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Subject: Coffee
Bookplates: Starbucked
December 14, 2007Barista Battle
February 8, 2008Kaldi's Shot at the Big Time
February 12, 2008Starbucks: Once More, With Energy!
May 16, 2008Java Enabled: Dedicated to Coffee and Free for All
"If you look out that window, you can still see the original smokestack that they put in when they started roasting coffee here," said Mike Marquard, a barista trainer for Kaldi's Coffee Roasting Company.We were sitting in the back room of the roaster's DeMun café. Sure enough, tucked away behind the heavy curtains that frame the tall windows was a small, crooked smokestack. It felt like coffee archeology.Sitting in the room where the Kaldi's first experiments with coffee occurred was the perf
June 3, 2009No Hallucination, STL Addicted to Caffeine
An outfit called HealthSaver -- a "health-care discount program" -- has released its second annual HealthSaver Caffeinated Cities Survey. The survey looked at caffeine consumption in twenty major metropolitan areas, including St. Louis.How do we rank? Well, we love our caffeine -- God knows, it's the only reason Gut Check is updated with any regularity -- but apparently we get it from sources other than coffee or specialty coffee drinks.Confused? Probably not if you're reaching for your Double
January 13, 2009Java Enabled: The Rise of Joe Double-Shot
Zach Dyer is a writer living in Saint Louis. He did his thesis research on coffee farmers in Southern Mexico. Since then, he has visited coffee plantations in Costa Rica and Mexico as well as roasters and cafés across the U.S. He blogs about coffee for Gut Check every Wednesday.Last September, McDonald's started airing an ad in which bespectacled hipsters drink coffee in a Starbucks-inspired setting. Upon hearing that McDonald's now serves cappuccinos, the characters spontaneously admit -- oh,
February 25, 2009Annoyed, Party of One
Wikimedia Commons"Tables? Your coffee shop has tables?"When I was in grad school in Iowa City, there was this coffee shop with rude signage. Sure, the place seemed cozy, with its local art and overstuffed couches, but those accoutrements belied a dark truth: This coffee shop did not like you. It could, perhaps, tolerate you in small doses, but everywhere there were signs (literally): DO NOT OCCUPY A TABLE FOR MORE THAN ONE HOUR.Doing research for your thesis? Preparing for the bar exam? Grading
February 25, 2009Java Enabled: Once You Go Black, You Never Go Back
Zach Dyer is a writer living in Saint Louis. He did his thesis research on coffee farmers in Southern Mexico. Since then, he has visited coffee plantations in Costa Rica and Mexico as well as roasters and cafés across the U.S. He blogs about coffee for Gut Check every Wednesday.A friend of mine in college always invited me to dinner when her father came to town for business. During one such dinner, when it came time to order dessert and coffee, my friend announced to her father that she'd alway
March 11, 2009Java Enabled: The Café, Unplugged
Zach Dyer is a writer living in Saint Louis. He did his thesis research on coffee farmers in Southern Mexico. Since then, he has visited coffee plantations in Costa Rica and Mexico as well as roasters and cafés across the U.S. He blogs about coffee for Gut Check every Wednesday.I sit at the mouth of the winding Alice in Wonderland hallway that once bridged the two halves of Kaldi's Coffeehouse on DeMun Avenue. A black power cord snakes from my old clunker of a laptop, across the cracked and pa
March 25, 2009Java Enabled: Is Coffee Recession-Proof?
Zach Dyer is a writer living in Saint Louis. He did his thesis research on coffee farmers in Southern Mexico. Since then, he has visited coffee plantations in Costa Rica and Mexico as well as roasters and cafés across the U.S. He blogs about coffee for Gut Check every Wednesday.Is coffee recession-proof?Reading the bad news about Starbucks, you'd sure think it wasn't. But while some Starbucks locations have been forced to close their doors due to dropping sales and tightening purse strings, it
April 1, 2009Java Enabled: Kaldi's Barista Smokes His Way to the Top
Zach Dyer is a writer living in Saint Louis. He did his thesis research on coffee farmers in Southern Mexico. Since then, he has visited coffee plantations in Costa Rica and Mexico as well as roasters and cafés across the U.S. He blogs about coffee for Gut Check every Wednesday.Tobacco smoke, caramel and coffee sound like things you'd encounter only while visiting a great-aunt. This, however, was the flavor combination that won Mike Marquard, a trainer with Kaldi's Coffee Roasting Company, six
April 8, 2009RFT reader wishes the Cubs 100 more years of failure
October 1, 2008Hit Me with your Best Shot
February 6, 2008Yule Tide Latte
City Coffeehouse & Crêperie
36 North Brentwood Boulevard, Clayton
314-862-2489.December 19, 2007Jave Enabled: Coffee for One
Zach Dyer is a writer living in Saint Louis. He did his thesis research on coffee farmers in Southern Mexico. Since then, he has visited coffee plantations in Costa Rica and Mexico as well as roasters and cafés across the U.S. He blogs about coffee for Gut Check every Wednesday.Betrayal was the first emotion I felt. My boyfriend said he was giving up coffee -- and for tea, of all things! What does tea have over my black beauty? It was like hearing, "It's not you, it's me." Or, "I think we need
April 15, 2009Black Lightning coffee
February 28, 2007Segafredo Zanetti Espresso
February 14, 2007McDonald's "Richer, Bolder Coffee"
McDonald's, 1420 Hampton Avenue,
314-781-8032April 5, 2006Bean There
Hummus? Mediterranean omelets? Eye-opening jolts of java? At the Oasis, you can have it all.
