Angry Catfish is Open, Hallelujah!!!

I was greeted with a "Hey Keith" by master barista Michael as I walked into the new Angry Catfish coffee and cycle shop. He pulled me two awesome shots that almost brought me to tears they were so good. I probably would have cried right there and then with joy if it weren't for the fact that I was exhausted from flying in on the red eye from California. Anyway, you've simply got to check this place out. The espresso is divine. I had the Intelligentsia Black Cat espresso and it was delicious. It's sweet finish is what hit me. It had the perfect nose to it with just the right acidity, a perfect brown rust crema and a bittersweet finish that stayed with me on my way back to work. Finally south Minneapolis has a high end espresso bar we can all flock to!

Look at the space in this place!

Venice Beach's own Intelligentsia beans... Rare to find here in Minnesota...

One down, one to go... and the crema!

Yours truly striking the 2 espresso pose...

Pismo Beach, CA

Nothing like escaping the Midwest cold and downing some espresso on
the beach in California. Stopped into Mon Ami on the main drag and
wandered out on the pier. Nice acidic nose, good crema, swell bean.
Paper cups, eh...

Travellin' Espresso

On the way to LA I grab a couple of espressos for the road...

Atmosphere, Atmosphere...

You can't knock the way the evening sun sets right on the bar at the N.E. Social, especially on cold days like these. Dropped into one of our favorite haunts for some beans and mushrooms on toast accompanied of course by some espresso. Everything is prepared with attention to detail here and the service is impeccable... Gourmet food and wine followed up by 2 espresso is the only way to go. You will enjoy the relaxed class of this place. I know we did. Billie Holliday spinning, chipotle chocolate mousse, a rare Greek wine, saffron infused sugar to accompany your espresso, the place is heaven on earth...

Brett Favre Espresso!

Brett Favre stopped in for Espresso at Rinata Restaurant!

Ok, just kidding...

Fellow Espresso Fanatic T.C. Long Sent These Photos

TC shared these photos of his office "Handpresso Domepod" I told him it looked like a bong. The results certainly look good. I must admit to being a bit jealous...

The "Java Bong" in action...

T.C. striking the 2 espresso pose... Nicely done...

It's sub zero so I warmed my Isles Buns...

Met my good buddy Bob Rue for coffee today at Isles Buns on 28th and Hennepin. These people have wonderful buns! And they have a vat of frosting cream you can dive into and spread all over their buns. Yummy... Oh yeah, this blog is about espresso right? Sorry, but if you tasted their buns you'd digress too.

First off, they have a Synesso! That is already half the battle. And they have big smiles so that wins a lot of favor too. If I might suggest a couple things however... Train the baristas to pull shots the way Synesso allows you to. You can control everything with those machines so make use of that. And the beans could be better. The shots were ok, don't get me wrong, just didn't have much nose and came off a little burnt and bitter. Maybe it would have tasted better if they had been pulled right. I'd make better use of that very expensive espresso machine.

Anyway, it was a great place to meet up with Bob and talk movies again and smell the smell of heaven... their buns!

The Warming Qualities of 2 Espressos

Today was a good day (like many days here in Minnesota) to bundle up and venture out to one of my favorite coffee bars, Blue Moon. There I settled in and appreciated the coziness of it all as I sipped on my espresso. I'm getting anxious to hear whether my grant proposal will be accepted so that I can venture out into the world (Italy to be precise) and sample the best espresso they have to offer. I asked for money to be able to study the "art of espresso" in its country of origin so that I could learn from the best and apply that knowledge back home in Minnesota and nationally to bring fine espresso center stage (where it deserves to be!). I guess I can only cross my fingers and hope the committee understands the importance of educating the public to the virtues of excellent espresso. Cross your fingers too because it would make one hell of a blogging experience...

Happy 2010!

From me to all you espresso fanatics... Cheers!