New Shop for Old Town: Copa Vida

We had slept for approximately 1 hour, if that. The cries of our bundle of joy, Liam, had kept my wife and I from the one thing that we have been in much deprivation of since day one of his arrival...sleep. Sleep schedules, routines; nothing seems to work on this kid. Finally today, I decided that the only solution for this was a nice long trip up to Pasadena, CA to visit a coffee shop I've been hearing my cousin rave about for the past couple months: Copa Vida.

Copa Vida: 

Making the drive from Orange County to Pasadena made for an unconventionally relaxing ride for our little monster. That is until we were about 5 minutes away from the historic Old Town Pasadena area; which then made for a very long 5 minute of locating the nearest parking structure so we could get this kid out of the car. At that point, it didn't matter how much the structure parking was; we just needed to get that kid out of the car. That being said, parking structures are probably going to be your best bet when stopping by at Copa Vida. Unlike the wealthy geniuses that own the parking structures in Downtown LA and charge $3 for every 10 minutes, the 90 minute free parking and a couple dollars for every additional half hour definitely didn't break the bank, which says a lot coming from a guy whose bank is almost always broken. Alright let's talk about Copa Vida.

Ambiance:

Taking a stroll through the Old Town Pasadena to arrive at Copa Vida definitely gave me that small-town downtown feel; very Hill Valley circa November 5, 1955. As I walked in, I was greeted by the barista and cashier with smiles all around. The store definitely has a very clean and organized feel to it. One of the features I most enjoyed of this shop was first how large the space was and how well the space was used. It wasn't big in an awkward and out of place kind of way. Everything fits just right. Speaking of layout, as you walk into the main doorway, you'll notice the barista counter curves around in a horse shoe shaped fashion to the other side of the wall in which you'll find additional seats at the coffee bar and additional tables with more seating options. Like I said, it's a nice, big layout.

The Coffee:

Okay, here's where I get really excited. Copa Vida scores big points with me, personally, by carrying some of my favorite coffee roasters around. This place is proudly serving up Verve Coffee Roasters, Ritual Coffee Roasters, and one of my new favorites Forty Ninth Parallel. Copa Vida also prides themselves in carrying specialty teas as well for you tea drinkers out there. After asking for a suggestion from the friendly barista, I was treated to an off the menu one and one (shot of espresso in one cup and a single shot machiatto in another). With perfectly steamed Straus Milk and a carefully pulled shot of single origin espresso, you can't go wrong. The pairing made for a great sampler of both their unaltered single origin offering and it's creamy counterpart, both highlighting the naturally fruity espresso in their own unique ways. Their single origin espresso (Forty Ninth's Ethiopia Yirgocheffe Espresso at the time)was definitely a treat. I was also able to try out their freddo, which they've defined as an iced double shot of espresso with simple syrup to sweeten it up. This place knows their specialty coffee and they obviously know how to make their coffees.

The Verdict:

As always, I feel that when you have great coffee, skilled baristas, and ambiance to match it all, everything latches on to one last thing: customer service. That dreaded feeling of pretentiousness always looms over specialty coffee shops, so much that the arrogant title of "coffee snob" has been associated with any person who cares about the natural flavors of the coffee. Yes, I realize it's a two way street and that baristas with poor interpersonal communication skills can often give the appearance of know-it-allism so much that you want to slap their face and purposefully taint their perfectly brewed black coffee with tons of unnatural sweetener, purely out of spite. That all being said, you won't find that kind of barista at this shop. In fact when I struck up a conversation with the barista on bar and explained to him that I had come from Orange County to Los Angeles County to visit the shop, he seemed to brighten up even more than he had already, expressing how grateful he was that I made the trip over (not that OC and LA are that far off, but, an hour drive's an hour drive). 

Bottom line: a trip over to Copa Vida is a no brainer. Great coffee, skilled baristas with great customer service always makes for a great coffee shop experience. Get there people. 

Update:

Just came back from Copa Vida again and not only did they have the awesome coffee but also had amazing live jazz. Not showing any bias because it was my awesomely talented cousin Fabian playing, but it really did add to the whole coffee shop experience. 

And...We're Back.

Whoa. By the looks of this, it has been quite some time since I last posted on this blog! For that I do apologize. However my excuse for my absence is encapsulated in one name: Liam. Liam is my son, who many of my Facebook and Instagram followers are more than familiar with due to my incessant posts of his antics. Now regarding my lack of posts: there is a direct correlation between the frequency of my blog posts and my overall hours of consecutive sleep (4 hours of consecutive sleep is very much different than 4 hours of sleep interrupted every 45 minutes by a screaming child. This is real, people). Let me show you how this works and how it will continue to work in a very simple equation:

Consecutive Hours of Sleep ∝ Frequency of Blog Posts.

So there you have it, folks. The more I sleep, the more I write. That being said, I better start writing while this little monster of a kid is still asleep.

Hours of this...

...is made up when I see 5 minutes of this. Kinda.

A Tour De Roast: Behind the Scenes at Caffe Luxxe

It's not everyday that you receive an email from a coffee shop owner who read your blog and invites you for a private tour of their roasting facility. Let me back up a little bit...

Back in April this year I went on one of my coffee shop visits at Caffe Luxxe in Brentwood, CA. Like I do with all my coffee outings, I wrote about it on this blog. It was about a couple days after I wrote my post that I received a message in my inbox from a gentleman named Gary Chau, Co-owner/Creative Director of Caffe Luxxe, explaining how he had enjoyed reading my review of their shop and my other posts as well (which, in and of itself, was exciting to hear). That being said, Gary was nice enough to extend an invitation to me and a couple of my friends to visit the headquarters/roasting facility of Caffe Luxxe. Honored and excited, I jumped at the opportunity to take Gary up on that offer, thus leading me to one of the most exciting coffee experiences I've ever had to date.

Driving to Gardena with my brother and meeting my good friend Terry at the roasting site, we all had been very excited to be able to meet the creative entrepreneurs behind the coffee that we had grown to appreciate so much. Terry had been a long time Luxxe fan (and the person who turned me on to checking out Caffe Luxxe to start) and my brother is a math and science brain who enjoys the math behind the coffee cup, probably more than he likes coffee itself. We walked into the doors of the facility and was greeted by the co-owner Gary.

