A new place for excellent espresso in Minneapolis!

Sun Street Breads in South Minneapolis (4600 Nicollet) has excellent espresso. I spent some time with Martin who kindly let me around the counter to check out his awesome La Marzocco GS/3 in action. Needless to say I was drooling. He pulled some wonderful Dogwood shots and we chatted about how he got into espresso (a trip to Barcelona sealed the deal). Definitely check out the awesome espresso and the bakery run by Solveig Tofte the head baker (and Martin's wife). She competed at the Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie in Paris as the captain and breads representative on the Bread Bakers Guild Team USA 2008. So come for the espresso and stay for the high quality bread products. You won't regret it!


Feast your eyes on the crema...

Shawn of the Espresso Strikes!

Need the perfect espresso pulled for you? Well duh... Shawn at Quixotic (Ford Pkwy/Cleveland) will set you up. Winning!

Breaking away from it all!

Work gets in the way sometimes, but not today. 2 espresso heaven in a cup with Michael over here at Quixotic, still one of the consistently great espresso bars in town if not the Midwest.

My man Michael serves it up!


Michael pulls a dream shot and shouts "Look at this!"


Not sure if I look insane homeless or armless...

Spain! The country that "The Limits of Control" was filmed in and I got my inspiration for 2 espressos! My daughter reporting in again from Spain!

Thalia at Barcelona's flea market. Café always comes con leche in Spain - in other words, coffee is only drunk with steamed milk. If you ask for an espresso, you will get milk in it. But it's delicious, so accept the Spanish ways!

Madeline, 2 espressos right outside the Sagrada Familia, at a little place called Bicicleta Café.

Eric at Dogwood

Attention to detail a must...

Dogwood Two Espresso Old Style

Two Espressos From Le Panorama, on Rue Gerando, Paris

My daughter sent me this and I'm soooo jealous. Paris man... She described her coffee as pungent, nutty and the good kind of bitter.

Doggin' it again

Stopped into Dogwood again today and Eddie pulled me a couple wonderful shots off the Mirage...

Eddie working the machine...

A "real" Mirage...

It's the CREMA!

Is this the most beautiful thing you've ever seen coffee lover?! Dogwood coffee in Calhoun Village, single origin from Nicaragua and beautiful colors and delicious oils. Wow...

I even picked up some dessert from Rustica for my wife on the way out. It's a win win situation...

My daughter sent this from Le Select in Paris

Tres classy!

I'm going to Jackson

Damn cold = tongue works, nose doesn't

But hey, that didn't stop me from fulfilling my ritual 2 espresso. And what better place than Dogwood today on the way home. Strange feeling to try to smell the espresso and get nothing back. The taste was fabulous of course. So get your asses over to this place. It's a whole different experience from most coffee places people frequent. I mean, c'mon, leave the chains behind. Free yourselves to taste the real deal!

Below, Justin showing excellent attention to detail...

On neck surgery and coping...

OK, I just found out I have to have a 2 Level fusion in my neck because of chronic neck and shoulder pain I've had for the last year. So what better place to cope than Rustica/Dogwood and some espresso. Eric served me up my 2 espressos and after tasting the first one I realized there are worse things than having surgery on your neck vertebrae. What are they? Oh I don't know, but as the espresso rolled across my tongue all my cares faded away. I love this habit. You should too!

2 Espresso in Siberia?

No, actually St. Paul at Quixotic. Thought I'd warm my cockles with an espresso and Gibraltar. Got to wondering again why all the good espresso joints are in the south part of the Twin Cities. Why can't I get good espresso where I live? Why oh why?

Well at least great espresso is finally making headway here in Minnesota. Am trying hard to promote these fine establishments in the hopes of waking up the rest of Minnesota. But come on North East!

And somehow we got on the subject of beer...

Stopped into Quixotic doing my Madcap-Dogwood-Madcap-Dogwood shuffle and Michael pulled 2 delicious shots of Madcap for me. But then we started talking about beer and one thing lead to the other. Well, not actually, but it turns out we have beer brewing in common so we chatted about brews. All the while sipping my 2 espressos of course....

Tangs For The Memories...

Kristin pulled two brazilian-sumatran blend Dogwood espressos for me today and the results were excellent. A very zesty and bright espresso, a little less oily but nonetheless a very interesting experience. The tang hit me right. I quite enjoyed the contrast with some of the equally excellent Madcap I've been tasting these days. Crema well done as was the attention to detail...

When the barista is smiling it is always a good sign...

Yours truly embarking on yet another tasty trip...

