Sources:

Kitanda Latte Art Photo Gallery – From INeedCoffee / CoffeeHero on Flickr.  You are free to use any image for any purpose.

Amazing Latte Designs at Kitanda Brazilian Espresso and Bakery – Coffee Hero post from December 28, 2009.

Kitanda – 15230 NE 24th St., Redmond, WA 98052

Family Guy – Show home page on FOX.com.

For years New Yorkers had to look to places like Stumptown Coffee Roasters in Portland, Ore., or Blue Bottle Coffee in San Francisco for this kind of quality. Now both companies have opened roasters and coffee bars in New York. Four Barrel Coffee of San Francisco will be roasting here soon.

The article goes on to list 30 places to visit.  The list starts on page 2 and the side bar of the article has a link to an interactive map.  I’ll be printing out that list before my next trip to NYC. 

Photo Grumpy Coffee by John Niedermeyer

Source:

New York Is Finally Taking Coffee Seriously – by Oliver Strand

Cafe Grumpy – Made the top 30 list.

The five coffees on the table were:

1. Bali Organic Kintamaru Natural
2. Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Kochere
3. Ethiopia Sidamo Moredocofe
4. Tanzania Blackburn Estate
5. Kenya AA Igutha

Hopefully I spelled those correctly.  Although I was impressed on how much the Bali impersonated an East Africian coffee, my two favorites were the Ethiopians.  They both had the fruity quality that Ethiopia is known for.  As the coffees cooled, I felt that the Sidamo pulled ahead of the Yirgacheffe with richer flavor.

In addition to the Coffee Cupping, I had a very interesting single origin espresso from the Costa Rica Santa Elena Estate.  Katie from Seattle Coffee Works nailed it when she described it as peppery in a good way.  I agree.  It was extremely good and unlike any espresso I’ve had before.

Seattle Coffee Works is in the heart of the tourist area of downtown Seattle, which means unlike other local coffee cuppings, this one is more likely to attract a tourist just passing through.  At the cupping, I met a guy that was visiting from my old hometown of Columbus, Ohio.   Poor fellow was just given a taste of great Seattle coffee and now its time to go home.

Sources:

Seattle Coffee Works – 107 Pike St., Seattle.

Coffee Cupping: A Basic Introduction – INeedCoffee article.

SCW Photo Set – The INeedCoffee / CoffeeHero photo gallery for Seattle Coffee Works.

Despite the language barrier, I was able to have a limited conservation with the owner (Noom) about his coffee.  When I ordered an espresso, he asked me if I wanted it like Europeans or like it is served for Thai people.  He then showed me 2 cups.  The larger cup was for Thai people and the smaller one is “for Europeans”.  I picked the smaller one, which would have still been large for Seattle.

By Thailand standards, the espresso was good.  The service was outstanding.  It was one of my favorite coffee places I visited during my month long trip to Asia.  The espresso cost 20 baht ( 61 cents US).

Beer drinkers shouldn’t offended, I say More For You!

Anyway, I would still love to showcase reviews of coffee and espresso based beers here on Coffee Hero.  If you are interested in writing these reviews with photos, send me an email.  The ideal reviewer will be knowledgeable on both quality beer and quality coffee.

Sources:

Saying Goodbye to Beer – Why I quit drinking beer.

Espresso Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout – Elusive and Yummy – The one coffee beer review on Coffee Hero at this time.

I was sitting in a study hall when a fellow student sat down next to me.  This guy was known to smoke lots of pot, or so I thought, yet there on the cover of his Trapper Keeper notebook was a huge DARE sticker.   DARE is the anti-drug educational program for kids.  The fact Mr. Pot Smoker had this sticker on this notebook struck me as odd, so I pointed at the sticker and asked him about it.

Photo Americano in Cambodia from Common Grounds – Siem Reap, Cambodia

He responded to me with dead seriousness and stated that you shouldn’t do drugs.  Then after a long pause he smiled and said “more for me“.   I learned an important lesson that day.  Whenever someone starts preaching to me about the evils of coffee, I just smile and say “more for me“.

Sources:

Photo Gallery – INeedCoffee / CoffeeHero photos of Urban Coffee Lounge.

Urban Coffee Lounge – 9744 Northeast 119th Way Kirkland, WA

Coffee Club of Seattle – Meetup.com page.

Photo Red Espresso vs Regular Rooibos by INeedCoffee / CoffeeHero