(by 5 people)
The World Barista Championships were held in July in Tokyo. James Hoffmann, UK Champion, was the winner, with Heather Perry of Coffee Klatch in San Dimas, CA finishing second - the highest finish ever for an American at the WBCs. Congrats to all 45 national champions who represented their countries!
Videos of many of the competitors can be found at ZacharyZachary.com. The ZZ team live blogged pretty much the whole thing, allowing families from all over the globe to watch their kids/brothers/sisters/relatives/friends/coworkers compete and to wish them well in real time. A great application for videoblogging technology if ever there was one.
COFFEE TREE ROASTERS PROCURES SEVERAL CUP OF EXCELLENCE COFFEES AT AUCTION
The Swoopes bid on and won coffees from three different Cup of Excellence (CoE) auctions this year. These coffees will arrive through the summer and early fall for roasting at the company's West Mifflin facility. The coffees are:
La Union Estate, 2nd place, Nicaragua CoE
San Jose Ocaña, 2nd place, Guatemala CoE
La Montaña, 1st place, El Salvardo CoE
Suiza, 2nd place, El Salvador CoE
Nueve Posas, 15th place, Honduras CoE
These coffees stand out among this year's world crop as some of the finest coffees grown anywhere. Each of these coffees fetched more than 3x Fair Trade prices and some more than that. Support excellence by supporting quality sustainable coffees like these auction coffees as well as coffees purchased using the Direct Trade model.
21st STREET COFFEE HOLDS CLOVER DAY
21st Street Coffee (formerly Caffe Intermezzo) held its Grand Reopening Party to celebrate the new location and name on August 24 as well as it's new five-figure purchase, the Clover S1 brewing system. We're hoping the Clover will attract more people to "coffee-flavored coffee" as it is a unique brewing system, producing a cup that is cleaner than press pots, generally more consistent cup to cup than vac pots and siphons.
CAFE AMADEUS OPENS IN INDIANA, PA
Former Aldo Coffee Co. barista trainer and Millrock Latte Art finalist Andi Szep moved to Indiana this spring in order to open her own shop. Cafe Amadeus is a "Viennese-style" coffeehouse that will feature both Black Cat espresso from Intelligentsia and varietal coffees roasted in the shop by Andi's husband Bill.
Cafe Amadeus is the middle of Indiana's business district on Philadelphia Ave. next door to the Coney. It may be the most "European" of all shops in Western Pennsylvana and is well worth a visit. Several baristas have already made the pilgramage. If you go, be sure to tell Andi and Bill you heard about them here.
CUPPY'S HITS THE PITTSBURGH AREA
The area has seen a few drive-thrus constructed over the past few years. But these are mostly from chains using inferior roasts. No longer. Cuppy's - a chain that uses beans from Caffe d'Arte in Seattle - recently opened in Bridgeville in the Home Depot/Chuck E. Cheese parking lot. Sean from CoffeeGeek is the managing barista, so expect a little more than typical drive-thru mediocrity if you're ordering actual coffee, espresso or a cappuccino. Of course if you're ordering the Starbucks-type milkshake drinks, well, doesn't really matter who's making those, does it?
HELP THIS SITE BECOME MORE USEFUL FOR YOU
While Pittsburgh isn't Seattle or Portland or San Francisco (or even Chicago or Research Triangle), there are some excellent choices around town, and it seems, especially in the 'burbs. We'll point a few out.
For those of you who aren't complete coffee geeks or obsessive home roasters, we'll also use this lens to pass along what we know so you can become more fluent about the world of espresso and coffee - which is just as complex and interesting as learning about fine wine.
Spend a little time here and very soon you'll be impressing your friends and colleagues with your savvy on "fair trade" and "Ethiopian Yirgacheffe" and "proper milkfoam steaming". They may think you're boring, or worse, nuts. But hey, you'll know better.
If you have ideas for stories or features or content you'd like to see here (non-promotional) use the guestbook form at the bottom of the page.
This lens is brought to you by Aldo Coffee Co. because life is too short to drink crappy coffee.
