Second, Neil & I tried to be adventurous on Sunday at the New Amsterdam Market. A year round indoor market, a la Pike Place, with great local purveyors of sustainable produce. Too good to be true? Well, in its first incarnation, outdoors in the cold wet ice and snow, without much local product to consume. We had some pig sandwich from Del Posto and I whined, so then we ran away.

And when life gives you a rainy day at the South Street Seaport, you make a little pilgrimage for coffee. And suddenly, there we were at Jack’s Stir Brew, seaport location (it’s at 222 Front St., in case you end up lost under the Brooklyn Bridge sometime).

Moreover, we traipsed up to Everyman later on Sunday, I worked and celebrated at the Joe holiday party, and yesterday we found ourselves at grumpy in chelsea (and bumped into liz, who seemed like she was doing alright with the caffeine). So we’re making the rounds, gentle readers. And I still haven’t eaten at Abraco, I see my future laid out ahead of me.

The shot was, well, can I even call it a shot if it didn’t taste like one? It looked and tasted like more coffee, though it did have a bit of crema on top. I don’t think I’d want to have one of their espresso machines at home, no matter how quick it is, or how cool the machine looks (!)



Also on display (and much cooler than the actual kiosk), was an espresso cup chandelier being auctioned for charity. So if you’ve got a cool 60,000 to share with the staff of Road to Epiphany, we wouldn’t mind (although we don’t know where to put it)…

(of course, I didn’t bring my camera, so I’m borrowing some photos from Liz without her permission. Hopefully she won’t mind)

But when I got there, I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to relax at all, given how many people were standing inside. There must have been 20 people in a space that should only comfortably contain, say, 7. It seems the recent New York Magazine article has attracted a few people. But as I stood outside with a petrified look, a nice lady inside opened the door and assured me that most of the people inside had already ordered and would be leaving soon. I breathed a sigh of relief and stepped inside. Once everyone had left, I ordered a macchiatto from Jamie and settled into a corner to watch the action and think about some food.

I know we’ve talked about Abraço a couple of times before, but this time I wanted to mention the food, which is, um, really good. Chef Mario Hernandez makes what’s available that day, and he makes it well. On Saturday when I went to visit, they were offering up a cabbage soup, which would have been vegan, they say, except for the big hunk of bread topped with melted gruyere stuck in the bowl. It worked exceedingly well, and I hope they have it again the next time I’m in. They were also serving fried risotto balls (which Anne and I like to make at home), but had neared the end of their serving day (they stop selling hot food at 3), so there weren’t many left. I decided to pass so others could eat them.

After spending about an hour watching the madness and chatting with Jamie, I left, feeling much better after my journey into Soho. Go to Abraço. You’ll love it.

That’s what I thought.

So here goes:

1. Gather your equipment: french press (in this case, a “4-cup” glass Bodum model, makes 2 mugs of coffee), water boiler, grinder, timer, tablespoon measure, whole bean coffee.

2. Fill water boiler with clean, cool water and start it up. If it boils before you’re done, that’s fine. You want it to cool a little bit before actually using it. Our boiler has an automatic shut off. If yours doesn’t, just turn it off when it boils.

3. Estimate the amount of coffee you’ll need and grind it coarsely. This means, for our grinder/french press combo, that I fill the grinder to just over the hub screw and grind it to a consistency of fine kitty litter. It works well that way. The first few times you do it, measure it out, but experimentation to taste is the best way to go.

4. Pour the ground coffee beans into the french press and twirl the press around to even out the grounds.

5. After the water has boiled, let it rest for a few minutes. If you happen to have a thermometer around, wait until it cools to 200 degrees. If not, wait for it to be steaming, but not bubbling. It’s pretty close at that point. Then pour the water about a third of the way up the press. Swirl the water around to form the crema, and pour it the rest of the way, up to the metal band holding the french press together. It’s not recommended to go any higher. WATCH OUT! The water is very hot. It stings when it touches your skin. I know this from experience.