We walked into their barista training area and were served amazingly creamy, dark chocolaty cappuccinos by Gary. My brother Joey was welcomed as he sat down by Caffe Luxxe's fluffy mascot, Sammy, who warmed his side as we sat down and just talked coffee. Gary introduced us to the other Co-Owner of Caffe Luxxe, Mark Waine, and together we sat and talked about life and some coffee (see how I did that...that's the name of my blog...never mind). I say that tongue in cheek, however it really was the nature of our conversation. Mark talked of his previous work at Microsoft and Gary's work in marketing for Bacardi and how their experiences during those times led them to where there are now at Luxxe. The conversations were so candid and free flowing that this hardly felt like a tour as it did a meet up between friends over coffee.

So now, I see this post going in two different ways. Either...

1) I tell you exactly the nature of our conversations, talking about their roaster, boring you with coffee nerd details and leaving you with a sense of, 'oh, that was nice,'
or
2) Tell you about Gary and Mark.

Let me tell you about Gary and Mark.

Gary explains the science mechanics behind the roaster.

The fact that I was invited for a private tour can give you an idea on the type of owners Gary and Mark are. They care. They care about their product, their customers, and their business as a whole. I can't look over (and I realize that I keep coming back to this point) the fact that these busy people were so personable and took time to make me and my friends coffee and just sit and talk with them at their roasting facility. Everything from coffee, business, life; all subjects were on the table and with such smooth candor. I've been to many shops, talked to many shop owners, and have met some very nice guys, however these guys definitely took the cake in 1-1 interactions with their customers. It was such a refreshing experience.

While being very nice owners, I realize that being nice can only get you so far, particularly in the business world. Particularly in food service business world. Particularly in the food service business world that is currently undergoing one of the worst economic times since the Great Depression. All of that being said, Mark and Gary of Caffe Luxxe know what works in this business. They've been doing speciality coffee here in Los Angeles before Intelligentsia opened in LA and have had to work from the ground up in educating the community (and even their own baristas when they opened) in what specialty coffee is all about. "We actually preferred people with no previous barista experience back then because they were more difficult to retrain," explained Gary. This segued into their explanation of their 6 month internship process that they have their employees go through before they even get behind the espresso machine. One thing after another, a common thread was evident in the explanation of their best practices....professionalism. One of the things I enjoyed most about this conversation with Mark and Gary was how professional they are in their business yet still be user friendly, so to speak. They have found that fine balance between customer satisfaction and maintaing their high standards for coffee without the pretentiousness that many shops have poisoned themselves with. They give quality coffee without any trendy strings attached.

The last thing I want to mention of what I appreciated about this experience was how much goes into the ambiance of their shops.They realize that coffee drinkers, especially in the LA areas where their shops are located, care about not just coffee, but the ambiance. As mentioned in my review of their shop, Caffe Luxxe definitely has that Italian caffe feel that makes Luxxe a desirable place to meet up with a friend, enjoy the weather, and unwind from the busyness of life. It was something that Gary was very passionate about, as he explained his fond memories of the European coffee shops he had visited in the past. "I really want this to be a place where you can meet up with a friend during the day and have a cup of artisanal coffee."

ALL of this can be summarized with this: I truly have much respect for both Gary and Mark. These guys are both coffee lovers and smart businessmen who know what it takes to not only survive in a not-so-good economy, but to thrive and still enjoy what they do. "I get to do this everyday," was what Mark said as he showed us their coffee roaster with a smile that read of contentment and satisfaction. Everything from customer relations to best business practices these gentlemen have down and are always striving to improve on.

All of this, and a parting gift of a bag of Testa Rosa. Thank you Mark and Gary.

Joey, Terry and I walked out the doors of the roasting site and looked at each other in this awkward silent giddiness, as if we had just walked out of Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory. "How do we explain this visit to our friends, they're not gonna understand how awesome this was!" It's true. Since this visit I've explained it to some of my friends who enjoy coffee but they really didn't understand what made this tour so interesting. It was even hard for me to put my finger on it. Looking back, what made this visit so memorable to all of us (again, repeat from what was said earlier) was how decent and pleasant Mark and Gary were.  It all really comes back to that.

I've already told you how much I enjoyed going to Caffe Luxxe in a previous post, but if you still haven't had the privilege of visiting this shop, you owe it to yourself to head on over. You won't be disappointed.

The Breast Milk Cappuccino: The Good and Bad Decisions of Early Fatherhood

As many of you may know (at least my close friends and family who read my blog) I am a day shy of being a week-old dad today. My boy, Liam, is one of the most handsome individuals I've ever met, and I'm not just saying that because he's my son. Liam is awesome and so is my wife/producer-of-this-boy Correne.

One of the first things that went through my mind as my wife and I discussed our desire to breastfeed our child was this: making a breast milk latte. Why? Why not was my bigger question. And now, I have tried it and have important news to relay to those wanting to try one: don't. It's disgusting and tastes like a million different things that you've never wanted to taste before. Let me explain the pros and cons.

1) Consistency is not there. In order to obtain the amount of breast milk needed for a cappuccino requires multiple pumps, which then makes for multiple possibilities of tastes in the breast milk. From what I've read on breast milk, it tastes like what momma has had to eat or drink before. If she had something sweet, the milk would take on that sweetness, and so on and so forth with different foods and drinks. Three different types of milks pumped at three different times means putting together milk that is destined to taste funky.

2) Milk fat is all over the place. Again, this has to do with consistency, as some milks were higher in fat content than others. While texturing the milk, it reminded me of texturing soy or almond milk (meaning watery and not fatty for a good cap).

3) It's breast milk. It's disgusting and should not have been done. Breast milk is for the baby and has all the nutrients that the baby needs. It is not for making espresso based drinks. Trust me. Please. 

