Coffee

Coffee Cartel's Julia Mager: Featured Barista of the Week

Welcome to Girl Walks Into a Bar, a weekly Gut Check feature that spotlights local bars and bartenders. This week, Kaitlin Steinberg profiles Julia Mager of Coffee Cartel. Below is a Q&A with Mager, followed by her recipe for a white-chocolate mocha. This week, we took the word "bar" in Girl Walks ... More >>

Mike Marquard Discusses Blueprint Coffee, Opening This Summer in the Delmar Loop

Three weeks ago Gut Check learned that Blueprint Coffee is planning to open at 6225 Delmar Boulevard, along the same block of the Delmar Loop where two other restaurants have already opened this year: Mission Taco Joint (6235 Delmar Boulevard; 314-932-5430) and Chubbies (6227 Delmar Boulevard; 314-7 ... More >>

First Look: Chronicle Coffee Opens on North Grand

Sitting on the former site of the Blumeyer Housing Project -- St. Louis' last housing project dedicated to families -- Chronicle Coffee (1235 Blumeyer Street; 314-534-0524) aims to revitalize the area in a way the housing project never could. The shop, which opened on February 22, serves coffee, smo ... More >>

The Veggielante Visits Foundation Grounds

Destination: Foundation Grounds (7298 Manchester; 314-601-3588) Neighborhood: Maplewood Cuisine: American, Contemporary Overview: Foundation Grounds is a colorful coffee shop and café in the bustling Maplewood neighborhood that prides itself on serving fresh, organic food and quality coffee. The ... More >>

If Your Single-Serve Coffee Maker Isn't Trying to Burn You, It's Definitely Ripping You Off

The single-serve coffee maker: Incredible convenience, or threat to life, limb and pocketbook? If the news this week is any indication, the latter seems more likely than the former. First, the New York Times looked at how much you're actually paying when you buy those pods that these single-serve c ... More >>

Sump Coffee Opens Thursday, December 1

​Sump Coffee will open at 3700 South Jefferson Avenue this Thursday, December 1. The south city coffee house's regular hours will be 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and closed on Sunday.As Gut Check learned during a discussion with owner Scott Carey in October, Sump will use a Slayer espres ... More >>

Starbucks Vs. the Pretentious Coffee Snobs

Gut Check International Headquarters is fueled entirely by coffee. Fun fact: Many of us have served time as baristas. Therefore, the piping-hot cups of wonderful hold a special place in our hearts, in addition to allowing us to function as reasonably normal and productive members of society. But be ... More >>

The Five Best Places in St. Louis to Have a Cup of Coffee

​Today is National Coffee Day. Of course, at Gut Check International Headquarters, every day is coffee day, but if we must dedicate this one gorgeous September Thursday to the beverage that fuels our work, then so be it.Already this week, we honored Kaldi's Coffee Roasting Company in the Riverfron ... More >>

Brace Yourself: 7-Eleven's Serving Up Free Coffee and Virtual Scaldings This Week

7-ElevenFree 7-Eleven coffee and exacting online revenge? Oh, thank heaven!​7-Eleven's giving away free stuff, and it's not even on a date that has a seven or eleven in it! This Thursday, from 7 to 11 a.m. -- ah, there it is -- 7-Eleven stores will be giving away free medium cups of coffee in ... More >>

Review Preview: Half & Half

Robin UtzSteak and eggs, with onions, at Half & Half​This week I visit Half & Half (8135 Maryland Avenue, Clayton; 314-973-0446), the new breakfast-centric restaurant from Mike Randolph of The Good Pie.The most surprising fact about Half & Half is that nothing like it already existed w ... More >>

Managers, Mind Your Baristas

Wikimedia CommonsNo love with this latte.​ We know that being a barista isn't the easiest job in the world. There's an art to making espresso, just as there's an art to dealing with caffeine-starved rude masses. We feel for you. Really. That's why we heed your pet peeves, which are perfectly ... More >>

Espresso con Panna, the Mud House

​We live in a noisy world. The trilling cell phones, the talking heads, the status updates; distractions clamor and follow us around like Pig Pen's dust cloud. Just checking your e-mail requires slagging through all the crap you're not interested in for the few messages that matter to you. The ... More >>

Red Pill Entertainment and Kaldi's Coffee Band Together to Offer Free Tunes

​Move over, Starbucks: There's another coffee shop in town pairing free music with its lattes. Starting today, local Kaldi's coffee shops will be giving out download cards redeemable for free music from musicians partnered with the local label Red Pill Entertainment. The first artist in this p ... More >>

It's the World's Most Transparent Viral Ad for GourmetGiftBaskets.com Largest Cup of Coffee!