6. Put the top on the pot and push the plunger so it rests on the top of the water. Set your timer for 4 minutes. Wait.

7. When 4 minutes have passed, press the plunger in, and then pour yourself a cup. It’ll be hot. Because the filter is coarser than a cone filter (like from a drip machine), there will be some grounds in your coffee. If you don’t like it, don’t drink the last sip, but I like to think of it as a last jolt of caffeine (it isn’t, though).

There are many ways to brew coffee: autodrip, french press, vacuum, percolation, concentrate (toddy), and Turkish (among others, I am sure), and they all differ in a range of ways. But there is one thing they all have in common: they are all methods of cooking. Brewing coffee is simply applying heat to something (coffee beans) in order to produce an consumable (and hopefully tasty) substance.

Because of this, it takes practice and experimentation. If the coffee tastes too strong, use less coffee next time, or brew it for less time. If it is too weak, do the opposite. It all depends on your personal tastes. Most of all, enjoy your coffee. Don’t make it a certain way because you heard it’s the best way, or because you think it should be a certain way, make it because it tastes good, and makes you feel good.

Next: choosing a coffee shop.

This is a pictoral representation of my life, and my mom’s life. I’m obsessed with coffee, she’s obsessed with saving the planet. Since I’ve started in coffee there have been constant debates in our household about buying organic coffee. Why, you may ask?

Well, come find out at the class I’m teaching this week at Joe called “Coffee and the Environment”. It’s at 8pm on Thursday October 18th at the 9 E. 13th St. location. Please RSVP to gabrielle (at) joenewyork (dot) com. The class is $15, and of course, coffee will be served.

But Seattle was very good in general. I got to hear, taste, touch and see things that so many people in my life had made. I went to a concert, saw art, drank great beer and had amazing coffee. And I did it all without the normal stress of life in New York City.

So here are some of the things that I did.

First, my dear friend Emily and her fiance Ben had me over so an amazing meal of fresh vegetable soup, with beer, bread and applesauce for dessert. It was heavenly. Ben played the newest song his band H is for Hellgate had written,
“Tina Fey”, which I now play incessantly at home. We spent the rest of the evening at Zoka, where I had a delightful latte, as usual.

Then I spent another day with my friend Andreas, who took me to a mutual friend’s gallery, the punkest on 2nd Avenue: McLeod Residence. I was pretty wary of the art before I went in, but once I got inside I found it all to be quite interesting. My particular favorites were the lights designed by Maggie Orth, which were fuzzy and responded to touch. So cool!

Then we took the bus up to Capitol Hill and checked out the brand-spankin’ new Stumptown, located at Pine and Belmont…ish. It’s on Pine. Duane had insisted that I visit both shops, so Andreas took up Neil’s job as blog-prodder and we hit up both stores together. The newest one was already full of customers which is surely a good sign. The barista was super friendly, and seemed really excited to be working at the new space. Who wouldn’t with wallpaper like this to look at all day?

Also, Andreas is not as good a blogger, as he drank from his latte before I took a photo:

Thankfully, no stirring was involved in the drinking of this latte.

On my last day in town, I had some time to kill with my mom, so we went to the newest Victrola, on Pike in an amazing space. My camera died that morning, but Daniel took some nice shots of it when he was last in Seatown so go look at them. We had our coffee, and wondered what to do with ourselves before she schlepped me to the airport, when suddenly I realized I hadn’t been to Vivace!

So without further ado my mom and I headed there, and it was just as I remembered: the most pleasant 20 minute wait for coffee one could ever expect to find anywhere. Two baristas, working their butts off but still having a good time and enjoying the company of their coworkers and their customers. Just like when I was in school, I happily stood in line waiting for my own little slice of heaven. I ordered an espresso, to round out my cross-country tasting experience, and it was just as lovely as one might expect. Vivace will probably always hold a very special place in my heart.

After Stumptown and a bit of shopping, we headed up to The Albina Press to see what they had to offer us. It turns out, they had good coffee (Stumptown’s Hairbender again, which we each had a shot of). I personally like their $1 coffee to stay, with one free refill. They leave a pot of coffee out for self-serve, and I guess operate on the honor system after the first cup. But we were ready to leave town and head towards Seattle, so we didn’t stay long enough to see the system in action.