I'd like to think that fatherhood as all about making good choices and learning from the bad. I'd like to think of this as one of my first bad choices. However, I've learned my lesson and now am passing this wisdom back to you. Do not try this (as if you were even thinking about it...I know some of you were thinking about it, cough, cough, Andrew Gomez).

Yes, this was documented on video; in all it's wondrous glory. Check it out here

A Morning Well Spent

Morning routines, for many, are more than just routines. My morning starts with my alarm clock going off. Per my usual custom, I snooze it. Four snoozes later, in some sort of zombie like daze, I get up and head over to my coffee bar, grab my espresso machine or brewer of choice and start making my beverage. More importantly than that, my morning routine doesn't just end with me making a cup of coffee and enjoying it like some '90's Folger's commercial. Coffee's great and I enjoy it more than your typical person would, however if my morning routine ended there I would be doing myself a disservice.

With my coffee in hand I then proceed to open up my Bible and study it. Now I don't want to paint this saintly picture of myself reading my Bible with a shiny halo hovering around my head. It's not like that. Imagine for a second: a gaunt man; a weary traveler, exhausted and weathered from the heat of the day. He stands with eyes shutting and head nodding off in and out of conciousness. Catching himself in misteps, he finds himself at a small house, dimly lit by a warm crackling fire. Wondering if this is real, he hobbles toward the door and knock as it swings opens, though it were inviting him in. He sits at a table, hovering over a warm meal somehow already prepared for him; a meal that once eaten would supply nourishment and vitality but if refused would mean starvation and ultimately death. That is who I am. I read my Bible out of necessity. The words out of that book are more than just stories, it's vitality. It has promises of a better life, both here in this world and afterward. It has the ability to change a ruthless murderer into an absolute lover of persons. It's a book whose writers, when faced with torturous death for their belief in it and were given an out for just admitting it was not true, could not deny the truth that was written in it's pages. I could go on at length about the effects it's had on me personally and many others, however I know that unless the cynic actually digs deep into this book they would not believe in it's potential.

Where am I going with this on my coffee blog? I'm wrapping it up now (by the way, remember that this blog is about LIFE and coffee. This is the life portion).

Here's what I'm getting at: set your priorities (I say this as a challenge to myself as well). Enjoy the things of life, but don't make them your everything. I love coffee but if that's where my morning time and efforts ended I'd be missing out on what life is truly meant for (and this goes for any hobby or interest, no matter what time of day). Put your stake in something that will last long beyond the coffee buzz or whatever your thing is. Invest your time in relationships. If you don't know where to start here's a quick hierarchal scale for you to try out:

1. First and foremost work on that relationship with the God who made you and who loves you, despite all your shortcomings. Spend the morning cultivating that relationship, as I see this as the most precious and deepest relationship you'll ever have. 
2. Then invest that time with your loved ones. Be it your spouse, your kids, your family and friends, invest that time together with them rather than just on yourself. 
3. Last but not least is to spend your time on others you don't know. Now this is hard for me to write, because I'm selfish and guilty of not doing this. However, having a heart for the sick, the poor, and the destitute is what we should be about. Help others around you. Look for opportunities to love on the unlovables.

Alright, I'm done with this rant. I've spoken my mind. Enjoy you're coffee; make it good. Make your day count with the ones you love and, most importantly, with the One who loves you beyond your understanding. Any questions? Throw 'em in the comments bellow below (thanks for the typo correction, Cor haha).

3rd Times a Charm: Handsome Coffee Roasters

It was only 1:30pm, and the wife was still at her baby shower until 3pm. Caffe Luxxe was great, but we had to do it. We had no choice but to go to another coffee shop.

Handsome Coffee Roasters:
This was not my first time at Handsome and, once again in total honesty, I had mixed feelings about this place from previous visits. Each time I had come I was "greeted" by less than friendly individuals, however I wanted my buddy to experience the snobbery as well, just for kicks. Thankfully, today was a  completely different experience.

Ambiance:

After crossing over the 6th Street bridge, into LA's Skid Row and past the abandoned warehouses, you'll find yourself in the middle of nowhere. Once you think you're lost, look to your right on Mateo and there you'll find Handsome Coffee Roaster. This shop is in the middle of nowhere. The only reason for you to be in this area is for coffee from Handsome. Once you get over the exterior ambiance (or lack thereof) you walk into a very well furnished used-to-be-abondoned-warehouse-turned-coffee-shop. It's actually quite nice inside. Very modern, very clean. There is ample seating to the right, seats at the bar towards the wall, and seats up at the counter as well. Their large roaster is showcased in the back behind the glass, in all its glory. It's a pretty darn good looking shop inside.

The Coffee:
As you approach the often busy counter, you'll notice the menu. It's short and sweet (unlike my blog posts). It's espresso, espresso with milk, and coffee. That's it (well, you might be able to swing an iced coffee or iced latte, but that's a bit off the menu). I warn you before hand that this is indeed a coffee shop. Not a tea shop. Not a hot chocolate shop. Strictly coffee, and that's okay as long as you know before hand, unlike my beautiful wife who assumed they would have something for the non coffee drinker like herself. That was a different visit with a different experience. Needless to say, their coffee is great. I've had their espresso with milk before (by the way, that's just a simple way of saying macchiato, cappuccino, and latte) and was happy with it. Today I had their Rwanda drip coffee, which was very nice.

But let's back up real quick.

The coffee snob may grimace at the thought of speciality coffee being served in a drip percolator. In fact, this was my rationale for sticking to their espresso menu in past visits. I couldn't figure out why the heck artissan coffee was served in such a non-artissan brew method. So today I asked why they do what they do for their drip coffee as opposed to manual brewed coffee? The answer given to me by the barista was pretty simple; it tastes good. A more detailed answer followed as he explained how meticulous they are with their Fetco Luxus, as it's on a 20 minute timer and that once the buzzer goes off, they start brewing a new batch of coffee to consistently serve fresh coffee. Also, he explained the shower head inside the brewer pulses, which allows the coffee time to bloom (see step 5 in this post if you don't know what that means). Just for good measure, Handsome even measures the TDS (total dissolved solids) in their brewed coffees to ensure each brew is up to their preferred standards (in brief, TDS can give you an indicator how "strong" your coffee is). These guys even have a refractometer on hand to measure TDS and everything, which is pretty rad. In the end, the coffee they served from their drip machine was good. I can't complain. My Rwanda was bright and floral while my buddy's Columbia was complex and flavorful. Handsome has their bases covered when it comes to their brewed coffee.

