Catación Pública – must-visit cafe in Bogotá
Up on a hill in Usaquén, in the northern part of Bogotá, I had the pleasure of meeting Jaime Duque, owner of Catación Pública – and a man on a mission. You see, for many in Colombia, like most countries where coffee production is a major sector of the economy, the best coffee is often ironically out of...
Menotti’s Coffee Stop – Venice, CA
Last time I was in Los Angeles, I kept getting recommendations to visit a little shop called Menotti’s right next to the Venice Beach boardwalk – and I’m glad I did. Coffee service is lead by Nicely Abel Alameda, one of LA’s more affable, well-known baristas who’s developed something of a following as he’s moved...
Inside Cenicafé, Colombia’s national coffee research center
Earlier this year I visited Colombia to see how coffee is grown, harvested, and processed. One of the most exciting, geeky parts of that trip was our visit to Cenicafé, Colombia’s 77 year old national coffee research center. Cenicafé is one of the world’s leading centers for scientific coffee research, looking for innovative ways to...
Cafe Devotion – Bogotá, Colombia
Cafe Devotion recently opened a beautiful new cafe & roastery in Brooklyn (called Cafe Devocion in the US), so when I learned that they’re based out of Bogotá, I had to visit when I was in Colombia. Serendipitously, just a few blocks from the hotel I was staying at, Devotion has a cafe at...
Intelligentsia, Herald Square, NY
UPDATE: apparently this location has already closed! During the holidays I made a pit-stop to catch up with a friend at the new Herald Square Intelligentsia. This is Intelli’s latest foray into New York’s coffee scene, following their earlier debut with a coffee bar in the Highline Hotel’s lobby. Apparently continuing on this cautious route,...
Review: Screaming Beans, Amsterdam
Hope you enjoy the final of three guest posts & photos by Alden Gewirtz below, highlighting his experience at Screaming Beans in Amsterdam! To the uneducated American traveler, Amsterdam might not seem like a destination for quality coffee (cannabis-selling “coffee shops” of Amsterdam not withstanding), but Googling a bit about The Netherlands’ history in the coffee trade...
Blacktop Coffee, Los Angeles
There’s a relatively fresh addition to Los Angeles’ rapidly blooming downtown coffee repertoire, located on a block that aptly showcases the new downtown LA. The new shop is called Blacktop Coffee, but its owner’s name isn’t new to anyone following specialty coffee – Tyler J. Wells was one of the founders of Handsome Coffee (now...
Starbucks for Spooks
I enjoyed this peek inside the CIA’s coffee culture. Not surprising, but a glimpse inside a hidden and curious world. I wonder if there’s a classified counter-culture of coffee geeks with Aeropresses and grinders in there? “Coffee culture is just huge in the military, and many in the CIA come from that culture ,” said...
Review: Ten Belles Cafe, Paris
Hope you enjoy the second of three guest posts & photos by Alden Gewirtz below, highlighting another must-visit Parisian cafe! Nestled in the hip, boutique-filled neighborhood around the Canal Saint-Martin, Ten Belles (10 Rue de la Grange aux Belles, 75010 Paris, France) makes you feel as if you’ve stepped off the rue and into a coffee house...
Review: Coutume Cafe, Paris
While I’m out visiting Los Angeles, we have a series of guest dispatches from Paris! Please enjoy the first of three posts & photos by Alden Gewirtz below. In the past few years, as the coffee revolution in the States and Australia started brewing in the post-Starbucks era, it became cliché for Americans to...
A Look Back: Los Angeles Coffee Culture (Part 3)
Continuing from Part 1 and Part 2 of my look back at LA’s growing Coffee Culture, it’s time to look at what has changed over time: Handsome Coffee Roasters: recently acquired by Blue Bottle and in the midst of being assimilated, so it remains to be seen what happens here! In the mean time, here’s...
A Look Back: Los Angeles Coffee Culture (Part 2)
Here’s the second in a series of posts looking back at LA’s growing coffee culture (see Part 1 here). Below you’ll witness the proliferation of both multi-roaster shops, like Cognoscenti Coffee and Commissary Coffee), as well as home-grown roastery-cafes like Portola and Cafecito Organico. Proof Bakery / Cognoscenti Coffee, Atwater Village A perfect match...