So up I-5 we went, stopping along the way at Paradise Cafe & Espresso Bar in Vancouver, WA. This tropically-themed coffee shop serves 49th Parallel, which is one of our friend’s favorite espressos. By this time, we weren’t really in the mood for more coffee, having sucked down several already. But I stepped up to the challenge, and had another macchiatto. Good clean shots, they were. We sat for a few minutes, and then headed back on the road.

We got to Seattle in time to go to dinner with Anne’s folks, and thus ended the driving portion of our trip. We devoted the next day to family fun and the wedding of Anne’s childhood friend (the actual impetus of this trip). The next morning, we turned in the car and I left for New York. We didn’t go to a single coffee shop the whole weekend.

from left: Anne’s mother Andrea, her Uncle Broschat, her father Bob, and Anne.

the view of the city and the car, decompressed
Anne, though, has more updates for you, so stay tuned!

Ok, so once, long ago, we were in a car to Portland. We stopped at a McDonald’s at about ten am to use the facilities and I was delighted to find Tillamook ice cream! I was strong and resisted the temptation. So we kept going to the land of real coffee temptation. Despite my general fear of driving in Portland, we managed to navigate the streets with relative ease.

Our first stop in Portland was the original Stumptown on Division Sreet. We blazed in at about 2pm, had some espresso, and did some blogging. We also had the real treats of the Stumptown empire – yeah yeah, hairbender is the best and that’s old news but their pastries are to die for. We had some amazing scones and sticky buns.

Neil drank this Mocha at yet another Stumptown that I’m not putting in the post, but it’s so pretty I have to put it up here!

Then we ran up the street to the Annex and joined in on a free public cupping of Stumptown’s most expensive coffees – which is just what the barista felt like putting out that day. Well, Neil and I are no fools and we dug right in, once again chowing down on the esmerelda especial, along with a few other geisha varietals and delicacies from the americas. Then the man himself, Duane Sorensen, walked in just in time to tell us that the #1 lot from Columbia’s Cup of Excellence auction was like “stuffing a silk handkerchief in your mouth.”

Cupping at Stumptown

But that’s not all! Duane also brought a friend! We had the privilege of meeting with Aleco, Stumptown’s green buyer and sourcer. He told us a bit about each of the coffees from the public cupping, and moreover, he brought samples from Burundi. Apparently Burundi is the new Rwanda in coffee (not that Rwandan coffee is over), so off we went on another cupping round to check out what Alecco had scored. So let’s do some math: we’d had our morning coffee earlier, had the espresso at Stumptown and then cupped about twelve coffees. Neil didn’t spit at all. Neil kind of wanted to go to a quiet place due to his caffeine intake.

And so we did. We headed to Amnesia brewery in Northwest Portland, where we started to counter our caffeine intake with alcohol – always the best plan, in my humble opinion – and some of the best sausage I’ve ever had. We sat in their handsome beer garden and admired the tasty handywork Portlanders had made for the eye, the mouth and the soul since I’d last been there.

But with that, you might think our day with coffee was through. And you’d be… wrong! That night Duane and Alecco hosted a Meet the Producers event with the producers from Panama! Well, those guys are our old friends, and we’ll chase them to any event they’re attending if we’re within a hundred miles. So off we went to the downtown Stumptown, a true mecca to the bean. While not exactly my style, I admired the hard work, expense, and foresight that went into that space, and the love for coffee that was clearly present in every employee. Really, I was speechless. Can you tell from my face?

So to continue our downward curve, we invested in a bottle of wine and watched the presentations from the Panamanian farmers. After they were through, Neil & I once again got to pick the brain of Daniel from Hacienda Esmeralda, who we hope to have entertained with our witty banter and commitment to sustainable coffee growing.