The Verdict:
Handsome Coffee Roasters is becoming one of LA's best known spots for specialty coffee. Their simplicity in coffee offerings show that they really want to identify themselves as a coffee shop; not a cafe that sells chai tea and vanilla lattes. If you check out their feedback on Yelp you'll see they tend to take flack from those who want them to be an internet cafe a la Starbucks and they never will be like that. Their fair warning is often times exemplified in their location. They aren't easily accessible. They aren't in an area where people can come and just casually stroll by and assume this is just another coffee shop. You have to seek this place out and know that this place sells good coffee. Once you get there, you have only a few options of types of brewed coffee with only whole milk as your option for your espresso based drinks. Some may see this as being snobbish by not catering to other people's likes, but nobody every complains that In N Out doesn't serve hot dogs or that their menu only consists of 3 items either. That's just what they do, and I respect them for that. Keep it simple.

Now as as I mentioned right in the beginning I have not always had such a fond perspective on this shop. In fact the first two times that I stopped by this shop were less than pleasant. For some reason, I don't know if it was just because they were busy or something, I felt that the Yelp reviews were accurate as they described some of the staff as being rude and impersonal. I definitely agreed. In fact, as I mentioned in the beginning, I wanted to take my buddy here to show him how rude coffee snobs can be.

But

I'm so thankful that this time was a new day and a new experience. I had a great discussion with various staff members about nerdy coffee science, asked them about themselves and their involvement in the coffee world, asked where they were from, and talked coffee with them. It was great and each of the baristas were personable. I kid you not, I don't think I've had a more interesting coffee dialogue with baristas at a shop as I have at Handsome.

I think that this experience reminded me of 2nd chances...and even 3rd chances. I think I've told people before that I feel more likely to give people seconds chances simply because I've been given 2nd chances (and 3rd, and 4th, and 5th...). I feel that I don't really have a right to hold issues against people because of the grace I've been given in various situations and times. Yes, we're still talking about coffee here so I'll bring it back by asking you to give the specialty coffee industry another chance if you've had a bad experience. Engage the barista. Talk to them and ask them how their day is going. They love coffee, so ask them about their coffee. Obviously keep in mind the lines and such, but I can almost guarantee you that they'd like to talk more coffee with you after the lines has died down. And I may not be in the right position to say this (shoot, it's my blog I'm doing it), but I do feel a bit compelled to advise you to give people in general a second try. I'm sure you've received second tries and third and maybe even fourth. I think sometimes we all need another try. Right? Okay, I'll stop now. Go drink some good coffee now.

Bringing Dark Roast to Life: Caffe Luxxe

My dad had just gotten back from the local video rental store with a copy of the last installment of the Indiana Jones series Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. I had never seen it and the first 10 minutes had me at the edge of my seat. As soon as the action scenes kicked in, my mom came into the living room on that nice summer day telling me, my younger brother, and my dad that the guests would be coming any second and that we had to leave the house now. Apparently, there was a party going on and I wasn't invited. It was my aunt's baby shower and it confounded me why for this particular family gathering I wasn't allowed to be there. What the heck!? The only logical explanation my 6 year old brain could assume was that all the ladies were going to teach the mother-to-be how to shower...thus calling it a baby shower. Even to my 6 year old brain that didn't make sense, but what other explanation could there be to kicking out every male in the household?

I guess, subconsciously or something, ever since I was kicked out of that baby shower, I've made some kind of attempt to stick it back to the ladies by having more fun on my own than the ladies have at baby showers. And what better way to have an amazing time than to take a buddy of mine out coffee shop hopping! And this weekend while my wife was at her baby shower that's just what I did....

Caffe Luxxe:

I've heard nothing but good coming from this place, however I couldn't wrap my mind around the fact that they typically roast and serve medium to dark roast coffees. My narrow minded coffee pallet identifies the term "dark roast" with "masking impurities in the coffee" as many bigger commercial coffee shops typically do. Even with those preconceived notions, I decided to see how good this place really was.

Ambiance:

Driving through Brentwood always makes me feel like my Honda Accord is just not good enough. That being said, I parked my dirty car on the street at the metered parking spot and walked up to what felt like a European styled café, furnished with several pieces of outdoor seating. Upon entry, my buddy and I were greeted by the 2 baristas behind the bar. Seating inside was available however minimal, but with the fantastic weather outside it seemed only fitting to find a seat on the patio. To sum it up, Caffe Luxxe felt traditional and sophisticated.

The Coffee:

As I mentioned before, I had my hesitations to this place due to their preference of medium and dark roast coffees, which differ from my usual light roast daily coffees. That being said, Luxxe is not technically an on-site roaster, but the company roasts their own beans at their facility nearby in the LA area and sends their beans off to their various locations. As I deliberated on my choice for coffee, I asked the barista his drink preference. The barista explained that while usually not enjoying cappuccinos Luxxe's cappuccino was his favorite. Naturally I went with his suggestion, feeling that if it's good enough for him then it's good enough for me too. Topped off with a couple of 'Lette macaroons, we received our cappuccinos and had our first sips. Smooth yet rich dark chocolates undertones were apparent paired with our creamy and well textured whole milk. This is how dark roasts are done, people. Very rich and dark without the burnt after taste. The crema was smokey and beautifully contrasted with the microfoam.

The Verdict:

Truth be told, I previously held an uninformed belief that if you roast dark, you're roasting wrong. Caffe Luxxe destroyed that mindset with their carefully roasted coffee offerings. Luxxe definitely sets the standard for what a darker roasted coffee should be like. Rich with a very subtle hint of smokiness to highlight the already flavorful coffee. In addition to having a great product, the staff were very courteous and knew their products. When I asked for his recommendations, the barista didn't dance around the topic telling me what other people like and gave me a straight answer. The other barista on duty was equally as nice, being cordial and genuine in her conversations with my buddy and I regarding coffee. Caffe Luxxe definitely won a spot on my favorite places in LA not only for an awesome cup of coffee, but for an overall great coffee experience. Thumbs up to Caffe Luxxe.