January 18, 2006Chantico
Starbucks, 521 Olive Street, 314-231-2150
February 2, 2005Drinks of the Year
Mirasol, 6144 Delmar Boulevard, 314-721-6909; Arthur Clay's, 7266 Manchester Road, Maplewood, 314-645-0300; Meshuggah, 6269 Delmar Boulevard, University City, 314-726-5662
December 29, 2004Best Coffeehouse
The Grind
September 29, 2004Best Crêpes
City Coffeehouse & Creperie
September 29, 2004Live, from Canada
It's the Big Show at the Commonspace
July 21, 2004Cappuccino
Backyard, south city, 8:30 a.m.
June 30, 2004Best Bakery
La Dolce Via
September 24, 2003Best Coffeehouse
Meshuggah
September 24, 2003Flat-Out Delicious
Philippe Habassi keeps St. Louis crêpe-lovers happy
February 12, 2003Espresso Martini
Bar Italia, 13 Maryland Plaza, 314-361-7010
October 23, 2002Best Coffeehouse
Meshuggah
September 25, 2002Coffee
April 17, 2002Best Coffeehouse
September 27, 2000Can Java Enabled Win the One-Cup-a-Day Bet?
Zach Dyer is a writer living in Saint Louis. He did his thesis research on coffee farmers in Southern Mexico. Since then, he has visited coffee plantations in Costa Rica and Mexico as well as roasters and cafés across the U.S. He blogs about coffee for Gut Check every Wednesday.I am not addicted to coffee. Oh, I can see your eyes roll as I type this, but it's true. I don't get a headache if I miss my morning cup; I'm not agitated or moody or completely lethargic without it. I am, however, alwa
April 29, 2009Actually, Java Enabled Meant to Say Expresso
Zach Dyer is a writer living in Saint Louis. He did his thesis research on coffee farmers in Southern Mexico. Since then, he has visited coffee plantations in Costa Rica and Mexico as well as roasters and cafés across the U.S. He blogs about coffee for Gut Check every Wednesday.When I was in high school, I once made the mistake of ordering an "expresso." The barista behind the counter sarcastically remarked to his co-worker, "Ex-presso? He must mean espresso."Over the weekend, I remembered thi
May 6, 2009Java Enabled: Coffee Break Point
Zach Dyer is a writer living in Saint Louis. He did his thesis research on coffee farmers in Southern Mexico. Since then, he has visited coffee plantations in Costa Rica and Mexico as well as roasters and cafés across the U.S. He blogs about coffee for Gut Check every Wednesday.The first shot was fired across the bow last Tuesday at approximately 10 a.m. CST. The perfect storm of "economic conditions" finally made landfall at my day job, and several people, including my boss, were swept away.
May 27, 2009Java Enabled: Mokka Express, Revisited
My Bialetti Mokka Express stovetop coffee maker was the first specialized percolator I ever bought. With a newly christened driver's license, I used to drive to J. Viviano's and Sons on the Hill to buy Italian coffee in search of the promise of real espresso at home. It will be no surprise to the home espresso brewer that what I ended up with was far removed from the sweet, complex flavors that come with good espresso.My Mokka Express isn't to blame, though. I am.Stumptown is a name any serious
June 10, 2009Java Enabled: Chill Out with Cold-Brewed Coffee
Last summer I was in New York visiting friends over Memorial Day when I first saw the signs. Walking between friends' apartments, going to restaurants and even a backyard barbecue in the West Village, I kept seeing café windows advertising cold-brewed coffee. Between the cafés and people I spoke with, it seemed that cold-brewed coffee was sweeping the city in the face of summertime heat. With the official start of summer coming on fast, I still haven't seen cold-brewed coffee sweep St. Louis
June 17, 2009Java Enabled's Day at the Roasters
"It smells sweet, like candy," my friend said as I extended my wrist to his nose. My skin had absorbed the caramel flavors that had been wafting around me all day like a welcome second-hand smoke. It was the smell of coffee roasting.It was a bad day to hang out near a coffee roaster -- much less two. The high was 96 degrees, with the humidity already maxing out at typical St. Louis swampy levels, when I went to view the roasting operations at both Northwest Coffee Roasting Company and Kaldi's Co
June 24, 2009Java Enabled Visits Kaldi's Barista Jam
Crowds, kegs out back, live music and coffee -- lots of coffee. While it might sound like that college party you don't remember very well (the one that ended up at Uncle Bill's at 4:00 am), it was, in fact, Kaldi's Summer Barista Jam.Last Friday, Kaldi's Coffee Roasting Company hosted its third barista jam, a barista-education and coffee-industry pow wow for St. Louis and the Midwest region. The theme for this season's jam was "back to the basics," an intense focus on espresso roasting, present
July 1, 2009Java Enabled: Have Coffee, Will Travel
One of the things I love most about travel is getting the chance to try new cafés. (As I wrote last week, some coffee aficionados base entire trips on this premise.) But even when your travels won't lead you to some undiscovered java gem, you might not want to sacrifice the comfort and security of a good cup of coffee.I found myself in this very position over the Fourth of July when I was on holiday with my extended family. Food has always been very important to my family, but this affection h
July 22, 2009Java Enabled: How Do You Store Your Beans?