Shawn's got my back!

Who's my man? Shawn pulls the best shots time and time again. It's like every espresso is the last one he'll ever make in his life. He puts his heart and soul into it...

Here at Quixotic...

Dogwood rocks the espresso world at Calhoun Square!

Ran into Keith and Greg today at Calhoun Square at the new Dogwood Coffee Co. I'll bet you can guess how that went... AWESOME OF COURSE! The espresso was sublime. Keith even pulled me some single origin because that's the kind of guy he is. Thanks for putting in another high quality espresso bar. Now everyone get your asses to Dogwood for some nirvana in a cup...

This place is so open...

The Coffee Shop NE

Is it? Is it?

Sunday morning espressos courtesy Jefferson at Nick and Eddie

2 espresso day, of course!

Stopped in to Quixotic today for a Third Coast and Just a Nicaragua pulled by Gordon with skill. I enjoyed lemony, citrusy, bright and zesty treats. It's nice to have someone pull a fine shot and make an effort to draw something different and unique out of the beans. I pulled up a chair, worked on some videos I'm producing and relaxed into the world. Thanks Gordon and Quixotic...

Bull Run seems to be doing very well!

Bull Run was doing a hopping business today. The place was almost packed. Good for them. Maybe Americans are finally coming out of the dark and starting to frequent places of quality coffee instead of the schleppy crap Starbucks and most coffee houses swill out. This is good news...

Espresso for what ails you...

Yes, espresso drinks do help when you have a cold. Here I am at Angry Catfish trying this theory out on a Gibraltar...

A Quixoticatingly Rainy Day!

Screw the weather and bring on the fine espresso. I dripped into Quixotic today for some 2 espresso. Gordon pulled one long and one short and they were both long on taste and that's not the short and long of it. Fabulous taste, coating the tongue, creamy, thick and delicious they stayed with me long after the rains quit. Wait! They haven't quit yet... Wow...

The espresso was so fine I had to do justice to this place with my photos!

A Return to Sources - Kopplin's

After all my trips to ACF, Quixotic and Bull Run it was time I returned to the first place I ever had great espresso in the Twin Cities. And I was not disappointed. There was a sign on the door stating that Kopplin's would be closed on the 25th so Andrew could get married. Good for him! He pulled two awesome shots and I settled in for my ritual back where it all began... Ahhhhh

espresso con crap

Hey, if the espresso tastes like crap (see my latest posts on state of Twin Cities coffee houses) then try espresso con leche, wasn't that bad. But man I wish North Minneapolis and St. Paul had just one decent espresso bar. I mean c'mon, I can't drive south every time!

Purple Onion in Dinkytown

Friends don't let friends drink bad espresso!

That's why I took Terry to Quixotic to have 2 espressos and 2 Gibraltars. Excellent and first rate as always!

Gaze into it long enough and you'll get lost in it's perfection...

Time for other coffee houses to start catching up!

There was a time I was fairly satisfied with many coffee houses and their espresso, but that time is long gone. It was all brought home yesterday when I stopped into one of my regular espressos stops and said "no way!" The problem (or problems) is that though they have the best of intentions they're still dreadfully behind the espresso times. The Cimbali machine? The Elektra? Equipment is old or out of date. And longo shots? Make it ristretto unless I ask for a longo. These espressos are too watery, with not enough oils, viscosity or flavor. I keep likening it to Turkish coffee (which can be good, don't get me wrong). But if I want Turkish coffee I'll order it. Also, stop buying the run of the mill Alakef espresso or the B and W Del Sol crap. It's so ordinary. Yes, it's fair trade and organic and whatever. I could go on, but I already feel harsh (like most of the espresso I get in these houses). We have excellent places like Bull Run, Kopplin's, Angry Catfish and the newly opened Quixotic making the rest of these places look out of date. I appreciate the fact coffee has come a long way in the Twin Cities, but when places like Kopplin's and the like are raising the bar so high eventually you can't go back to ordinary, antiquated equipment, beans and skills. It's time for the other coffee houses to catch up...

Anodyne and 2 Turkish coffee espressos... hmmm, what to do? Well, enjoy the rest of the place. The ambiance, the food are fantastic!

I'm on a Gibraltar kick

Derek at Bull Run found out what a Gibraltar was today. And on the first try he nailed it! Nicely done dude... Check out his technique...

Feeling the pulse at Angry Catfish

Sinatra, espresso, bikes, chillin on a beautiful day. Met Gordon manager at Quixotic, a swell transplant from Chicago. Really enjoy the people I meet while making my espresso rounds...