Lanesboro needs a coffee shop!

Here I am with Bill Mormon at his ice cream/coffee shop tasting his 2 espressos. Super nice guy. Espresso tasted good but maybe that was because there was no where in Lanesboro to buy coffee! A tourist town with no espresso bar, I was shocked. How can a place with this many people visiting it not have a real coffee shop? They don't even have a grocery store. Oh and forget about finding a Co-op or any organic food in this part of the country. Kinda crazy the stuff they don't have here... If we had 50K we'd open up a sweet coffee parlor...

Nice place to bike ride and canoe though...

I hate to complain but...

On the way out of town for the weekend we stopped off at White Rock Roasters and Coffeeshop in St. Paul. Dark roasted average organic stuff that you find everywhere. Tasted alright but reminded me of everything else you find in this town... average, too much shot volume, good beans but little attention to prep. Maybe I should re-title my blog "Bitching About Finding Good Espresso in the Twin Cities" What do you think?

Late one night at Aster Cafe...

Loving the 2 espresso nightcaps these days. Thanks mom for giving me the night time coffee drinking bug!

Espresso as nightcap...

So we wandered over to NE Social for a cup of espresso and were served 10 fold over... Joe the owner served up an excellent espresso for me and an Americano for Poosa. We were stylin in this wonderful establishment. Because when you think of it, how many restaurants actually have espresso?! Well this place does and hats off to Joe and the gang...

My trip to Ethiopia on Minnehaha Aveune...

Ethiopia is one of the finest coffee producing countries in the world so when I passed by Selam Coffee on Minnehaha today and saw this sign I just had to stop in... The beans were indeed from Ethiopia and the place had a friendly feel to it but the espresso was a a little overly bitter and had a slightly burnt taste to it. So my return to my coffee roots was a little "bitter sweet" or not...

Love the styrofoam...

My espresso My daughter

Twice today people asked me why I was going back to Kopplin's again. My answer, because it's damn good. And I was in the area... Plus if I hit a different espresso bar every time my taste buds might forget what real espresso tastes like and then I'd be done for. So I like to keep it real and fresh and relevant and I hit Kopplin's every other week or so so I never forget what it is I'm in this business for... raising the level of coffee in the Twin Cities and beyond.

Here I am with my daughter Thalia...



Thalia had one of their perfect mochas...

Max has his Butter right

Max the barista at Butter has it right, "most espressos are too watery." He pulled two decent shots of Roastery 7 espresso and we talked coffee. More oils and emulsions are needed indeed! What's with all the high volume watery shots around town? Do I really have only a handful of choices if I want decent espresso in the Twin Cities? Max told me how he and his co-workers when he worked at Caribou would grab Caribou's hockey puck espresso pods and put whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles on them and put them out for customers who would unwittingly bite into a mouthful of coffee grounds. You gotta like the guy. This place also has amazing pastries and the like. Go Butter. (35th and Grand in Mpls.)

Washing my mouth out with a Kenyan...

Dropped into Brewberry's in St. Paul today. Citrus aroma and arabica and I thought maybe... No, not really, I could tell by looking at my espresso that it was a bit thin. Thin seems to be "in" unfortunately. Kind of smooth and bitter but where are the emulsions, the oils? So I headed over to Kopplin's and who should I see???

Yep, the clan from Public Coffee House... That was nice to run into all of them and I can't wait to see what they can do when they open! Go PCH! And Andrew pulled an excellent Kenyan for me which made me forget my previous experience. Cool day...

Lily in the Garden

Searching for the zen in all of it is easy at a place like Lily's (on Central on the way to Columbia Heights) because the place is just a sweet little spot with a little of everything. It's got a nice garden to relax in, musicians sometimes stop in and jam (they have a stand up piano too), they've got comfy chairs of all sorts spread around. You can just settle in and forget the world for awhile. And that's what I did today as I sipped on their fresh and light but tasty espresso. I enjoyed the acidic aroma and smooth flavor of the espresso that was just the right temperature (as opposed to yesterday's at Bob's, ouch!)...

Relax in the garden...

Crema not so wonderful but smooth tasting...

Bob's Java Hut has nice cups!

OK, nice cups and a super cool venue but they use B and W's old "Cafe del Sol" which most places have abandoned for their better stuff. And holy shit that was the hottest espresso I've ever tasted (tried to taste?)! Made it difficult to judge the first cup. Bitter, dark chocolaty (and I don't mean that in a good way) and over roasted it had a strangely sweet smell. Over extracted of course...


