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What's does "CC" mean?
Location visited: Vancouver, BCFree WiFi ? : yes
Rating: 6+ [see key]
In my travels, Vancouver has thus far been my favorite Canadian city. The beautiful mountains shadowing the large metropolis really brings the best of the city to the prisitine wonder of the wild. From also what I understand, the weather also rarely gets too unbearable (it was relatively beautiful when I visited) and the culture has all sorts of facets to it.
But for me, the best part of Vancouver was the coffee (shocker!). As Seattle's Canadian neighbor, the city has in many ways distinguished itself quite noticeably in the coffee and espresso scene. Of the many places I wished to visit, the one at the top of my list was 49th Parallel Coffee Roasters' showcase cafe on W 4th Avenue. I had the fortune of imbibing their coffee in a couple other locations, all of which proved lovely, so to visit the mother ship gave me something to really look forward to.
Walking down the street on a lovely early spring day, I first beheld the cafe after I had nearly stumbled over it (the shops were close and much of the neighboring signage was quite loud). Stepping past their nice metal outside seating and retractable awning, I walked into their beautifully decorated shop with its vaulted ceilings plus their trademark blue and brown color scheme. I also want to note that this was probably the first cafe that I've seen more than a few employees working at the same time (I remember it numbering over 6!).
Getting straight to the coffee, I ordered 49th's Costa Rica via their Clover. The brew turned out wonderful, with an even-balanced, bright cup with hints of currants. The espresso also came out blissfully well, with a nice balance of sweetness and even a touch of saltiness, overshadowed with a wave of chocolate. The tea is free leaf of their own.
Given my lofty impressions of 49th Parallel Coffee and of Vancouver, I definitely left with an utter satisfaction of a good experience. If you're ever in town, definitely pop by 49th Parallel Coffee Roasters.
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What's does "CC" mean?
Location visited: LA, CAFree WiFi ? : yes
Rating: 4+ [see key]
Tourism purely for gastronomic reasons has become more and more popular. Sure people have always gone to places "for the food" but now the food has even eclipsed traditional tourist spots. Why bother with the Eiffel Tower when you can do a Parisian culinary crawl?
While I am not at the level of gastro-tourism to cut out my inedible touristy stops, I do like to make sure to see local spots that garner much praise. In my trip to LA, I made quite a few (including a stop at the famous Pink's Hot Dogs and an authentic buritto joint, El Tepeyac Cafe) but my last one to a cash-only Italian eatery in the area of Eagle Rock didn't work out so well and hence, I was left scrambling for a good meal off the cuff.
I drove all over Eagle Rock and didn't see anything appealing (I know I overlooked something good) and so I decided to just put my dinner on hold and for the time being, just grab some coffee at local coffeehouse, Swork Coffee.
Located on a corner in what seemed to be close to the center of town, Swork Coffee has a very intriguing look to it, with it's question mark logo and what looked like a Scandanavian influence in decor. The outside has a nice mix of outside seating with big red umbrellas, while the inside is a nice mix of foxy furniture and even a kid-friendly room.
Swork roasts their own coffee, some with pretty interesting names. I had the Clubhouse, their house blend, which tasted nutty, earthy and bright though also a little stale. The espresso was pulled to a medium volume and had a nice graham crackery taste and tinges of cocoa, yet also had a little bit of a dark bite on the end. The tea is loose leaf.
The stop at Swork ended up decent but it would have been a stop better suited for post-dinner. Looking back, I wish I had just tried a local place as I just ended up settling for a Cheesecake Factory appetizer much later that evening that proved filling, but nothing tremendous.
Anywho, if you're in Eagle Rock looking for a decent coffee, give Swork Coffee a stop.
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Location visited: Seattle, WAFree WiFi ? : yes
Rating: 4+ [see key]
It proves very hard finding something when the name changes and you miss the transition. My most recent encounter with this issue happened in the northern part of Seattle when I was looking for a place called Hotwire Coffee, but fortunately I had a flash of intuition, stopped anyway and found that this past Hotwire location had now become Laughing Ladies Cafe.
The cafe sits on a big cement patio with some outside seating and a very large access ramp. The interior is a colorful cafe with all kinds of furniture, nice high ceilings and computers for patrons to use. The coffee comes from nearby 7 Coffee Roasters; I had the Guatemalan, a smooth coffee with traces of pear and fig (i.e. a decent coffee). The espresso proved mostly agreeable, as it was pulled to a medium volume and had flavors of bittersweet cocoa and sadly, a bit of a burnt tinge on the end. The tea is Teahouse Kuan Yin and Mighty Leaf.
While I had originally expected a different place, I felt that Laughing Ladies did a pretty good job living up to what I had indirectly expected. If you're north of downtown, give the place a try.
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What does "Mugged" mean?Subject: PT's CoffeeCoffee Mugged: Ethiopia Sidamo
Rating: 5+ [see key]
What a better way to start off the day then with a gloriously rich coffee? Let's forget the caffeine aspect; if your coffee doesn't make your eyes roll into the back of your head in ecstasy, then you have either been woefully misled or you're stuck somewhere unable to get a decent cup (my deepest sorrows are with those of you in the latter category).
But for the rest of you able to get your hands on coffee via delivery, my recommendation currently would be PT's Coffee's Ethiopia Sidamo. I just had the luxury of sampling this coffee via french press, vacuum press and drip; each one holding a flavor greatly abundant. Ground, the coffee is rich of all kinds of aromas but the most distinct was the overwhelming flares of blueberry. The vacuum press confirmed the aromas as it hit like a blueberry sledge hammer, complimenting with a nice acidity and a luscious merlot taste on the back. The french press produced similar accents of berries, with hints of a nice brightness and overall smooth taste. The drip had a bit more of a subdued tastes with some cocoa flavors popping out as well as a stronger presence of the merlot.
While I doubt many of you who are reading this frequently ingest bad coffee, if it does happen to be you who sucks the bad black water, I would at the very least recommend treating your tongue one time to such a good coffee as PT's Ethiopia Sidamo.
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What does "Mugged" mean?Subject: PT's CoffeeCoffee Mugged: Kenya AA Ndaro-Ini
Rating: 5+ [see key]
Over the years, I have ingested many a single origin coffee and thus far, I've had great coffee from most major coffee-producing countries. But no area of the world has continually amazed me as the east Africa region.
PT's Coffee recently threw me their Kenya AA Ndaro-Ini to try out and having high expectations as it got a 92 from Coffee Review, I looked forward to trying it out. After grinding, I wafted strong scents of berry and other fruit. I proceeded to sample it via french press, vacuum press and drip. The french press produced a gloriously bright cup, full of raspberry and tangerine, a nice acidity and finished with a natural sugar cane. The vacuum press held a light cup with a little more of an earthy depth and a strong sweetness on the end. The drip, though also similar, produced less complexity but still a strong presence of tart fruit and a sweet finish. All together, my expectations were strongly embraced.
If you're looking for a great direct trade coffee from Kenya, give PT's Coffee's Kenya AA Ndaro-Ini a slurp.
What's does "CC" mean?
