CC: Hub Bub Coffee

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Subject: Hub Bub Coffee
Locations visited: Philadelphia, PA, various
Free WiFi ? : yes
Rating: 6+ [see key]


Updated 12.30.13 (see below)

Philly's newest coffee development has finally brought the city a true mobile coffee venue. Hub Bub Coffee, a coffee truck that just drove onto the scene in October, serves up the all-too-popular coffee of Stumptown and even before the initial opening, the operation had accrued quite a bit of publicity.

Since the truck often parks on 38th and Spruce on the weekdays, I tried making a stop on a recent Friday but unfortunately, my plan failed. So I tried a Saturday, tracking Hub Bub's location via twitter since the truck wanders to different spots on the weekends. And after walking a few blocks on a windy day of shopping and merriment, I caught sight of the big red coffee machine.

The truck is beautifully simple enough; menu and order window on the passenger side with a shiny metal interior full of all the necessary coffee tools (fastened to the counter I believe).

I requested a cup of the day's drip, Stumptown's Guatemala Finca El Injerto. The coffee had a pleasant earthiness with notes of bourbon (fitting, given it's a Bourbon Varietal), sugar cane and a little sweet cigar and black tea. The espresso, unavoidably served in a paper cup (the mobile coffee truck that can solve this dilemma should get an award!), was pulled well and had a good showing to boot; good crema, dark body with pleasant chocolate and lime flavors ending with a sweet whiskey-esque bite. The tea is Republic of Tea.

On the whole, I thoroughly dug my trip to Hub Bub. If you happen to be near U Penn on the weekdays or you're looking for a weekend treasure hunt, go to Hub Bub.


*Update 12.30.13*

In the recent past, I've made it to their Logan Square and Spruce St locations. Both bring the Hub Bub quality to the gorgeous brick and mortar structures the city so richly loves.

CC: Java Mamma's Coffee Shop

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What's does "CC" mean?

Subject: Java Mamma's Coffee Shop

Location visited: Reisterstown, MD
Free WiFi ? : yes
Rating: 3+ [see key]


Extra time can occasionally be a blessing, such as when you show up to an engagement 45 minutes early and in efforts to kill time, you find what could be a good coffeehouse.

This happened to happen in a recent trip to Reisterstown, Maryland when I stumbled on a place called Java Mamma's. The coffee shop sits in a converted brick house with a huge gated patio and plenty of metal furniture. Inside, the cafe becomes two distinct rooms, with a cute seating area in the front and the counter in the back.

The coffee comes from Orinoco Coffee & Tea, a Baltimore/DC area coffee roaster new to me. I had a cup of the house blend that turned out to be fairly good; notes of juicy caramel apple, butter and an overall nice brightness. The espresso, pulled medium-to-long in volume, proved OK but despite a nice sweetness and decent crema, the espresso had a strong bite of char and bitterness. The tea was from the Eastern Shore Tea Company.

At the end of my time killed, I felt the side trip to Java Mamma's fair; sure there could be some improvements but for a random stab, it was better than I had hoped.

If you're in Reisterstown, give Java Mamma's a sampling.

CC: Cafe Fixe

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Subject: Cafe Fixe

Location visited: Brookline, MA
Free WiFi ? : yes
Rating: 6+ [see key]



*Update 12/20/09

You know you have a pretty good boss when she lets you make an off-the-route stop for a much needed good cup of coffee.

On the way home from some business in New England, we had about 5 hours ahead of us and I was hurting for a decent cup of coffee to fuel the remaining drive. Fortunately, my fellow travelers (boss included), allowed me to make a bee line for Brookline to make a drop into Cafe Fixe.

Cafe Fixe hangs out on Beacon St in a beautiful tan brick building with a pair of matching tables guarding the front door. The interior folds out into a cozy shop with lots of light woods, a back counter and a fair amount of seating.

Fixe purveys Stumptown, a new sight for the Boston area these days. I ordered the Honduras, a nice light, floral coffee with subtle berries, pomegranate and cocoa; a really great cup of drip all in all. The espresso, a coffee called Bar Gold (never heard of it nor can I find it online), was pulled splendidly, had a nice crema and possessed flavors of chocolate, bell pepper and a tinge of bitterness on the end. The tea is free leaf.

This lovely stop at Fixe truly made out to be the stop I needed. If you're in or around Boston, drop by Cafe Fixe.


