On The Road: Morning Light Coffee Roasters

We are vacationing in Montana visiting our family.  Our first stop is Great Falls so of course we had to stop by local coffee refuge Morning Light Coffee Roasters.  This beloved local hangout is a must stop for Great Falls residents and tracks its roots in the state back to 1988. As you walk in the door, you are hit by an atmosphere that is at once western and friendly with a touch of the relaxed earthy feel most specialty coffee shops cherish.

Mrs. Darkroast, Tiny Roast and I were happy to be accompanied by my sister and brother-in-law.  I chose the triple shot cappuccino and found the brew good but a little watered down with milk (a common mistake I find with many baristas.) 

Mrs. Darkroast disagreed with me and felt it was just a medium roast unlike the dark intense roast I tend to prefer.  She's probably right, she usually is!  She had her usual vanilla cappuccino with caramel syrup, and tiny roast gave his vanilla milk a big smile and double nod.  Even so, the coffee had a nice earthy tone with low acidity and I still found myself enjoying it about an hour later. Mrs. Darkroast also purchased a cool mug made by Miam.Miam and we all devoured a light and fluffy berry muffin made at the shop.  Mrs. Darkroast wanted to sneak in the kitchen and steal the recipe.

Our real enjoyment at places like this comes in the atmosphere. Mrs. Darkroast feels I should give two ratings from now on -- one for the coffee and one for the atmosphere. I do feel like these are both critical components for a successful coffee shop. This place had a warm feel including a wall of coffee mugs where the regulars leave their personal cups.

Morning Light stakes its claim as the largest specialty coffee distributor in Montana with a variety of options for the western connoisseur. It was a nice spot and I am going to give it a B+ for it's coffee and an A- for atmosphere. We will be in Helena, Montana, later this week and will post from there when we check out Fireside Coffee.

Embedded Starbucks: Baby Steps from Diner Coffee?

Ahhhh, Christmas Eve. It is a time of great joy. As I jetted around town yesterday with my family getting last minute gifts, we arrived at our local Target store. Of course, this seemed like the perfect moment to double my shopping pleasure by visiting the Starbucks stand embedded in the front of the store.

Lately, Mrs. Darkroasted, another friend of mine from church and I have been having a running discussion about whether embedded Starbucks in hotels, bookstores, truck stops, grocery stores and your local Target produce the same quality of coffee as the stand-alone outlets.

So naturally I ordered my standard grande cappuccino and then we walked on while I let it cool. I have a picture of this drink below. Tell me if you can figure out what is wrong with this picture.

Notice the silky smooth texture and complete lack of actual coffee in the drink. LOL, I took two sips of the sweetest steamed milk you ever had. But sadly, there was no espresso in there. When I went back to Gwendolyn to request the coffee in my coffee, she seemed less than pleased. That makes two of us.

Mrs. Darkroasted also got her standard caramel macchiato and then rapidly declared it was baby steps from diner coffee. I am afraid this is just one more example of how the phrase,  "we proudly brew Starbucks," doesn't mean anything if the baristas behind the counter also work cash register nine when things get busy.

I rarely ever get a bad drink from a stand-alone Starbucks, but these in-store deals are a bit of a roller coaster ride. What's your experience? Give me your comments.

Merry Christmas everyone  and watch out for counterfeit Starbucks. :-)

Hilarious Self Stirring Mug

If you have never had a chance to visit Think Geek before and need a last second Christmas gift, this is always a great site to visit for that nerd in your life. Yesterday, I was perusing some other coffee blogs and came across the Think Geek self stirring coffee mug for lazy people on The Brewed Coffee blog.

The mug is available on www.thinkgeek.com at this link.  For only $18.99 you can prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are in fact the laziest person on the planet and enjoy a cup of joe while you do so.

Thanks to our friends over at the Brewed Coffee Blog for this critical find.

Surrounded by White/Talking Flat White

Now that the great Christmas snowstorm has passed us by here in the Northeast, I finally have a moment to write. The past few days have mainly been about shoveling, shoveling and then shoveling. Oh, and it's possible that I made a killer sled run for tiny roast and "others" to use.

All this flat white got me to thinking about a new coffee that appears to be all the rage in the United Kingdom right now. It's called the flat white. I first read about it on the jimseven blog. In the comments on the blog, it was described as a strong small latte. It was originally created in New Zealand and involves pouring the steamed milk from the bottom of the container to create a velvety smooth drink.

Even though I have yet to find this in the states, I believe that it is similar to the micro-steam systems used at shops like Bourbon Coffee and other small independents. Here is another explanation I found for the differences in your standard mainline coffee drinks and the flat white.

latte 4:1 textured milk to espresso
cappuccino 3:1 frothed milk to espresso
flat white 2:1 (minimally) textured milk to espresso
macchiato 1:1 milk to espresso

Sounds like an intriguing drink and I would like to find out how to make it at home. So now I have flat white in my back yard and flat white on my mind. I am going to make me a Nespresso as I ponder this.

Review: Bourbon Coffee D.C.

A colleague of mine suggested that I check out a new coffee shop near our office called Bourbon Coffee. If your reaction is the same as mine, you would of course wonder why it is called "Bourbon". It sounds more like a liquor store than a coffee joint. A quick Wikipedia search revealed the following:

Bourbon coffee is a type of coffee produced from the Bourbon cultivar of the Coffea arabica species of coffee plant. Bourbon coffee was first produced in Réunion, which was known as Île Bourbon before 1789. It was later taken by the French to mainland Africa and to Latin America, and is now one of the two most popular Arabica coffees grown worldwide^. Bourbon coffee is usually produced at heights between 3,500 and 6,500 feet.