But the day was still young and the caffeine hadn't made me too jittery just yet. Adam and I had plans to keep this party going. What'd we do? Well you'll have to read the next post to find out (spoiler alert: it might have to do with coffee...).

More Coffee Options for Long Beach: Makai Coffee

Photo Credit: Makai Coffee Facebook Page

Weekends with my wife are my favorite. Our picture perfect weekends include 1) sleeping in 2) good food and 3) nice weather. Today was just one of those awesome days. Got up this morning at whatever time we wanted to, fixed ourselves some cereal (or in my case an espresso...don't judge my less than healthy breakfast choices, this is a coffee blog for goodness sake), and we were ready to roll out for some good eats at Veggie Grill in Long Beach. To add to the 70 degree sunny yet slightly breezy beach weather I  remembered a new coffee shop I've been hearing about located in Downtown Long Beach called Makai Coffee. Oh, you know where this is going... time to review a new coffee shop.

Makai Coffee:
Driving through Belmont Shore up toward Broadway (heading over to Downtown LB) I passed a couple of homeless looking college kids and bike riding hipsters and thought to myself, 'this would be a great spot to open up a coffee shop.' Then to my coffee drinking delight, I found Makai.

Ambiance:

As you park your car either in the neighborhood or along Broadway, you'll enter into this corner coffee shop and notice the simplicity. It's refreshing. Nice wood finish tables, plain walls with a slight touch of pattern along the ordering counter. As per your typical coffee shop, you'll find this shop with customers typing out their homework on their Macbook Pros or meeting a friend for a beverage. Beans from three local roasters fill the shelves as well as the sound of freshly ground up beans fills the air. As my wife and I found spot to sit, we were brought back to elementary school with our interesting grade school styled chairs. Yup, their bringing it back to 2nd grade people. I'm still a bit indifferent about that aspect of the decor, however my wife thought it was fun. I felt like I should be coloring or playing with Play-Doh in those chairs, but to each their own. True to it's name (Makai meaning towardsthe ocean") it's a quiet beach-like environment being just a couple blocks from LB's Ocean Boulevard without losing that downtown cafe feel.


The Coffee:

One of the unique things about Makai is their strive to support local coffee and that principle is exemplified in their coffee offerings. Makai offers up coffee from local Long Beach roasters Lord Windsor's Coffee Roasters, True Beans, and Rose Parks Coffee Roasters. For the sake of my wife and any other tea drinker out there, they had a variety of tea offerings as well. My wife ordered a peach blossom white iced tea as I ordered up their Panama pour over from Lord Windsor's. Needless to say, the coffee is good. It's smooth, tasty and very inviting (at least my Panama was).

The Verdict:
The Orange County/South LA area has been a recent breeding ground for good 3rd wave coffee (seen in increasingly popular places like Kéan Coffee and Portola Coffee Lab). Long Beach, being so close to the budding OC speciality coffee culture, has been popping up shops all throughout the downtown area proving to the average coffee drinker that speciality coffee is noticeably better than corporate coffee in roast style, shop setup, business practices and ultimately in taste. Makai Coffee is yet another addition to the growing number of speciality coffee shops in Long Beach. That being said, I'm glad they're there. Makai is a great option to choose from when looking for good coffee. Now in terms of 3rd wave coffee shops, this is a multi roaster; meaning they depend on other roasters for their coffee. This coffee shop model definitely works (and is seen in Los Angeles shops like Cafe Demitasse, Single Origin, Cogniscenti etc...), however it limits their ability to rise above other coffee shops. Basically, unless they have ridiculously amazing ambiance or some other kind of attraction, they have nothing different to offer than the roasters from which they buy from (which all happen to be very close neighbors to them, especially Lord Windsor being just down the street from them). It's a risk that this coffee shop assumes.

BUT...

Why should you try Makai? Because of baristas like Nick.

What sells me at Makai is what many shops lack; excellent customer service. During my visit my barista, Nick, who I've met before at various latte art throw downs in the area, not only knows his coffee but is a really nice guy. He was able to answer my questions I asked regarding their offerings, took into consideration my wife's request for caffeine free beverages (due to her pregnancy), explained the flavor profile for their espresso...and all with a smile. He was inviting, personable, and real. He wasn't an unexperienced coffee stooge nor was he a coffee snob, though he had the skill set to be one. He treated the customer right. This is Makai's selling point. It's baristas with these strong interpersonal communication skills that will encourage the customers to come back to Makai. I know that's my reason for going back.

Go to Makai Coffee. It's an awesome addition to the increasing number of speciality coffee shops in Long Beach. And tell Nick to keep up the good work in what he does.

Update:
Makai no longer serves True Beans coffee, however now includes Verve Coffee Roasters (one of my favorites) and San Fran's Blue Bottle Coffee! Coffee lovers, rejoice!

Coffee Review: El Salvador La Roxanita by Verve Coffee Roasters

By now, I've had what I would like to consider to be a reasonable amount of coffee from various roasting companies. I'm not claiming to be some ultimate coffee guru or anything even close to that. I'd like to consider myself as a home coffee enthusiast, if you had to call it anything at all. It's just my thing. While other men are glued to the TV arguing over why that coach didn't put that one guy in at that one time, I'm adjusting my grind size and measuring coffee extraction levels. All that so say, out of all the coffee roasters that I've tried I have not yet found one to be better than Verve Coffee Roasters. It may be a premature thing for me to say, but it's my blog and my opinion, so take that! Anyway, without getting deeper into my tangent on how much I like Verve, I'm just going to talk about today's cup. Today we're talking about Verve's La Roxanita. 

El Salvador La Roxanita
Roaster: Verve Coffee Roasters
Region: El Tunel, Chalatenango
Processing: Honey-Process
Varietal: Pacamara

Why calculate TDS and extraction yield when a computer
can do it for ya?

