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.