Also, we got to thank Duane profusely for his hospitality in Portland, which we were lucky to have since he’s mostly been in Seattle working on his two newest shops (fortunately he was hosting the Panamanians too). Finally, we stumbled off to The Ace Hotel, and ate at the Clyde Common, where we had amazing and inexpensive drinks and food, and if we’d wanted, we could have had seamlessly ordered Stumptown espressos from the location in the lobby. We’d had enough coffee, though, so we crawled into our bed and drunkenly dreamt happy coffee dreams.

I had a macchiatto, and Anne had an iced tea. The shop was very large. Cavernous even. Yet it didn’t seem intimidatingly so. They even had a bakery, so Anne had a delicious scone that was so large I had to finish it.

Afterwards, we headed over towards the coast, stopping a few times on the way to try some of the famous California wines. We really liked the wine from Greenwood Ridge Vineyards, who had a really rich Merlot, and a Riesling (which is apparently very rare in Mendocino County), that Anne says is the best Riesling she’s ever had. I tend to agree with her.

Shortly afterwards, we had gone as far west as possible, and found it necessary to turn North towards Portland. After some time, we found that we were quite hungry. However, the California coast isn’t as built up as, say, New Jersey, and we had a lot of trouble finding anything to eat. But after some time, and a harrowing journey through twisting mountainous roads, we emerged back on Route 101 and made our way, after a pit stop at a gas station for some junk food, towards Eureka and our stop for the night.

did you know the ocean is very large?

The next morning, we restarted our drive up the coast only after stopping first at a local co-op to stock up on supplies so that our stomachs wouldn’t get as empty as the day before.

Anne got a really big sandwich.

Also, we saw an Elk! In the road! We were driving on the highway, and I yelled, “It’s a moose!” Anne, naturally, thought I was talking about the newly formed concrete barrier in the road, so I pointed her in the right direction, and she saw it. Of course, it wasn’t a moose, it was an elk, but you can see my mistake. Elks are very large. Like moose. I’m not sure why the elk wanted to be in the road, but we were given an opportunity to snap some pictures.

Somewhere near the Oregon border, we found the Ship Ashore Museum and Gift Shop, which was fabulous. According to a plaque on the wall, it was washed ashore some time ago and turned into a restaurant, then later was towed to it’s current location, about a mile inland. The top floor is dedicated to Oregon, California, and Pirate gifts, while the bottom decks were dedicated to a pirate museum and local wildlife display complete with stuffed animals and stuffed pirates. All in all, an enjoyable tour.

After another short drive, we arrived in Coos Bay, where we were to spend the night. Before turning in, though, we made our way to The Mill. The Mill is the local casino. We’d never used a slot machine before, and wanted to (the change lady, as she was giving us singles, gave us instructions: “put the money in and push the buttons.”) You’d think we’d have left with empty pockets, but no! We won! $13!

After squandering our loot on firewood, we set up camp at Sunset Bay State Park, within listening distance of the sea lion caves and went to bed.

First stop was Blue Bottle Coffee, which we were told was a short walk away… Why do those short walks always seem so long when you’re from out of town? We took in all the sights in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district, then found our way over past City Hall. Finally we arrived at Blue Bottle, only to run in to our friend from New York, Ian, who apparently now lives in San Fran. Surprise! Good coffee brings people together. It was even better because he let us abuse his purchases for tastings and photographs:

Amazing iced coffee and his friend Sarah’s soy latte.

Neil & I had a pair of macchiattos:

So after that surprise visit, Neil & I were late getting back to our laundry. We hurried back, and then decided to spend the afternoon recuperating, rather than blogging all day at Ritual*. But fear not – it’s not like we didn’t go there! We met our host and pro-Googler Adam at their mission district cafe. Neil had a macchiatto, I had a latte, we bought some beans, and all was well. Eventually my friend Matilda who drove all the way up from Santa Cruz joined us as well (that’s friendship).

The Ritual setup.