Where to Learn About Espresso, Coffee and Tea
Plus Pittsburgh Coffeehouse Blogs
- Aldo Coffee Co.
- Our home base in Mt. Lebanon, where we serve Intelligentsia Direct Trade roasts and varietals in addition to the award-winning Black Cat Espresso blend , panini, cannoli and all sorts of other goodness to a background soundtrack of jazz and Italian folk music.
- Enrico's Tazza d'Oro
- The city's second blogging cafe, Amy Enrico's Highland Park cafe is a longtime neighborhood favorite. They feature Batdorf & Bronson's "Dancing Goats" espresso blend for milk drinks and "Blue" for straight espresso. Friendly baristas, covivial, comfortable space in a residential neighborhood with a few outdoor tables and wireless.
- Affogato
- Affogato, a.k.a. "The Big Red A" in Bellevue is owned by 23-year old Victoria Green, the shop features a round "diner-esque" counter in front, with comfy seating in the middle space, followed by a performance/games area in back. Coolest thing: The red Bunn grinder with the Mister Donut badge.
- 21st Street Coffee
- The blog of 21st Street Coffee (formerly Caffe Intermezzo) with two shops in town - one in the Strip the other in the Frick Building. The owners are former engineers and usually feature the most high-tech brewing equipment in town.
- Coffee Geek
- Tools and tips for the obsessive espresso fiend. Articles on roasting, trade and consumer reviews of equipment for both commercial and home roasting and brewing. Plus a forum where many of the top coffeehouse owners and baristas congregate to share ideas.
- Coffee Review
- Billed as "The World's Leading Coffee Buying Guide". You can browse reviews of hundreds of different varietals and blends from many of the country's top roasters.
- Portafilter.net
- Really serious coffee and barista talk, featuring podcasts from Nick Cho of DC's Murky Coffee and others, including Ellie Matusak, the award-winning barista trainer from Intelligentsia who trained most of our staff.
- Home Barista
- Everything you need to learn how to roast and brew your own espresso. Sure, you can buy a Senseo, but wouldn't it be more fun to learn how to become an espresso artisan?
- Espresso Map
- The definitive map of great espresso/coffee bars in North America. To get on the map you must have been referred by another top coffee pro (or Eric's given you his personal approval). In Pittsburgh, it's Aldo Coffee.
- Tea Forum
- Probably the original tea forum, it's more a traditional UseNet format, although now on Yahoo! Get questions from green tea origins to Yerba Mate serving rituals answered here.
- Teanobi
- Online forum focused on Japanese teas. Teanobi.com offers numerous hard-to-find teas by mail order.
- Latte Art Demos
- A really horribly designed site from Italy, but offers brief tutorials in how to pour latte art, plus photos of latte art from coffeehouses around the world.
Today at Aldo Coffee Co.
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byPittsburgh Media Polls on Best Coffeehouse
The Vault, Aldo Coffee, Affogato finish top three for 2007
- AOL City Guide
- The voting for AOL CityGuide's Best Coffeehouse of 2007 is in. The AOL survey garners significantly more votes than any other survey in town - whether all those votes are "legitimate" is another matter entirely.
At least the list of the nominees appears to have been vetted.
Four of the nominees on the 2007 were first-timers: 61C (Squirrel Hill), Aldo Coffee Co. (Mt. Lebanon), Sister's SpecialTeas (McKees Rocks) and and The Vault (Brighton Heights). There were six perennial nominees, all of whom have been on the list the past two years: Affogato, Crazy Mocha Co., Donna Lisa's, Eat Unique (formerly Craig St. Coffee), Kiva Han and The Quiet Storm (Kiva Han and Donna Lisa's did not make the final eight).
The final voting:
1. The Vault Coffee and Tea Bar
2. Aldo Coffee Co.
3. Affogato
4. Crazy Mocha
5. Sister's Special Teas
6. The Quiet Storm
7. 61C
8 Eat Unique
To view AOL CityGuide's list, visit AOL CityGuide 2007 Best Coffeehouse. - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Best Restaurants
- The PG decided to do its own contest in June/July 2007. As it was their first time doing one, the contest had little buzz - not to mention the online voting/nominating process didn't work on occasion. While there were something like 70 or more pizza places to vote for, there were but 10 establishments listed in the "Best Coffeehouse" category.