The only time I've ever had something remotely close to an argument with another coffee drinker was over how beans should be stored at home. How often have you heard of someone storing their beans one way and thinking, "Oh god, they're ruining that coffee"?For me, the greater question is why there's no standard storage method. It's the same product sold around the world, but there are so many passionately differing opinions on how to store it properly.Where's the Scopes Monkey Trial for coffee s
August 5, 2009Java Enabled: Probat, Unlike Any Other
It's the Cadillac of roasters -- or maybe the Mercedes-Benz, considering its origin. The German coffee roaster Probat isn't a household name, but it's synonymous in coffee circles with high quality coffee roasting. Some of the best artisan roasters in St. Louis -- Shaw's Coffee Ltd., Northwest Coffee Roasting Company and, most recently, Kaldi's Coffee Roasting Company (more on that later) -- have been using Probat machines for years.When I visited Northwest earlier this summer, owner Rick Milto
August 19, 2009Java Enabled: Coffee's Big-Ass Red
In What to Drink with What to Eat, sommelier Steve Beckta writes about the challenge of finding that perfect bottle of wine to meet the different tastes of every diner at the table: "Scientifically, there may be a bottle of wine they 'should' have. But...they're not going to like that at all. What they're going to love is a big-ass red from Australia. And their enjoyment is more important to me than getting the perfect wine and food match." The answer isn't having that Dionysian bottle of wi
September 2, 2009Java Enabled: Southwest's Coffee Gets a LIFT
It's been a while since I've taken a vacation and even longer since I've flown. So when a good deal on a Labor Day weekend in Orlando, Florida, popped up, I jumped at the chance to go. As I filed down the ramp with the rest of my fellow passengers, I was surprised to see an ad on the wall for LIFT, Southwest's new on-board coffee. My interest was piqued. When was the last time you were excited to taste an airline's coffee?Southwest served the first cups of LIFT in May of this year. The boldest
September 9, 2009Java Enabled's Postcard from Costa Rica: Typical Coffee
At first glance it looks like a baby's sock hanging from a mini oil derrick, slowly dripping the black liquid into the cup below. OK, maybe it's closer to a Chemex than I'm making it sound, but the "typical" -- or "tipico," as restaurant menus across the country will remind you -- percolador style of coffee preparation in Costa Rica is certainly unique.
October 7, 2009Java Enabled: Lo Mejor de Monserrate
Lo Mejor de Monserrate. It means, "the best of Monserrate." This perhaps presumptuous claim is the name of a tiny cooperative nestled high in the mountains of Colombia's Huila coffee region. Last month Tyler Zimmer and Mike Marquard of Kaldi's Coffee Roasting Company visited Monserrate. This was a rare opportunity for a U.S. roasting company to get the chance to visit one of the farms where its coffee originates, so I was curious to hear about the trip. After returning from my own visit to Latin
October 14, 2009Java Enabled Previews the Midwest Regional Barista Competition
"It's like Iron Chef with baristas making coffee drinks."That's how Josh Ferguson, owner of Kaldi's Coffee Roasting Company, describes the Midwest Regional Barista Competition. The competition gathers the best baristas from Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota to compete and share the latest in coffee."It brings people together to showcase their talents and come together with a community who want to raise the level of specialty coffee," Ferguson says.The
October 28, 2009Java Enabled: Fifteen Shots Later, Part 1
When I received an e-mail a few weeks ago inviting me to sit as one of the sensory judges at the 2009-2010 Midwest Regional Barista Competition, I jumped at the opportunity. At my most delusional, it sounded like "celebrity judge" -- at the very least, it sounded like a great time. Last weekend, I trained for my judging certification and then sat as a sensory judge for the first round of the competition on Saturday. Fifteen shots later, I attended the final on Sunday. Over the next three week
November 5, 2009Fifteen Shots Later, Part 2: Java Enabled Judges the Midwest Regional Barista Competition
Photo courtesy Kaldi's CoffeeOn Saturday, October 31, and Sunday, November 1, Zach Dyer helped judge the Midwest Regional Barista Competition, with the winner advancing to the national competition in Anaheim in April 2010. In last week's post, Dyer explained how the competition works and described the drinks made by the finalists from PT's Coffee in Topeka, Kansas. This week, he looks at how the finalists from St. Louis' own Kaldi's Coffee Roasting Company fared...Kaldi's baristas focused the
November 11, 2009
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