We went out to ethiopian food, a food Neil was adventurous to try for the first time, and then we headed to Toronado, a beer bar that has. beer. lots and lots of beer. I of course, didn’t want any beer, so I had an amazing pomegranate cider that was not too sweet and not too heavy. Neil had a 3-pour stout called “Old Rasputin” because, as many of you know, he has a cat named Rasputin. And so we drank, Maddy told us about Consuela, her door-to-door tamale saleslady, and soon enough, we were tired enough to call it a day.

The next morning, after a lovely final breakfast with Adam at his local eggs-n-coffee spot, Golden Coffee ($16 for the entire party of three!), we went back to Blue Bottle one more time so I could once again put that iced coffee to my lips. New Orleans style is what they call it, and it tastes like heaven. Fortunately they also have handy-dandy cards that explain how to make it at home!

Then we were on the road again, heading up, up and away.

*Also, Adam had conviniently purchased a six pack of Alaskan summer Ale just for me? That influenced our decision to leave the house perhaps more than it should have, and Neil enjoyed the beer sampler he got simply from Adam’s fridge:

Thanks Adam!

Well that didn’t happen. When we were about 15 miles outside of town, traffic stopped. It seems that, about an hour and a mile down the road later, there was a three car + motorcycle pileup that closed I-70. So we were forced to take surface streets through suburban Denver to get downtown where Novo resides. Frustration upon frustration later, angered and abused, we fled the city, vowing to never return.

Novo, however, had nothing to do with our frustrations. They were wonderful. Good coffee and good baristas helped make us a tad bit happier. We started at their kiosk in the Denver Art Museum, a small establishment whose main effort seems to be to caffeinate tourists before looking at art. We both were very eager for caffeine ourselves, and gulped down a couple of macchiattos before heading out again, across the way to Novo part two.

We don’t have photographic evidence of this, but these two locations are literally across the street from each other. It’s like a Starbucks with good coffee.

The other, larger Novo sported a large range of coffees, including a few we had had before at Grumpy. Neil chose to have a Bambito Single Origin Espresso, which was very tasty, and Anne had an iced vanilla latte. The baristas in both places were very knowledgeable, and we left with a good impression of the place.

They also had a clover, and it seems they are the clover’s biggest fan. In fact, their clover bar selection is photographed in the pamphlet.

And then Neil ate a salad, which needed to be documented.

We left Denver, dodging over-sized suv’s until dark, when we decided to stay in a hotel (since we couldn’t make it to a camp-site before dark) in Grand Junction, CO after having a good dinner in town.

And wouldn’t you know, we liked it!

First up, we went to the northern side of the town and had a pleasant visit with Anthony at Espresso dell’Anatra. The cafe was elegantly laid out and had a very cozy atmosphere despite its suburban surroundings. After a troublesome coffee day in Columbia, I celebrated the fact that they served Sattwa Chai by getting one with a shot of espresso. Mm… tasty! Neil got a macchiatto and chocolate donut. Also very tasty.

For the record, Anthony showed us photograph evidence that he can squeeze five hearts into this cup, not just four.

After some direction-getting, we headed out on the road again, this time to Arthur Bryant’s for BBQ. Turns out, we like barbeque sandwiches too, and they made some amazing baked beans as well.

So we came, we had coffee, we had some food. And suddenly, five hours or so had passed since we left! We still don’t understand how this happened. Our best working theory is that we were abducted by aliens. Unfortunately, the aliens prevented me from touring PT’s roastery, but Jeff Taylor remained unflinchingly gracious and comped our drinks at his Topeka retail location. And they had a clover. And they had the Panama Esmerelda (the non-auction lot, but neil slurped it down just the same, because it tasted amazing.). I had a cup of the #1CoE from El Salvador, as well as a ridiculous toffee-flavored frozen thing. Let me tell you, that toffee thing made me really, really happy. We left toting some PT’s schwag and traded the last of our intelly coffee for Aida Battille’s Orange Bourbon from El Salvador. We really enjoyed our visit with the crew at PT’s coffee.


left to right: Robert, Frank, and Sarah, baristas extraordinaire

But we were only in Topeka, it was 6pm, and we wanted to make it almost all the way through Kansas that night. So it was time to put me behind the wheel! But we speak from experience when we say that if any of you hated driving through Kansas on previous travels, our trip on I-70 was quite lovely, particularly the sunset. When we finally pulled off the road in Colby, KS at eleven, we were pretty flabbergasted with how satisfactory the day had been. Although it is always possible that Neil & I are always easily amused.

