) as Caffe Pronto not only has a reputation for knowing what they're doing but I've had the good pleasure of sampling some of their coffees at Doubleshots on nearby Strawberry and 2nd.

Just recently I made my way over to their 12 St location to see if indeed the news was true. To my distinct pleasure, I saw the big bags of Caffe Pronto sitting behind the counter and the new coffee offerings prominently displayed. The coffee was a house blend (endemic to Brew Ha Ha!) which surprisingly blew me away with a variety of flavors and fullness (many times the house is a so-so breakfast blend). The espresso, pulled decently, also tasted so much better with a glowing acidity and wonderful body.

Needless to say, Brew Ha Ha! just moved from a coffee company of mediocrity to heavy promise. It's amazing what a better roaster can do...

6/1/09
Apparently, some time this past autumn '08, Brew Ha Ha! began roasting their own coffee. I decided to stop at their Limestone Rd location to try out the new beans and sadly, the experience left me in want. The drip of their Kenyan had some nice notes of bright acidity and berries, but the coffee had the overpowering bite of over-roasted beans. The espresso fared no better, as the shots were pulled a medium length with little crema and embodied some heavy bitterness, though there were slight redeeming shadows of peanut and vanilla.

Overall, I have to say this experience left me a little depressed, as the place had a lot of promise as per my last visit. Hopefully this was just a really bad day and things are not as bad as they seem.


1/30/18
It has been some time since I have updated this post! In the past 9 years, Brew Ha Ha! went from a one-trick pony to a multi-faceted organization. Now using their compatriot coffee roaster Brandywine Coffee Roasters, the many Delaware Brew Ha Ha! locations are at various stages of "good." Their Greenville and Dupont St, cafes deserve all the laud of top-notch shops, with excellent individual brew options and plenty of great menu items, all within some of the best atmosphere in the region. Some of the other cafes do not boast the same brew options and tend to sport a good deal more on the dark roast options (not a plus in my book). Thus all in all, I strongly recommend Brew Ha Ha! but note that not all locations are created equal.

CC:Calder's Coffee {Memorium}

What's a Coffee Commentary?

Subject: Calder's Coffee
Location visited: Littleton, CO
Free WiFi ? : no longer
Rating: 5+ [see key]
CLOSED INDEFINITELY


It's always a tremendous shame when a great coffee operation closes. I have only witnessed a handful of closures in my time, but it makes it even worse when the place closes because of reasons such as location or personal matters (if you have inferior product and you didn't have the humility to listen to criticism, it's much less sad).

So seems the case with Calder Coffee right outside of Denver. I made a visit there this summer while on my way through. The place had not much outside appeal but it had a really nice interior full of cute little tables and functional discussion areas.

The coffee was roasted in-house and the espresso was expertly pulled. I must say I truly enjoyed my experience. It makes me sad to see the place go but sometimes, circumstances extend much further then our reach allows.

To the prior owner and his family, all the best.

CC: Cafe d'Bolla

What's a Coffee Commentary?

Subject: Cafe d'Bolla
Location visited: Salt Lake City, UT
Free WiFi ? : yes
Rating: 5+ [see key]



Grids must be the one thing I love about major cities. The ease of getting around with nothing more then mediocre directions (and the concept of how a square works) makes my life billions of times easier.

But despite the simplicity of the grid, Salt Lake City must have consisted originally of very malicious people who wanted people to never find anything.

As is commonly known, SLC was the original all-Mormon settlement built with their temple smack dab in the middle of town. So to denote the significance of the temple, they made every street on each side 100 st (100 N, 100 S, etc). Now add the direction the street is of the temple (i.e. if you're east of the temple on 700 North, you're on East 700 North) and you're pulling your hair out.