Method: Chemex, paper filter
Grind: Course-Medium (26)
Grind/Water: 19g/300g
Pour Method: 60 (agitate/bloom)-150-200-250 (agitate)-300
Initial Water Temp: 198 F
End Water Temp: 130 F 
Extraction Yield: 21.05%
TDS: ?? (Again! I messed up on my measurements)
Aroma: Chocolate, berries, roses
Taste: Milk chocolate, tinge of orange, subtle berry
Mouth feel: Balanced, smooth


The Verdict:
While being excited for Verve's newest shipment that's come to my door via their free online shipping, I still want to maintain as much of an unbiased opinion of this coffee for the readers sake (you're welcome). That being said, this coffee's fantastic. One thing I can always appreciate about Verve is that whatever the package says it's going to taste and smell like is not an exaggeration of what you're going to get. Initial aroma's reminded me of a chocolate dipped strawberry and roses (not even joking). Basically smelled like Valentines Day in a cup. Once brewed, my first sip had those rich milk chocolate undertones. A couple sips later (as it started cooling) the hint of orange kicked in with some very subtle berry tastes as well. 

Overall, it was a very pleasant experience. It was really good. Very balanced; meaning as it sat in my mouth it wasn't more acidic or more spicy. It was smooth, tasty and stinkin' awesome. Like I mentioned in previous posts, much of the character of the coffee develops even more as it cools. That being said, this definitely maintained it's balanced taste as it cooled down which makes me want to try this things iced. Hmmm. Might have to...

Now I'm all about supporting local, however I'm also about supporting talented and well done. Verve Coffee Roasters really do roast quality coffee and, in my opinion, is one of the best out there. Support local coffee roasters, but please do yourself a favor and try something from Verve. You will not be disappointed with their single origin coffee offerings. And they have free shipping! Come on! You're running out of excuses! Go get some. Oh you don't have a link to their online store? Boom. Here it is.

Any questions? Have you had better coffee that I need to try? Shoot 'em in the comments area and let's talk. 

How To Brew That Perfect Iced Coffee

The only thing better than a hot cup of coffee on a cold winter's day is a cold cup of iced coffee on a warm Southern California winter's day. Let's just set the record straight here: Southern Californian's (like myself) have no clue what appropriate winter weather is supposed to be like. We're freezing at anything less than 50° F. That being said, as I looked outside during my lunch break/date with my wife at home, I decided not to waste the beautiful California sunshine and poured myself a tasty iced beverage.

Now when I say iced coffee, I'm not talking about a Starbucks Vanilla Bean Frappaccino or that sweetened McDonalds McCafe. I'm talking about pure iced coffee; the kind of iced coffee that without any sugar or syrups added gives off those amazing fruity notes and that refreshingly crisp finish that invites you for another sip. If you've never had the opportunity to experience coffee in this light, allow me to show you exactly how to make your very own perfect iced coffee right at home.

For this brew, we'll be using the V-60 Pour Over. I like pouring directly into a mason jar for my iced coffee so that I can easily transfer it into the fridge to drink some now and save some for later. These measurements will get you about 24 ounces of iced coffee goodness.

Measurements:
30 g. coffee grinds (course-medium)
470 g. water
200 g. ice

Remember that using good coffee is the key to making good coffee. That may sound redundant and even a bit obvious however it's something that's often overlooked and such a crucial component of making good coffee. I laid out the importance of using good coffee here if you didn't get a chance to check it out.  Today, I'm using Portola's Ethiopia Yukro.

Step 1: Coffee Prep
To avoid sounding like a broken record, I've laid out detailed step by step instructions on the beginning steps for good coffee brewing. If you missed that blog entry, check it out here and follow the first 4 quick steps. For this brew, were using 30 g. of coffee, so make sure you adjust that in step 1.

Step 2: Add Ice
Add 200 g. of ice to your container/carafe. This ice will melt as you begin to pour your hot water through your grinds. Not to worry. We're adding ice at the very end, however this initial ice will cool off your brewed coffee (and is factored into the overall coffee/water ratio) so that the ice you add in the end won't melt as quickly and dilute your coffee with additional water. It'll work, I promise.

Step 3: Start Your Pourin'

When using our pour over, make a habit of allowing your grinds to bloom by doing an initial 60 g. pour/agitation. For those who don't know what the what I'm talking about, check out step 5 on my entry on making amazing coffee. Total brew time should be at about 4-5 minutes. For today, my pours went as follows:

60 g. (bloom/agitation) → 150 g. → 240 g. →330g. →420 g. (agitate) → 470g. 

Step 4: Done!
Shake up your mason jar or carafe so everything homogenizes and you are good to go! Grab yourself a cup filled with ice and enjoy your beverage. Like I said earlier, this makes about 24 ounces of iced coffee, so unless you want to feel jittery all day long and drink the entire mason jar, you can always put the lid on it and stick it in the refrigerator for later. I've heard some baristas claim that this kind of iced coffee can be left in the fridge for up to two weeks. Personally, I can say that from experience this can be left in the fridge and still taste pretty good for about a week or less. Any longer than that and it'll just start tasting old and stale.

I brought this back to my co-workers to try and the responses were nothing but resounding wow's. Clean, bright, a hint of lime and reminiscent of an iced tea. If you've never experienced a coffee with these kinds of tastes, you owe it to yourself to try out this recipe for iced coffee. It's perfect for your nice summer day, or for us living in Southern California, any day of the week. #boom 

Part 2: How To Brew Awesome Coffee...Every Time.

"Please don't take as long as you did in that last entry to talk about brewing one cup of coffee. Please?" I've heard your anticipated cry so I will make this how-to short and sweet.

For those who didn't get the list of supplies needed to make this cup, reference here for that list. I also recommend having some sort of timer or stop watch nearby. Brew time should be about 4 minutes, including a 1 min bloom time (I'll explain).

So we're looking to make a 300g cup of coffee. 300 grams is about the size of your typical coffee mug. We'll be using 19 grams of coffee for our 300 grams of water.