P.S. For posterity’s sake, we want to note that, near the end of the day in Kansas, we noticed that we were going to be passing our 2000th mile on I-70, at mile marker 70. So we slowed to 70 to mark the occasion. I guess we really are easily amused.

Inside it is a large space, with three dining rooms, a large counter, and a roasting space in the back. The baristas seemed really nice, and it would have been nice to spend more time there, but we had a long day of driving ahead of us.

So we left Chicago. After braving the wilds of I-55 for a while, Anne found us a route that went diagonally to Columbia, MO, and took us along the Illinois River Road down through Illinois and Missouri. Very pretty.

We altered our course slightly when we learned we’d be able to drive through Marseilles (Mar-Sails in American), the birthplace of Mel (our host in Chicago). It’s a cute little town, and I don’t think it had even a stoplight, which I enjoyed.

Bob, can we eat at this chinese restaurant in Marseilles?

After we crossed the Mississippi, we called Katie to give her an update. It turns out we were an hour earlier than we thought, because we had forgotten to change the clock in the car. I was feeling pretty bad about being so late, so it was beneficial (by they way, as I write this, we’ve just crossed into the Mountain Time Zone. I changed the clock already.). While I was on the phone with Katie, however, we passed the exit we were supposed to use to go to Columbia because the sign had been taken down by the Missouri authorities, and we ended up taking a really scary road, named “V” through the middle of nowhere. It was the perfect setup to a cheesy horror movie.

But then we made it to Katie’s, and met Sean, Katie’s boyfriend and a dj (call sign Tripmaker) on the local 89.5 KOPN radio station.

Our hosts in Columbia MO. Definitely worth blogging about.

The next day, Katie woke us up earlier than we would have liked and showed us around town, all the while trying to talk us into opening a coffee shop in town. The opportunity was tempting, and it seems as though there is room for growth in the Columbia specialty coffee scene. Afterwards, we went to a restaurant and had some pretty terrific food and then home to rest because, as I said earlier, Katie woke us up early.

Sunset on the Missouri. Pretty, no?

Later, we went to to Flat Branch Pub and Brewing for dinner and a beer, and then to Les Bourgeois Winery outside of town to drink a bottle of wine and watch the sun set over the Missouri River. Then we went back to Katie’s, watched Flight of the Conchords, and went to bed, ready for a trip to Kansas.

Mel and I spent a summer in England together, studying abroad, so Anne spent the last couple of days confused as we’d reminisce about some wacky european adventure. Good times.

The next morning Anne and I decided to sleep late, and after waking up, we braved the El train (I have a hard time calling a subway an “El”, especially as I used to live on the L train in Brooklyn. It’s all very confusing.) downtown and buy our long-lost powerbook power cord.

After Anne had gotten her fill of fond Apple-employee memories, we walked down the so-called Miracle Mile to the Millennium Park Intelligentsia.

The shop is incredibly well designed, with dueling espresso machines next to two cash registers on a counter that slants towards the door and ends in a huge merch wall. They have a Clover bar in the corner, too. It’s set up for a large number of customers, and they handle them well.

I got a Los Inmortales from El Salvador on the Clover, because I can’t resist a good clover coffee. I love the single origin coffees from Intelligentsia. They take their time cultivating their growers, and it shows.

After Intelligentsia, we went back up to Wrigleyville to pick up Mel and go to Cozy Noodles, a kitschy thai place. Cozy was pretty neat. They had all kinds of wacky stuff on the walls, and had covered their entrance in license plates. The food was tasty, and a highlight of our stay.

Afterwards, we walked over to Intelligentsia on Broadway. The space in here was huge. They had several multifunctional counters that stretched to the back of the store. I had a macchiatto while Anne opted, this time, for the organic melon white tea in a pot. She had never had a white tea before, and was impressed. They had outdoor seating, and because it was a nice day, we thought we’d sit outside and people-watch for a while. It was quite enjoyable.

