Month: June 2009

Cappuccino Review # 12 – Indie Coffee

Indie Coffee

Sort of easy to miss along Regent street
Sort of easy to miss along Regent street

1225 Regent St.
Madison

website

For an intro about how and why I am trying the cappuccinos of Madison, go here.

Indie Coffee is the only coffee shop near the middle of the University of Wisconsin campus.  So, during the time that I’ve worked in the psychology department at the UW (which is located in that part of campus) I’ve gotten several cappuccinos to go from there.  I remember them as being decent, but I never before tried the in house version of the drink; so, the shop was pretty new to me.  First of all, their food is excellent.  Taryn and I shared two wraps: a turkey walnut one and a vegi wrap with cheese and a whole host of great vegetables.  They were the among the best food I’ve ever had in a coffee shop.  They match up to the crepes at Bradbury’s; they were that good.  So, get some food if you go.

I ordered a dry small cappuccino because the smallest size was a 12oz.  The drink came in a coffee mug with the foam stacked to the top.  So, the drink had more foam than it should have.  There was a little design in the top of it (you can see this in the

The mark in the foam looks zen or something...
The mark in the foam looks zen or something...

picture), so it was a good looking stack of foam.  The drink itself was great.  The foam was pretty smooth and the strength was good, though perhaps a little too far on the wet side.  However, the coffee was quite complex with hints of meat coming through; I could tell that the underlying espresso was quite good.  So, overall, Indie Coffee makes a really good cappuccino.  I just wish that they had a 6oz option like some of the other top rate coffee shops.  Here are the numbers (all scores out of 5):

Presentation: 3

Smoothness: 5

Strength: 3

Complexity: 4

Foam: 4

Correctness: 3

Mean:  3.67 / 5

SD: .82

Taryn had a cup of the house blend coffee and said that it was decent; apparently it was a tad on the acidic side, so you might like it if that is your sort of thing.  So, the cappuccinos and coffee at Indie Coffee are pretty good; but the food is what you should come for!

Cappuccino Review #11 – Electric Earth Cafe

Electric Earth Cafe

Outside seating along W. Washington for Electric Earth Cafe.
Outside seating along W. Washington for Electric Earth Cafe.

546 W. Washington Ave.
Madison

For an intro about how and why I am trying the cappuccinos of Madison, go here.

Electric Earth is down West Washington ave. a ways from the capitol, across the street from the greyhound bus depot.  Taryn and I checked it out during a farmer’s market day, when pretty much all of the downtown and state street are overflowing.  It is far enough (away and on a road unfamiliar to tourists) so that it wasn’t busy at all.  There was a small sign saying that they are now under new management (so they don’t take old gift cards), so perhaps the place will be quite different now than a few months ago.  Neither of us had ever been here, so we have no means of comparison; but, keep that in change if you remember the old Electric Earth.

The shop itself is actually quite large.  There is a small amount of seating in the room by the counter area and then a huge separate room.  In the second room there was a small stage with a large window behind (a nice view of the street actually), so perhaps they have live music here at times (though I don’t know if this is true).  So, it seems that the building itself has potential.

I ordered a dry small cappuccino because their smallest size is 12oz.  It came in a coffee mug with a foam top of course bubbles.  Although the foam tasted fine (when

A cappuccino next to some mixed greens.
A cappuccino next to some mixed greens.

doesn’t it?), it wasn’t smooth at all and didn’t add anything.  The coffee itself was actually quite disappointing; it had very little in the way of nuance.  In fact, it had a slight burnt taste; this really started to bother me as I drank.  I didn’t really want to finish it; the cappuccino was honestly that bad…  Ok, I’ll just put up the numbers (all scores out of 5):

Presentation : 2

Smoothness: 2

Strength: 3

Complexity: 2

Foam: 2

Correctness: 3

Mean: 2.33 / 5

SD: .52

Taryn had a Chai latte and she said it was pretty much mostly milk and honey but very soothing; she liked it.  So, if you go to Electric Earth, maybe get the Chai but  don’t bother with the cappuccino.