In other words most shops in town weren't even aware of the contest or they would've nominated themselves. That explains the absence in the poll of some coffeehouses considered to be among the best in Pittsburgh (Enrico's Tazza d'Oro, LaPrima, Caffe Intermezzo, The Vault, Simpatico, Beleza, Coffee Tree). The omission of these shops (and the inclusion of others) makes the PG poll suspect. As does the low voter turnout for the first-year survey. We're taking an educated guess that there were fewer than 120 votes cast in total. Therefore, if a shop campaigned for votes at all, they would easily win.
Anyway, here's the final order of the 10 shops that were included in the voting:
1. Blue Horse Coffee (according to folks at the PG, they received more than half of all votes cast)
2. Aldo Coffee Co.
3. The Quiet Storm
4. Craig St. Coffee (which has been called "Eat Unique" for some time now. hmmm...)
5. Affogato
6. Caribou Coffee (shop not specified)
7. Cafe Coca
8. Crazy Mocha (shop not specified)
9. Crazy Mocha (shop not specified)
10. Lookout Cafe - The CP
- The CP only lists three coffeehouses. It's been the same three for the past three years:
1. Beehive
2. Kiva Han
3. Quiet Storm
All three are downtown and both the Beehive and Quiet Storm are much more noted for their counterculture appeal more than their coffee.
It's tough to get CP votes for the South burbs. The area just doesn't play to the typical CP reader. The CP's bias is not just apparent from the lack of South Hills coffeehouses on the list (despite repeated mentions of Mt. Lebo's Aldo Coffee Co. and Blue Horse Coffee on hardcore espresso and coffee sites like Home-Barista and CoffeeGeek). It's also the lack of South Hills restaurants listed in any category, despite there being some excellent choices here (Il Pizzaiolo or Cafe Georgio anyone?). - Pittsburgh Magazine
- The September issue of Pittsburgh magazine features the Best and Worst of Pittsburgh. In the "Best" category on page 90 you'll find the editors choice for city's "Best Baristas" are the competition-tested espresso slingers at Aldo Coffee Co. On the same page you'll find the best drive-thru is Mocha Mountain up in Bellevue.
Later in the magazine on page 118 are the results of the online readers' poll for best coffeehouse which was led by Blue Horse and Coffee Tree Roasters.
Feedback on Best Of Pittsburgh Coffeehouses
Customers know best, not magazines. So where is the best espresso in town?
The coffeehouse scene in Pittsburgh is getting more sophisticated all the time. The more educated the public is on espresso & coffee quality, the more business will flow into the shops that really care about the necessary skills for preparation of good espresso, coffee and tea.At least that's how it's supposed to work.
We recognize some folks just want the caffeine "jolt" or the sugar and will continue to buy their drip coffee and syrupy lattes from national brands for familiarity and convenience.
But for those who truly care about espresso and supporting local business, here are some choices, including some of our South Hills neighbors that haven't been included in the "Best Of" issues:
Well, there's Aldo Coffee for people who love Intelligentsia's Black Cat Espresso and their Direct Trade ("fairer than Fair Trade") business approach to grower relationships and sustainable farming practices.
21st Street Cafe (in the Strip and in the Frick Building) also serves Intelligentsia and is the first cafe in Pittsburgh to feature both the Synesso Cyncra espresso brewer and the Clover S1 single cup brewer.
Coffee Tree Roasters (no web site) - has at least four locations around town. Bill Swoope is the Burgh's "Mr. Coffee" - one of only a dozen lifetime members of the prestigious Cup of Excellence. Bill has participated in numerous bean auctions & cuppings.
Affogato - This Bellevue indie is only a couple of years old but has already won Best of Pittsburgh 2005 and 2006 on AOL CitySearch. Judging from its MySpace page, Victoria has built a loyal customer base.