Later on, we went to Wrigley Field (basically across the street!) to see the Cubs take on the Reds. I’d always wanted to go to Wrigley, and it was really cool. Now I just have to go to Yankee Stadium and Fenway and life will be complete.

Anne, while at the game, had to have a Chicago dog. She didn’t eat the jalepenos, though.

Turns out the Cubs won in the bottom of the 9th, but we left in the 7th so we could make it to The Chicago Pizza and Oven Grinder Company. The great thing about the Chicago Pizza and Oven Grinder Company is their pizza. They call it a pizza pot-pie, and make it upside-down, flipping it out of the pot at the table. Anne and I split one, and Mel got her own. We also had a salad, which they served with a very syrupy poppy-seed dressy that we wish we had more of. Anne says it made her really happy, on the inside.

Thanks again Mel, you are a sweet lady and we had a great time in Chicago!

Kevin, the shops proprietor, regarded us with a suspicious eye when we asked if he roasts his own coffee, but once we explained our “not from around here” situation he opened right up. He also poured me a lovely latte and made a macchiato for Neil, as well as talking us up about his Linea, the customer flow on Sundays, and his girlfriend’s wonderful bulldog, Gerty. Although our stop was brief, we could tell that Kevin had a well thought-out operation.

After a much needed foray into some vegetables from the grocery store, we were off to Indianapolis. With less delay than we expected, we arrived and met the hospitable and down-to-earth BJ Davis, who showed us around her shop which would have been closed otherwise. She pulled us some great shots, first her new Nicaraguan single-origin and then her house espresso. She also talked to us about the realities of specialty coffee in Strip Mall America, where a 9th Street Espresso approach to coffee is simply impossible. Instead, she takes customer demands and turns them a little bit – so a “Molasses cookie latte” is made with real spices and Molasses, rather than a processed syrup. She also had us smell and taste the local honey and Hickory syrup (like a smokey Maple syrup) she used. Plus, she made me an awesome blood orange italian soda, and didn’t even mock me a little bit. In my opinion, the NY coffee scene could use a few people like her.

The Mug-n-Bun special.
But perhaps more importantly than our adventures in coffee, BJ also showed us an adventure in burgers and root beer. She took us to the Mug-n-Bun drive-in, where they still brew their own root beer. I had the “Mug-n-Bun” special – which is a little ironic as it is not served on a bun – a bacon cheeseburger with everything on it served on white toast. Neil had an Indianapolis staple called a fried, breaded pork tenderloin sandwich. Both of us enjoyed the signature onion rings and the atmosphere. Plus we got a bumper sticker that says “I heart Mug-n-Bun food” so really, our lives are complete. We thought we at least had to make it to Chicago, but we were wrong!

After a short nap, we awoke the next morning ready to see what Pittsburgh coffee had to offer us. We started, logically enough, at Aldo Coffee. Aldo is a huge space. And they are cultivating a great neighborhood atmosphere with a punch card system that really seems to make the customers feel like they are part of the shop.

With the help of Melanie, we chose our breakfast food to go with our coffee: Anne had cheesecake (!) and I had a fruit tart and they were both amazing.

John pulled us espresso shots from the Paradise Espresso Havana reserve, the one with the the panamanian geisha in it, and Anne says it was one of the best shots of espresso she’s ever had (far superior to the shots Rich had Anne pull on the spot, much to her surprise). All in all, Aldo is a great shop with a great feeling, and the all the baristas involved were very accommodating. Thanks for letting us walk all over for a few hours, everyone!

Requisite cheesey photo, with John, Belle, Rich, and Frank.

After Aldo, Anne, Rich and I headed down to the strip, which is the former meatpacking district in Pittsburgh’s downtown. It’s a pretty neat place, with outdoor food markets and great restaurants. They also have several coffee shops. The first we went to was <a href=”www.laprima.com”La Prima, a neighborhood institution that isn’t so much a coffee shop as it is a coffee house. Rich says it’s one of the only places where you can still find people arguing in Italian over good espresso. And it’s true, I did hear a bit of italian in there. The no-frills shop roasts their own coffee, and the lines prove it’s a place that’s there to stay.