Step 1: Measure the Beans

With your digital scale, measure out 19 grams of whole bean coffee. Remember, your coffee's only going to taste as good as what beans you're using.

Step 2: Grind the Beans
Make sure to set your grinder to a medium grind. We've discussed the importance of making sure the grind isn't too course nor too fine for our pour over in the last post. Once you've ground your coffee, many in the professional barista community would say that you have about 15 minutes before those grounds become stale (reason being is due to the fact that your grounds now have a much smaller surface area therefore it's decay rate is now much quicker).

Step 3: Set the Water To Boil
Water boils at approximately 214° however the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) has found the perfect temperature to brew coffee at anywhere between 195°-205°F. You can either measure it with a thermometer, like I would typically do or just let the water boil (or whistle, whatever your boiling indicator is) then wait 25 seconds before using it to brew your coffee. By that time it'll be at the ideal brewing temperature. Too hot and you burn the beans. Not hot enough and the water won't fully dissolve/extract the desired amount of coffee from the grinds (that gets into TDS, which is a whole other discussion).

Step 4: Pre-Wet Your Filter
Place your V-60 on top of your coffee cup (I'm using a mason jar). Place your number 2 paper filter in the V-60 and pre-wet the filter before placing the coffee grounds in. Pre-wetting the filter will get rid of some of the impurities and paper taste from the filter. Once you've done that, dump out the water from your cup and now you're ready to put the coffee grinds in your V-60, as shown in the picture to the right. Try to make sure the grinds are spread out evenly.

Step 5: Let the Pouring Begin!

Place your coffee mug and V-60 on your gram scale and tare it so it's at 0 grams. I'll get into pouring technique on another post, but for beginners, what you want to do is pour in a clockwise motion, starting from the inside and making your way outward without pouring directly on to the filter. You're goal is to always be hitting the coffee grinds. Try pouring in a consistent stream without any abrupt stops. A nice gauge of how fast you should be pouring should be about the thickness of a piece of spaghetti. Ahhhhh! I'm sorry! I said I wouldn't get into pouring technique, but here's a quick 101 on it.

Coffee bloom is a bubblin'

• Start your timer and pour 60 grams of your water on to the grinds (making sure all grinds have been touched by the water) and let it bloom. When the coffee blooms, you'll notice the coffee start to bubble a bit. What that does is it allows the trapped C02 in the coffee to escape, which lets those trapped gases in the coffee out (also a good sign of fresh coffee). I like to grab a small spoon at this time and agitate the beans to ensure all beans have been wet.
• Once your timer hits the minute mark, pour again from inside to outside in a clockwise fashion. This time pour till it reads 125 grams.
• Let the coffee drip and start pouring again (wait till the water has passed through the filter, but not long enough to let the bed of grounds become dry). This time, pour till it reads 200 grams.
• Repeat the previous process, then begin to pour again until you get to your 300 grams. While the waters passing through, I like to give it one more quick agitation to ensure that all the grounds were fully saturated. 

Step 6: Sit Back and Enjoy

Your hard work has paid off. It's been a total of about 3.5-4 minutes since you started pouring and now your ready to enjoy that amazing cup of coffee. You'll be able to not only taste the difference, but you'll even be able to see a difference in the clarity of the coffee. Very light in color, almost tea like (obviously depending on what kind of coffee you're using). It's definitely like night and day compared to that Costco-Brand Coffee you've been drinking every morning this week (no disrespect to Costco, you win when it comes to polish hot dogs and a drink for only $1.50... am I right people?). 

See, Quintana's! Your gift from Down Under gets good use!

Now I hear and have heard critics tell me, "that's way too involved, I'll never do that." If that's you, remember that total brew time is only about 4 minutes, which isn't much longer than your coffee machine. Still impatient? As the old English saying goes, "good things come to those who wait," and those words ring true when it comes to good coffee. Take your time brewing. It doesn't have to be a chore and, at least for me, it's a relaxing and enjoyable morning ritual. It really is a fun part of my morning and in the end you reap the benefits with an absolutely tasty cup of coffee. When I drink a good cup, it just makes me think of how awesome it is that these interesting tastes can be naturally occurring in coffee. It's a wonder to me! I've had so many different kinds of coffee over the past year and half and each time I taste one I like, it blows me away how God has made these roasted coffee cherry seeds to emulate other tastes, like blueberries, strawberries, apricots, dark chocolate, or random other tastes like herbal tea, and toasted marshmallows (seriously, I've had some coffee that has a tasted like a toasted marshmallow, it's bonkers). 

My beautiful wife, the coffee antagonist, would be able to vouch that there is a world of a difference between these hand crafted cups of coffee and Starbucks. There's no comparison and it's obvious that this coffee blows others Keurig coffee or instant coffee miles away. My challenge to you is to just try it. I'll let you borrow my set up for a day if you want or just come over and I'll make you a cup. This kind of coffee is the way coffee should be enjoyed; smooth, tasty, and an enjoyable compliment to your day. If you've done coffee this way, comment away and let me know what you think. Questions? Let them be known and I'll do my best to answer them. 

Part 1: How To Brew Awesome Coffee...Every Time.

You know what isn't the best part of waking up (besides Folgers). It's waking up with a stuffy head and drippy nose. What makes the morning even less enjoyable is having to pass on that warm, tasty cup of coffee that you so enjoy every morning while you do your morning routine. Well today is day 2 of being stuffed up and I've said, "the heck with this, I'm making myself a cup of coffee. And I'll even blog about it! So take that, cold!"

As I've told you already, this past year and a half have been very enlightening to me in regards to our world's second greatest commodity (darn you petroleum for being number one!). I've gone from drinking garbage coffee, to making what I thought was good coffee (realizing now that it wasn't), to now being able to replicate awesome tasting coffee every day. So without further adieu, allow me to explain to you step by step what goes in to making an amazing cup of coffee so you too can make an amazing cup every single time!