Update 12/20/09
HA! I figured out why I had never heard of Bar Gold coffee before; it's simply because I foolishly decided to use short hand instead of writing out the word Barrington. Thus, to correct my above ridiculous error, they served Barrington Gold as their espresso blend (a delicious coffee from Barrington Coffee Roasters) upon my visit.

Also, note that the coffee may not always be Stumptown, as several people have commented below that Barrington Coffee Roasters are a frequent flier and have other roasters as guests on occasion.

Mugged: Newhall Coffee

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What does "Mugged" mean?

Subject: Newhall Coffee Micro Roasting Company
Coffees Mugged: California, Patriot and Decaf
Rating: 1+ for all [see key]

One thing that really causes me to twist my face in confusion about the coffee industry is the variation in assigning roast levels. What I mean is that one roaster's light roast is another roaster's medium roast and one coffeehouse might call something a full city roast with another designating the same shade of coffee the title of medium roast. Why can't we all just agree on a simple means of describing a coffee's roast level?

One example of two different views was when I was sent three coffees to try out from a California company called Newhall Coffee Micro Roasting Company. They sent me a medium roast (Patriot Blend), something called a specialty roast (California Blend) and the token dark roast (French Roast). But when I opened them up for sampling, despite minimal differences in shade, all three coffees were basically really dark (i.e. very prominent surface oils) and did little to resemble the differences between a medium and dark roast that I'm used to.

In trying these three coffees out, I did my usual battery of brewings: drip, french press and siphon. And predictably enough, as with most darkly roasted coffees, the results were all pretty similar.

The California Blend I broke into first. The siphon proved best, with a dark brew with bits of pear. Both the drip and french press held little else besides the darkness of the coffee, with only the drip displaying a bit of nutmeg.

The Patriot Blend came next. As a medium roast, I expected this to be the least reminiscent of a dark roast but alas, it was dark through and through. The only other detectable notes were that the french press and drip had a slight sweetness and the siphon had a tinge of cayenne pepper.

The French Roast, as the darkest, came last. Much like the other two blends, the French Roast definitely pumped out lots of bitterness and taste of surface oils. As for positives, the siphon held some spice and sugar on the end.

Alas, the coffees from Newhall did not really impress at all and if not for the compulsory nature of reviewing a free product, I probably would hold off on posting such critical opinions (I really don't like making people feel bad). At the least, I hope such feedback is helpful.

If you have had a differing experience with Newhall, I'd be curious to hear it.


note: coffee was provided free of charge and the above review is objective feedback.

CC: Caffe Vero Coffee Roasters

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Subject: Caffe Vero Coffee Roasters

Location visited: Lake George, NY
Free WiFi ? : yes
Rating: 4+ [see key]


Of all of the frequent parts of my childhood, I remember vacationing in Ocean City, NJ almost every summer for the first 18 years of my existence. While I immensely love the natural draws such as the beach, the fresh summer air and the ocean, the man-made attractions such as the boardwalk, salt water taffy, caramel popcorn and various amusements inhabit my really vivid memories.

But boy howdy how Ocean City differs in the winter, as typical for a resort/vacation town. Nothing is really open, the streets are barren and the only thing to do is polar bear swims (I am currently at 21 separate swims). Yet aside from visits to such towns along the coasts (at least in NJ and Oregon), I can't say I've been to many non-coastal resort towns that don't hold at least two seasons worth of tourists.

Lake George is probably one of the few exceptions. I've been to the town twice in my life, the first for a Geology field trip in October as a college freshman and then as a recent stop on a trip to Lake Placid; both times the town has been practically empty (even the McDonald's was closed for the season!). But aside from the lack of bustle, there was still one draw for me.

Word had it that a place called Caffe Vero Coffee Roasters was doing some good things with coffee and espresso. Delighted to find a possible good coffee stop in so barren a coffee area, I practically sprinted out of the car and through their front window (ok, maybe I wasn't that extreme, but it felt like it).

The interior had a nice long counter up front and in the back, a seating area arrayed in mountain lodge style with plenty of old wood seating amidst a roaring hearth. I stepped up to the counter and ordered their house blend (a medium roast) and an espresso. The drip proved good, as it reminded me of root beer, ginger, a touch of earthiness and as it cooled, a tinge of cream. The espresso, a dark blend extracted by skilled hands, demonstrated bitter and dark but had some nice flavors of chocolate and citrus (had the blend been different, maybe lighter, the espresso would have been better). The tea is free leaf.

So, though Caffe Vero had a few disappointments, the place seems to hold tremendous promise. If you happen to be in Lake George for either summer vacation or a winter pit stop, give Caffe Vero a go.