Peet's. Favorite coffee for twenty years....but they don't have the variety they used to have....

For a major, commercial roaster, Peet's is still pretty good.

Costa Rica SHB Tres Rios, Aguas Claras from Zoka Coffee.  Starting to settle into a Saturday morning routine with my 4 year old - we drive 30 minutes out to Snoqualmie Falls, watch the water for a bit and then have a cookie and cocoa at Zoka.  Having a blast tasting my way through all of this coffee.

Rather interesting comparison to wine.  I find that I like the blends a bit better than most of the single origins, and I've seem to draw a magical line in the sand at $15 a pound, which is keeping me from buying all of the "cup of excellence" winners they've got at $20+.  On the bright side, I get a hand in making the mix on this, and usually make it a bit on the strong side.  My mother (here for the holidays) thought it was a bit too strong this morning and added some water...  I immediately said "Way to pull a Loring!" and laughed and laughed and laughed.�

* Context - Loring comment in reference to an eBob thread talks about watering back fruit in 2006.  I like Loring's (and Andrew's) wines quite a bit, and thought it was a dumb point, especially in light of Adam's follow-up comments.

Bauhaus House Blend, from Bauhaus. I know I'm in Seattle, but geez there are a lot of roasters around here. Putting together the top 10 latte list... so far the top 3 are (in order) -

Cafe Victrola
Bauhaus
Zoka Coffee

Drew, you are located in Seattle now? And, you have not stopped by David Schomer's Espresso Vivace??? And, no one has recommended it to you YET??? Are you kidding me?!? :-)

http://www.espressovivace.com/

David Schomer is probably the best known, most respected coffee (espresso to be exact) mind in the US if not the world. The guy is a coffee g-d, the Thomas Keller of the coffee world, the Tchaikovsky of the coffee world, etc… When it comes to espresso(s) & espresso-based drinks, there is David Schomer & every one else. And, I mean every one else including the Illy family (Andrea Illy these days runs the show).

I have all his books, I talked to him via EMail (great guy, responsive, etc…), & every coffee geek’s aspiration to achieve that “perfect espresso” a “god shot” it is called. There is not a coffee geek out there who considers “good” coffee to be a major part of his/her life that does not one day want to go to Vivace. I have a few shops I would like to visit on my trip to the Seattle-area. There is no doubt, Vivace is the #1 destination before even any of the major landmarks, etc…

Also, put these on your list: Vivace (of course), Hines, Zoka, & Vita.

By the way, a couple of my coffee friends that make some mean coffee, cappas, etc… roast their own, purchase beans from other respectable sources, etc… Both state that what they roast & what others sell does not come even close to the beans that Schomer (Vivace) sells (for Espressos & Espresso-based drinks) – not French press, Moka, & the likes.

And, these are guyz that have been roasting for years.

Stop by, check it out - Espresso Vivace man, Espresso Vivace. Say hi to David Schomer for me if he is there. I would love to meet him. He has dedicated his life to perfecting coffee, 1 cup @ a time, a genius really (@ his art).

Alrighty then! With a review like that, we'll hit there next. That said, the wife is getting tired of rotating through so many different coffees and wants to settle down with the Zoka Tangletown blend... She can wait another week :-D

- Update
Hit Espresso Vivace today (Alley 24 one across from REI - literally a block off the freeway).  Fantastic!!!  Wife is still raving about her latte... Probably a great thing I don't work downtown any more, or I'd be stopping every day.

I haven't been in that location, but the Capitol Hill one is worth going to for a peek around. The walls are covered in photos of their latte pours.

Hit the Denny Way Espresso Vivace last Saturday. Yummy. Going to try and make El Diablo tomorrow and try out their clover machine :-D Of course, my 4 year old isn't into the latte scene, so we have to hit Cupcake Royale/Verite Coffee afterwards.

At home, we've been drinking through 1 lb of Stumptown Guatemala Finca El Injerto. For a Cup of Excellence winner, I was incredibly disappointed. On top of that? That bag was a little on the light side.

So I got lazy and picked up some Allegro Guatemalan Lake Atitlan from Whole Foods instead of making a run up to Zoka... yech. Double yech. I'm half tempted to cut this stuff with the stale Ghiradelli crap my mom gave us for Christmas. Nothing like peaty coffee with a raspberry overtone :-P

Kenya Peaberry Rukita

sweet marias will be getting some great stuff in April supposedly... I'm holding off any new orders until then.

Picked up some new stuff this weekend from Victrola -

Ethiopia Harrar - Oroma Cooperative (Organic)
Empire Blend

The Harrar isn't that bad, not sure I'm doing cartwheels over it though. I'm finding that I like the "SVD" coffees black and the blends with cream/sugar in the morning. Still going to have to lean towards Zoka for best beans on a regular basis.

Back on the Zoka kick, this time with Col. Fitzroy's blend. Yum.

Aged Nicaragua Joya Organic

Good news: Seamus brought me Hairbender
Bad news: It's almost gone

My wife has explained that she's tired of experimenting with new coffees - it's Zoka's Tangletown blend or I can buy a new grinder for myself. So, Tangletown it is. A new grinder = 2 bottles of pinot :-D

An exception - swung by Southern Season while I was in Durham and picked up two pounds of Magnolia Grill blend (made by Counter Culture). Should definitely check out Counter Culture if you haven't seen them before.

I am not a special coffee drinker. I drink good old Taster's Choice or Folgers. But actually I have to drink decaf, so is it really coffee. i am not suppose to have caffeine, it ignites anxiety in me. Not sure why. But I put in flavored milk.. so does that count as a special blend. LOL!

678.paul: those are the Beringer white zins of the coffee world. :-)

If you post this on a site like CoffeeGeek.Com, you will be banned for life.

Cafe Zoka Espresso Paladino roast - not overly exciting
Cafe Ladro Fremont Blend