Enrico's Tazza d'Oro - Located in the residential Highland Park neighborhood, Enrico's Tazza d'Oro is consistently voted in top 10 coffeehouses of Pittsburgh in every poll. They use Batdorf & Bronson's Blue for their 'spro and Dancing Goats blend for lattes.
The Vault in Brighton Heights is a new shop in a great space with skilled baristas who use beans from Orinoco roasters in Maryland.
Also worth a visit: Simpatico, a kiosk in the old Alcoa Building on Sixth owned by ex-Seattleite Ward Payne. Mojo Bistro in Bellevue featuring Counter Culture Coffees and CCC's ex-roast manager Ryan Brantley. And of course, La Prima on 21st, the grandaddy of local shops.
Latte, Machiatto and Cappuccino Art from Flickr
art by Andi
another attempt at the triple - almost, but not quite
art by Andi
a rosetta Andi pulled on July 17
Andi's working on this - still a bit off on going from the right branch back int...
Andi poured this rosette in a 12 oz go cup.
Andi's tribute to the SBXL Champions.
Belle practicing her routine prior to the MidAtlantic Regional Barista Champions...
Finalists from the Millrock Latte Art Competition at CoffeeFest 2006 in DC. And...
Andi's on left, Steven's on right - this was before Steven got comfortable filli...
Cara's attempt at heart latte art.
Andi
Related Reading on Espresso
Espresso Coffee: Professional Techniques
Amazon Price: (as of 12/04/2008) 
Espresso: Culture and Cuisine
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The Ultimate Italian Pastries
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Panini, Bruschetta, Crostini: Sandwiches, Italian Style
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Saeco Magic Deluxe SuperAutomatic Espresso Coffee and Cappuccino Machine, Black
Amazon Price: (as of 12/04/2008)
Gaggia 16100 Evolution Home Espresso Cappuccino Machine, Black
Amazon Price: $229.00 (as of 12/04/2008)
Rancilio Rocky Doser Espresso Grinder
Amazon Price: $421.49 (as of 12/04/2008)
KitchenAid Pro Line Burr Coffee Grinder, Pearl Metallic
Amazon Price: $179.95 (as of 12/04/2008)
Baratza Black Maestro Plus Coffee Grinder - Baratza G385
Amazon Price: $149.00 (as of 12/04/2008)
Bodum Santos Stovetop Glass Vacuum 34-Ounce Coffee Maker
Amazon Price: $67.95 (as of 12/04/2008)
Bodum Pavina 2-Ounce Double-Wall Thermo Glasses (Espresso/Shot), Set of 2
Amazon Price: $9.99 (as of 12/04/2008)
FrancisFrancis! X5 Espresso Machine, Fuschia
Amazon Price: (as of 12/04/2008)
Joyce Chen 22-Ounce Japanese Tetsubin Cast-Iron Maple Teapot, Rust
Amazon Price: $75.95 (as of 12/04/2008)
Senseo HD7890/65 Single-Serve Coffee Machine Gift Pack, Raven Black
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Bodum Paula Espresso Cups and Saucers, Set of 6
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Bodum Madrid Espresso Spoon, Set of 6
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Bodum Chambord 12-Ounce Coffee Press
Amazon Price: $29.99 (as of 12/04/2008)
Bodum Columbia 8-Cup Stainless-Steel Thermal Press Pot
Amazon Price: $77.99 (as of 12/04/2008)
Planetary Design Double Shot Travel French Press Mug Black
Amazon Price: $28.99 (as of 12/04/2008)
Freepour Latte Art by the UK Barista Champ
Latte Art Sequence
http://www.jimseven.blogspot.com A couple of pour and pictures and some music. Nothing special - just messing about really.
Your Squid Ink
Reader comments, thoughts and suggestions
If you're a coffee lover from Western PA, we'd love to hear from you. If you're visiting the Pittsburgh area, we hope you'll stop by our shop or any of the others we've mentioned - anything but Starbucks or Caribou!
beta1281 wrote...
Posted July 22, 2007