Heavy porcelain but don't burn yourself!

My friend Chas does 2 espresso at Cow's End in Venice beach

Possibly the worst tasting espresso made by the nicest guy...

Dropped into Marrakesh Cafe for some espresso today in Dinkytown and chatted with the barista who was a super nice guy from Marrakesh. I told him how I went there when I was 8 years old and remembered the camel and snake markets. Nice guy... The espresso, however, reminded me of really dark Turkish coffee with the grinds in your teeth and that really bitter aftertaste, oh my...

Life is swill...

Ok, big chains who try to come off as friendly little local chains, it's time to wake up and smell the espresso revolution! What's with the automatic espresso machines that effectively eliminate the barista from the whole espresso making process?! I mean c'mon! A great espresso is part of a complex process that ends with the barista "preparing" the coffee before serving it to you. And that's a great espresso, yours aren't even good. Watery, burnt, over roasted swill is about all I can give you. Put the barista back in the game and get the extraction right...

I may look happy in the photo below, but that's just because I haven't tasted the stuff yet.

One on One Bicycle Studio

One on One Bicycles has a nice cafe in the midst of loads of awesome bikes. If you go downstairs into the "junkyard" you will regale in parts galore. There are enough bicycles and bicycle parts for a thousand cyclists. The coffee however...

The espresso is B and W's organic fairtrade espresso. The shot was a bit long (like most shots in this town.. what is this? America the Bigger? Definitely not the Better...) and the aftertaste overwhelmingly bitter, too organic? too fairtrade? Is that possible? I'm not sure all these organic and fairtrade coffees are necessarily "good tasting" coffees. But I did enjoy the atmosphere in this place and they have much more to offer than just coffee...

Wherein we take in The Edge and discover another Star Child...

Ya Ya welcomed us to her new place "The Edge" that is literally right between Minneapolis and St. Paul on University and 280. She told us she'd just taken ownership and that the universe had provided... Thought that was rather cool, that and her peace and love attitude and the excellent espresso from Madagascar of course... The espresso had a nice rich tone to it, with hints of chocolate and nuts. Dark roast but nice and you know what? The vibe was totally cool in this place. Right on man...

Oh so sweet to look upon....

Dylan had a a smoothie of course. I'm not sure he's ready for daily espresso consumption like his crazy dad...

Sarah and Greg share their 2 espresso pictures!

Thanks guys!

The 100th!

What a long strange wonderful trip it's been... If I do my calculations right that's 100 x 2 espressos (at least). Set up my 100th with Poosa at Common Roots because I'm a fan. Francois and Sue stopped in to say hi and celebrate their 21st year of marriage! Super wow... Anyway, this is just the beginning. Common Roots has organic fare, beer, wine, excellent espresso and savoie faire. Check it out!





21 years!

Wilde about you...

Decided to give Wilde Roast in NE another go and they won me over. That place really is a nice spot to hang out. Definite work and attention to detail went into the interior design... And the espresso had a nice bold aroma and taste and left me with a nice dark roast bitterness on the tongue. Next time I'm going to see if they can make me a ristretto to see what kind of oils and emulsions I can get...

Small town has big heart for espresso

The crew at Chameleon Coffee in New Prague were warm and welcoming as we stumbled in after a poor nights sleep at the Lake Sakatah State Park. We were in need of some serious java. My 2 espressos were from European Roasteries and had a pleasant aroma and rich crema and bitter aftertaste that sat just fine with me. And the people running the place were so nice. I love the welcome you can get in some of these out of the way smaller places. It just seems so much more genuine and friendly. So next time you're passing through New Prague check out the Chameleon and tell them the 2 espresso guy sent you...

Drinking espresso in my PJs... ahhhh

What's better than drinking 2 espresso?

Sharing 2 espresso! Here with my friend Roger. I mixed up some Lake Kivu Kenyan and some sweet dark roast beans from my own personal collection and voila! Of course my Krups could be more up to snuff... Anyone want to donate a nice home espresso machine to the cause?

This Thursday will my 100th Post, come celebrate!

Come to Common Roots on 26th and Lyndale Thursday, August 6th between 5-6pm for my 100th post!

Return to source

Went back to Shish in St. Paul (by Macalester on Grand) because I knew they had what I desired... good espresso. I love the way they bring it to your table on an Arabian tray and they really take care you. Go sit outdoors (while you can, it's Minnesota afterall) and enjoy some fine espresso at Shish...