After La Prima, Rich took us to Primanti’s, which has really scary looking sandwiches. Mine was: sweet italian sausage, french fries, cole slaw, with fried egg on top (Anne had corned beef instead of sausage). All in the same sandwich, served on wax paper instead of a plate. And, surprisingly, it was amazing. They don’t have individual menus, instead, they have a big board on the wall. It was great. I think we’ll be comparing a lot of the food on this trip to Primanti’s.

The crowds at Primanti’s and the shockingly tasty sandwich.

After we ate, Phil Johnson, coffee roaster at La Prima and possibly Pittsburgh’s premier coffee geek, invited us to take a look at his roasting facilities. It was my first time in a roastery, and I thank Phil for the experience. I look forward to hopefully getting to see a few more operations on this trip.

Phil and Rich point at their coffee-obsessed guest

Then the four of us went across the street to 21st St. Espresso. We were all pretty over-caffeinated by then, and the thought of more coffee was difficult. But they had the only clover in the city, and whenever I see a clover, I can’t help myself. Anne got a Nicaraguan Los Delirios and I got the Sumatran Abongabong. We actually ended up buying a pound of the Delirios at Aldo.

The story of our lives.

By this time we were pretty tired and thought it was time for us to head out. Rich, ever the gracious host, had us follow him out to a Kmart so we could buy sleeping bags and dinner and then we headed out towards Ohio to stay at the Salt Fork State Park, about two hours to our West.

Thanks to Rich, Melanie, Phil, and the team at Aldo for all the hospitality. It was a great, and we look forward to when we’ll be able to visit again!

P.S. Did we mention it was cold in Ohio?

We are doing a crunch post and Flickr upload – check back in a few hours for our long-winded update on the last six states we’ve blown through.

Did I mention we are going on a cross-country coffee crawl? And eating more fried food than I have in a long, long time? I am one happy little clam!

Also, a big, big thank you to all of our hosts so far along the way!

Today, Joe: the art of coffee got a bit more dangerous with the presence of a guest barista, “Danger” Dan Griffin. That’s right, Dan made the switch, for one day only, from Everyman [woman and child] Espresso to Joe: the Art of Coffee.

And let me tell you, he was adequate. Which was pretty good, for his first day. Even after promising he would make me the worst macchiatto in the history of macchiattos, he still managed to pull a great shot.

I had planned on taking all kinds of pictures to commemorate the event, but the battery on the camera died before I could do the moment justice.

In other news, we’re leaving tomorrow!

In other , more as-it-relates to me and Neil news: Our two-week cross country exxxstravaganza starts in approximately 53.5 hours. Holy smokes. We are really embarking on this crazy journey. And we don’t have any cupping spoons! Ack!

Oh, and if anybody could figure out how to turn this all into a full-time job, we’d love to hear it. But for now, this is only a temporary reprieve from the grindstone… We’ll be back in NYC in Early October.

So, yet again, we embarked on a coffee journey and visited the brand-spanking new 9th St Espresso in Chelsea Market.

So remember that map I like so much at the original 9th st?

Well, they took it to the next level in the new 9th St, painting an entire wall with the same map! Sweet!

Moreover, they’re rocking two tricked-out Marzocco FB-80′s, complete with teflon steam wands and LED lighting. They’re in a corner stall, and having kind of a swooping bar that attracts a crowd.

Fortunately for Dan and I we managed to sneak in a couple of espressos, which Dan insists taste like mushrooms – and I see what he’s saying. We also tried some of the ethiopian south sidamo they had brewing at the time. I think it’s Ethiopia season in NYC for some reason. Our friend and my former co-worker Derek Herbster chatted us up, talked about the customer flow, showed us his awesome old fashioned cash register, and of course, shared some chest hair.

Thanks Derek!