Via Eater comes word of some outfit called GourmetGiftBaskets.com garnering a lot of free advertising* for itself by setting the Guinness world record for the largest cup of coffee.The cup contains 2,010 gallons of coffee, or approximately as much coffee as is consumed at Gut Check International Hea ... More >>

The Morning Brew: 6.3

Esquire turns to La Colombe co-owner Todd Carmichael for his opinions on the worst coffee trends. Instead of taking down the obvious targets of McCafe and 600 calorie blended coffee beverages, he goes after expensive equipment, super-knowledgeable baristas, and people who photograph their lattes. ... More >>

The Novice Foodie Presses for Better Coffee

Ah, coffee. I love the comfort of the morning coffee ritual: the first sip, the way a warm mug feels in my hand, the permeating aroma as I get my day going. But woe was the Novice Foodie this past summer when my doctor said I had to cut out caffeine for a while to ensure I wouldn't drop dead at a m ... More >>

Java Enabled: Is Yirgacheffe a Coffee or a Brand?

Like Champagne and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, Ethiopia's Yirgacheffe coffee takes its name from the region where it's grown. Sweet, fruity and well-balanced Yirgacheffe has become a household name among coffee aficionados. Now, due to changes in how Ethiopia regulates its coffee market, Yirgacheff ... More >>

Java Enabled: This One's Just Right

Cups are a superstitious part of any coffee drinker's routine. I think you'd be hard pressed to find a regular coffee drinker that didn't have a preferred vessel for enjoying their dark drink. There's always that one cup or mug -- for some inexplicable reason, it just makes the coffee taste better. ... More >>

Java Enabled: On the Road, Coffee-Style

There was a time when Alex McCracken was the most quoted man on coffee in St. Louis. When he was Kaldi's trainer, McCracken was regularly interviewed by St. Louis publications whenever they had a caffeine-related question. But you can only field questions about someone else's café so long before y ... More >>

Java Enabled: Blue Mountain Blues

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.It came in a small b ... More >>

Drink of the Week: Spanish Coffee

Café Ventana
3919 West Pine Boulevard
314-531-7500

Joe Biden Surprises Missouri Bookstore Employees

The Morning Brew: Friday, 8.22

Kaldi's Shot at the Big Time

Barista Battle

Buckin’ Backhoes

Unreal does the "Thriller" dance, sips Starbucks with a fellow ex-barista and ponders the logistics of a backhoe rodeo.

How Sweet Are You?

How Sweet Are You?

Segafredo Zanetti Espresso

Café 4 U, 16 North Central Avenue, 314-863-2552.

Chaiser Soze

La Dolce Via, 4474 Arco Avenue; 314-534-1699.

Small Plates, Thursday, 10/5

Glen Phillips

Friday, May 19, at 9 p.m. Blueberry Hill's Duck Room (6504 Delmar Boulevard, University City)

McDonald's "Richer, Bolder Coffee"

McDonald's, 1420 Hampton Avenue,
314-781-8032

86 the Banana Split

Soda Fountain Square ain't a real diner, hon

Fundamental Elements

Untied (Soulthink Productions)

Bewitched, Bewildered

The food at Café Ivanhoe is a treat, even if the concept is confusing

Cherokee Uprising

Brad Hodge's Neshui Publishing adds life, color and music to our part of the world

Chantico

Starbucks, 521 Olive Street, 314-231-2150

Farmers' All Natural Creamery Non-Homogenized Grade A Organic 2% Milk

Hartford Coffee Company, 3974 Hartford Street, 314-771-5282

Best Bosnian Restaurant

Taft Street Restaurant

and Bar

Best Coffeehouse (Up-and-Coming)

Rhythm & Brews

If You Can Dodge a Wrench...

What are all the cool kids doing? That's right: playing dodgeball.

Best Bakery

La Dolce Via

Flat-Out Delicious

Philippe Habassi keeps St. Louis crêpe-lovers happy

Espresso Martini

Bar Italia, 13 Maryland Plaza, 314-361-7010

Best Weird Beverage

St. Louis Bubble Tea

Best Coffeehouse

Meshuggah

Coffee

Starbucks

Best Coffeehouse

Shaw's Coffee Ltd.

Best Scrambled Tofu

MoKaBe's Coffee House