Choosing The Beans

It's all about the beans! Let me take a moment to emphasize that:  IT'S ALL ABOUT THE BEANS! If you were to assign each component of coffee making a percentage, I would say that the kind of coffee you use makes up about 60% of the overall coffee making experience, 20% would be in brew technique, and 20% in equipment. You can have the most expensive brewing equipment, fantastic technique, and awesome grinder, but if you're using regular store bought Maxwell House coffee, it's not going to taste good. This is a mistake I made back when I first started making coffee. I started using a pour over method with just any coffee, thinking that I'd be making awesome coffee and I wasn't. It tasted like regular old coffee. Then I decided to step it up and use pre-ground Starbucks beans. Still, no good. Then I stepped it up yet again, now getting whole beans from Peet's Coffee and Javatini's. Better, but not as good as those shops like Portola, Intelli and Verve. Disappointed, I brought my situation before my friend and awesome barista, Andrew, who threw down a bit of coffee wisdom on me saying, "It's all about the beans." Sure enough once I started buying artisan coffee I got artisan results.

For today's brew, I'm using a nice El Salvador Pacomara from local roaster Golden State Coffee Roasters (oddly enough their website didn't help me in finding out who they are or where they're at...not good when you're starting out a brand name for yourself).

The Equipment:
For a good cup of coffee every time, you're going to want a couple of essential items that will allow you to replicate your good brew every time you're in the need of some caffeinated goodness. Here's our equipment list we're going to be needing.

1. Coffee Grinder
2. Digital Gram Scale
3. Hario V-60 Pour Over
4. Coffee Drip Kettle (not absolutely necessary, but very helpful).
5. Some sort of water boiler or tea kettle

 Okay, let me talk real quick about some of these pieces of equipment. Real quick!

Coffee Grinder:

Now in order to make awesome coffee every time, you're going to want to be consistent in everything, including grind size. It's true for grinders that you get what you pay for. The least expensive coffee grinder, the blade grinder, is going to run you about $15 or so which isn't much. Blade grinders are the least consistent grinders when it come to making coffee as it overly grinds some beans while not grinding other beans enough. Next on the hierarchal scale of grinders is the mid priced conical burr grinder such as my Cuisinart Supreme Grind Automatic Burr Mill. These will get you a good enough grind for pour overs and presses, however not good enough for espresso grinds (the burrs aren't that good). These ones fly for about $45-75 at a Target or Macy's. Last on the affordable home grinder range is the higher priced Baratza grinders. The one in the picture above is an older model Baratza Maestro Plus, which has been replaced by the Baratza Encore (pretty much the same thing but with better burrs). This is my weapon of choice. This Baratza grinder has the ability to deliver consistent grinds for anything from French Press to a good espresso grind and for $129 it's the best deal on the market for the home barista (especially if you intend on making espresso in the near future).

To speak on the importance of grind size very briefly here's why it matters for our pour over coffee:

• Grind too fine= Water passes grinds too slow= Over extracted coffee= Muddy/nasty coffee
• Grind too course= Water passes too quickly= Under extracted coffee= watery/flavorless coffee

Obviously you're going to want something in between the two. Now with a blade grinder, you get some grinds that are course, some that are pulverized into dust. Therefore, some grinds are over extracted and some are under extracted. It's inconsistent and some day's you'll have okay coffee while other days you'll have bad coffee. I say if you can just get a burr grinder.

Digital Gram Scale:
Why the US refuses to use the universally accepted and preferred metric system is still a mystery to me (besides the fact now that...never mind I won't get into it). For our coffee purposes, I always encourage people to weigh things out. It doesn't take long, and it saves you from wasting coffee and allows you to repeatedly make awesome coffee every time. I always compare coffee making very much like baking a cake. If you add 3 cups of water instead of the 2 that the recipe calls for, you're going to get some drastic differences in that cake. Same with coffee. If you're going by the measurements I'll be giving you but decided to add 28 grams instead of 26 grams of coffee, you will get very different results. Coffee's a finicky beast. For this reason, and in addition to not wanting to waste coffee, I say that the gram scale is very important. You can get one for anywhere from $20-60

V-60 Pour Over:

There are many different good ways to brew coffee. From a Chemex to Aeropress to French Press to siphon and beyond, there are many brew options to work with. For today, we're using one of my favorites, the Hario V-60 Pour Over. I like the V-60 because it's easy to use, makes a tasty cup, and the $25 price tag makes this a good bargain for good coffee making. I could go on into further detail why I like this method, but I'll save you from my excess and unnecessary ranting.

Drip Kettle:

This piece of equipment is kind of pricy, but if you're looking for long term use it's a good investment. This will allow you to pour consistent streams of water when brewing which is very important in making good coffee and for the sake of repeatability. This piece of equipment will run you about $50

Tea Kettle/ Water Boiler: You know what this is. It boils water. I use this guy, pictured to the right. Use whatever will get that water to a boil. Whistle kettles bug me, so I use this Capressi Water Kettle. No whistle and, most importantly, looks cool when it starts boiling.

Now if you're thinking, "that's a lot of equipment just for a cup of coffee," I would remind you that we're making an amazing cup of coffee here for you, everyday. Artisan cups of coffee run for about $3-7 a cup, so if you do the math you'll see that over a short period of time you'll be saving money by making these cups at home rather than going out and buying them daily. On top of that, you'll have the freedom to use different beans, try different measurements, and see what kind of results you get. For me, it's a hobby. A tasty hobby. And if you're looking for a one stop shop that'll get you most of these items at a REALLY good price check out Portola's online store for the V-60 Bundle Kit. $100 and your set with everything I've mentioned and more.

Coffee's one of those things that many people use to survive in the morning. Maybe that's you too. If coffee's something that you'll be drinking every single day, why settle for something that doesn't taste good unless you drown it in creamer or sugar (which isn't really coffee as much as it's just coffee flavored sugar). If it's that important to you, it's worth the investment of a couple extra bucks and an extra minute or two.

Brewin' Time!
Wow, I think I wrote too much. Intermission time. Go take a break, grab some Goldfish, listen to this, then pass Go, Collect $200 and advance token to nearest railroad. And then read my next entry.