The Bourbon Coffee shop at 2101 L Street NW in D.C took advantage of a recently shuttered Starbucks and used the same space to launch its first U.S. store after opening two successful stores in Rwanda. As I and a colleague visited today, we discussed how this store was going to be able to survive when the Starbucks in the same location could not. I think the answer is in the coffee.

My colleague tried a plain drip and I ordered an espresso machiato. True to the regional roots of this coffee maker, the brew was earthy with a slight acidity to give it a little bite, but not too much. Another friend at work mentioned that this earthy taste comes from the process used in this region of Africa. The coffee cherry is left on while the beans dry.

If you are looking for the same clean coffee house feel you get at a Starbucks,  with an African twist and a taste that settles some place in the middle of Starbucks and Illy, this is a great way to mix things up.

Calling All Dunkin Donuts Haters: This Ain't Right for the Holidays

Last night I sat with my family just enjoying a little TV when it happened -- I sat through that apocryphal commercial suggesting that Dunkin' Donuts coffee beans would be a good gift for that someone you love this Christmas. Seriously? This gift does not say love to me. It says, "Hey Uncle Frank, I realize you don't have any taste buds so here is some coffee you might enjoy."

If I want a tasty cruller or an old-fashioned, I am there with you Dunkin' Donuts. But guess what, you can't just grab some cruddy beans and pretend like you are providing a gourmet coffee experience. Dunkin Dark? Is this for real? It kind of reminds me of my hatred for the McCafe coffee experience. If your taste buds are shot, feel free to click here and order your Dunkin Dark today.

These businesses need to stick to what they do well. Ever tasted a Starbucks pastry? It is not very tasty. But you know what, the coffee is perfect every time. I know that many American's like their Dunkin coffee, I just do not know why.

NOTE: John C, I hope you are having your Christmas Party again this year. We will be there and I know you will be serving the very coffee I have just eviscerated. Please don't hold it against me. The truth is, I will drink any coffee that is brewed if there are no other options. I look forward to your response to this post.

Hasty Coffee Drinking Makes Waste

This morning started like any other Saturday. Ms. Darkroasted and I woke up Tiny Roast and got ready for a day out together. However, Tiny Roast was not interested in being overly cooperative today and so it took forever to get out of the house. In the process, I forgot to make myself a coffee with my nifty new Nespresso Coffee Maker. So of course, I needed my morning fix.

We went to the Metro Diner in Annapolis for breakfast. I love this chain that has about 20 locations throughout the region. I had a mind-blowing Belgian waffle with a vanilla, powdered sugar and maple syrup glaze.  Two minutes into the meal, Tiny Roast dumped a full glass of milk all over the floor and the servers at the diner fell all over themselves to clean it up and make sure we were not inconvenienced.  We caused the problem, but they were ready to serve. This brings me to the coffee.

If their coffee was half as good as the food and the service, how could I go wrong. So I stepped up to the counter for a cappuccino.

I took a quick drink and I told my wife, it's not bad. Who was I kidding, it wasn't so great. Ms. Darkroasted took one sip and then dared me to finish it. I could not. No offense Metro Diner, but diner coffee is the one constant in this world. I knew I was going to the mall next and could easily make it to Starbucks. Why did I jump the gun with bad coffee? This story was not over.

We drove over to the Annapolis mall to do some shopping and as we entered Macy's, I noticed a Keurig display where they were giving away free cups of coffee. We have one of these machines in our office and I figured it was better than nothing. As I started to make my cup, a rude woman who was doing demos on the machine informed me that only she could touch the coffee maker. I tried to remain polite as she told me the boring story of the Keurig single cup maker. (I just wanted the coffee)

This cup wasn't that great either. When I asked the saleswoman about the cost per cup, she told me a price point that is only nominally lower than Nespresso with a quarter of the taste. Now I was into my second bad cup of coffee of the day. When we finally got to Starbucks I didn't need any more coffee and Tiny Roast is the only one who got anything he wanted (his standard vanilla milk.)  He didn't settle for anything but the best and got just what he wanted.

The moral of this story is simple. Never, never, never settle for a bad cup of coffee and diner coffee will always be diner coffee. Keep it dark roasted.

On The Road: Rock N Joe

So I spent last weekend in Bethlehem, Pa., and our friends asked me to check out  a new coffee joint they have enjoyed lately called Rock N Joe.  Although I am generally a Starbucks guy all the way, I figured...when in Rome.

Rock N Joe is a small coffee franchise with a handful of cafes in New Jersey and one in Pennsylvania.  They seem to be aggressively franchising. While the rock-theme interior and music are appealing, this is a tough niche to break into.

I ordered the spinach quiche and my friends also ordered a variety of salads and sandwiches. In addition, I had a double espresso and Ms. Darkroasted had a caramel macchiato.

The food was well presented and had great taste. Even so, for me the real test would be the coffee. The espresso was better than I have had at many establishments. It was strong and smooth. The macchiato was well presented - as you can see - and Ms. Darkroasted said it was superior to the Starbuck's drink she normally enjoys.

While the food and coffee were excellent, it was the customer service where this shop shined the brightest. In an era when coffee houses sometime grind customer after customer through the door, this small franchise was polite, patient and consistently attentive as the employees made sure we enjoyed the visit.

If they keep up this combination of service and quality product, they may just make it.