So this crazy road system made what would be a simple morning coffee run into an excruciatingly complicated crawl. I had heard of a place called Cafe d'Bolla in some research prior to arriving and figured since it was relatively close to the Temple Square (the area where I ended up staying), that I would make a walking trip before I left. I checked Google Maps to verify the location of the address (249 East 400 South), I called to get verbal confirmation (with no answer any of the 12 times I called), and finally decided to just wing it. Needless to say, Google Maps ran me astray and Cafe d'Bolla would not answer their phone.

So I gave up and began heading back to my hotel. I grabbed coffee at a far less impressive place (Salt Lake City Roasters), breakfast, and just when I thought I was done with SLC I stumble right onto Cafe d'Bolla (which upon examination, turned out that Google Map sent me to the inverse of the address).

The outside was a nice modern, well-constructed exterior that really made you want to sit down at one of their outside tables. The inside was a long shop, with a decent number of seats inside but mostly space to wait in line.

The coffee is roasted in house and from their single origin offerings, it looked like they had a nice selection. But even though they serve french pressed coffee normally, they were completely out of coffee that day (which to me is ludicrous)!

The espresso is where they garnered their strength. Not only was the barista fun to converse with, she was also very skilled in pulling shots. My espresso was decent though it had a bit of a sharp of a taste as well as some char. The tea was Rishi Tea.

Overall, Cafe d'Bolla was a nice stop (after finding it) with a lot of good practices plus a good deal of potential for improvement. Especially in a city where coffee is hardly promoted (Mormons aren't big coffee fanatics), they're making some headway. If you manage to master the SLC streets, I'd make a stop in.

CC: Academia Del Cafe

What's a Coffee Commentary?

Subject: Academia Del Cafe
- a subsidiary of Hausbrandt -
Location visited: Philadelphia, PA
(1039 Chestnut St)
Free WiFi ? : no
Rating: 3+ [see key]

One area of contention I have with the coffee world is the over-infatuation with coffee things of Italy. Not wanting to be misconstrued here as I am of partial Italian background, allow me to clarify. Espresso and all that one could consider part of the specialty coffee industry stemmed from little espresso cafes in Italy. I cherish the ground plowed ahead in the earlier portion of the twentieth century by Italians (and some other Europeans, as noted here).

But what amazes me is that people still think that coffee roasted in Italy holds superiority to that which is roasted here in the States (or anywhere else for that matter)! This claim simply does not float, as the rise of the specialty coffee industry in America has left us with many amazing coffee roasters that can roast coffee just as well as the finest Italian roaster, with the key being to find a good one nearby. One can also easily deduce that coffee roasted in Italy will never arrive here fresh (unless expensively rushed here), though there are some who believe that vacuum sealing will keep the coffee just as fresh as the day it was roasted (call me skeptical...)

So given my leeriness of coffee-related things labeled fantastic simply because of an Italian affiliation, I really took painstaking steps to be objective when Hausbrandt, a local Philly chain bent on all things Italian, decided to open up a number of small "authentic" Italian cafes, each called Academia Del Cafe. The claim is that each cafe will give the consumer a true cafe experience, complete with imported Italian furniture.

One day, I was picking a friend up at the bus station and so made a side trip to one of the locations nearby on Chestnut. From the outside, it had a bland corporate look and inside was crowded small shop with all the amenities of a cafe (including paninis) but the feel of a hot dog cart (small is small, unless you manage to pull off "cute").

Given their claim to excellence being espresso, I would have to say the barista upheld the claims that they know how to pull a shot. But what I would contend was the quality of the beans (all roasted in Italy by Hausbrandt), for my shots tasted a tad charred.

The coffee on the other hand was ugly, with a hyper-fierce bite on the front and a bleh finish. They also offered two teas, which are Two Leaves and a Bud as well as Kronen Tea.

In the end, Academia Del Cafe came across predictably; a small cafe with know-how on how to pull decent espresso but not the tools (in this case, the coffee I predict). I would venture that while the company has the right idea on small cafes, I don't know if the average American is ready (or ever will be) for the stand-up espresso bar instead of the spacious sit-down, free WIFI coffeehouse. The years will tell...