cappuccino – Page 2 – A Jumbled Little World

New Peregrine Espresso location on 14th st. NW

14thstPeregrine — Peregrine along 14th st. NW

peregrineCap — A cappuccino from the new Peregrine; it was good.

I finally got a chance to check out the new second location of Peregrine Espresso, which opened up a few weeks ago at 1718 14th st. NW (a few blocks south of the U st. metro stop). The shop is a little smaller and a bit more urban industrial (exposed brick abounds) than the Capitol Hill location, but the coffee and baked goods are just as good. I have yet to formally review Peregrine (I’ll get back to some more reviews next week), but in my opinion they serve some of the best cappuccinos DC. Some of the baristas who have created such wonderful espresso drinks on Capitol Hill have moved to this location, so you can expect the same artful deliciousness. Outdoor seating should be set up in the next few months. Happy (coffee) drinking!

Chinatown Coffee – at least it is hip

Chinatown Coffee

475 H st. NW

Washington, DC 20001

www.chinatowncoffee.com

Read about my planned cappuccino tour around the DC area.

When Chinatown coffee opened in 2010, there was a great deal of excitement surrounding it. Nick Cho, of Murky Coffee fame (who I have mentioned in previous posts), was even general manager at Chinatown for a while (before DC went after Cho for back taxes, and they ended their “relationship”). In fact, Chinatown was the first coffee shop I went to in the district; it was supposed to be among the best. The shop is located in the very lively Chinatown district of DC, close to a number of large offices, shopping areas, excellent places to eat (along with a good number of really crappy Chinese restaurants), and museums. On paper, the place has a lot going for it. However, I have always found it to be a bit of a letdown; I have been here many times while living in DC and it has almost always been consistently worse than other top coffee shops. But we will come to that a bit later.

Chinatown coffee is a rather small exposed brick shop; it is what you would expect from the pinnacle of hip urbanity. They serve bottled beer and

ChinatownOutside — from Bill Walsh at Honestcooking.com

baked goods along with their coffee, but no other food. I have to say that the muffins are delicious. Recently they have also hosted a variety of food trucks (all the rage in DC) on Thursday nights, very cool! It is always seems crowded (regardless of the time of day), so expect this if you visit; as with many DC coffee shops, getting a seat can be a chore.

The cappuccino looked very nice, with perfect microfoam. This sort of foam-perfection is the norm here. However, I was not impressed by the underlying espresso, which is odd given that Chinatown uses one of the best coffees in the country (Intelligentsia, out of Chicago). I’m not positive about why this is, but I

ChinatownCap — A really nice looking cap

saw that they were selling some coffee beans that were well over a week old; it is possible that they were using beans that were a little past their prime. Regardless of why the espresso was lackluster, it lacked any real complexity and had an off-putting bitterness. This is certainly unfortunate given how seriously they seem to take the preparation of their coffee drinks. Here are the ratings, all out of a possible 5 points:

Smoothness: 3.3

Presentation: 5

Strength: 4.7

Complexity: 4.0

Foam: 5

Mean: 4.4

SD: .74

Chinatown is certainly the best coffee shop in its part of DC, however there are better offerings in nearby Capitol Hill and Dupont Circle. If you are in the area it is certainly a place to check out, but if you are willing to travel a bit there are better offerings elsewhere.

Qualia Coffee – some local beans

Qualia Coffee

3917 Georgia Ave. NW

Washington, DC 20011

http://www.freshofftheroast.com/qualia.html

Read about my planned cappuccino tour around the DC area.

Qualia coffee is (to my knowledge) the only small scale coffee roaster in the district. They roast their beans in the backroom of their little shop, offering new batches of freshly roasted beans most weekdays. I’ve often used these beans for both espresso as well as pour-over brewing, though I don’t think they quite match up Counter Culture (one of the other major brands used at coffee shops in the DC area). So, I can already vouch for Qualia’s whole bean coffee, but I wanted to find out how their cappuccino stacked up.

The shop is located in the Petworth neighborhood of DC, which has historically been the northern edge of a historically African American area of the city. It is actually an interesting region because it has, for the most part, maintained a

large middle class population even though there has been, until recently, very little investment there. However, it has recently become more diverse as an influx of upper middle class professionals and other young people have begun to buy and rent here. Although this change has not been as rapid as that of nearby Capitol Heights, Petworth is certainly different than it was 10 years ago; for one thing, there is now a hipster coffee house serving expensive espresso drinks.

The shop is located in an unassuming row house along Georgia Ave NW. Inside the first floor is a small seating area and the coffee bar. I have to say, the entire place is quite gorgeous, and it is obvious that a lot of care was taken in setting it up. Also, if you visit make sure to check out the roaster in the backroom of the first floor; many days you can watch them roast the beans that they serve. There is also a larger seating area on the top floor, accessible from the outside using a door code. It is one of the more pleasant coffee shops I have been in, and I really give them credit for having so much class.

But of course, the cappuccino is what I was really interested in on this trip particular trip. On this trip, they gave me a cappuccino that certainly was not a pretty as what I have come to expect in DC. There was no art, only a plop of white in the middle of the drink. I think this is a problem of consistency, because I have gotten drinks that looked far better from the other barista here (this is a small place, so there are just a few people on staff). When I took a sip I

QualiaCap — I wouldn't call it "art;" though who am I to judge?

realized why the barista was not able to make very good art; there was too much macrofoam on the top of the drink. A drink of only microfoam is required for decent foam-art. So, the barista messed up a bit frothing (though it wasn’t terrible). I was made a bit happier with the underlying espresso. There were some nice chocolate and fruit notes, though there was a (very) slight bitterness from (ever-so-slight) over-extraction. So, I was quite pleased with the espresso that they are serving here, though the poor frothing left me feeling a little underwhelmed. The ratings follow (all out of 5):

Smoothness: 4.4

Presentation: 3

Strength: 5

Complexity: 4.6

Foam: 3.9

Mean Score: 4.2

SD: .8

I’ll be back to Qualia to buy their beans (especially because they are just down Georgia Ave. a bit from where I live), and will certainly get a cappuccino while I’m here. I’d recommend that you come by and visit too!

Big Chair Coffee n’ Grill cappuccino review – a good machine is not enough

Big Chair Coffee n’ Grill

2122 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave. SE

Washington, DC 20020

www.bigchaircoffeeshop.com

Read about my planned cappuccino tour around the DC area.

Most American cities are racially and economically segregated, and in that regard Washington DC is a typical American city. However, it is rarer for a single unmistakable boundary to separate the wealthy from the poor; DC’s Anacostia River is such a boundary. To the northwest of this river can be found everything that DC has to offer: the mall and the federal government facilities that surround it, the wealthy neighborhoods west of Rock Creek Park, the diversity and hipness of Shaw and Columbia Heights, the diverse middle class neighborhoods east of Rock Creek Park, and much more. There is crime and strife everywhere in DC, but overall unemployment is low and there is a general feeling that things are improving (whatever that means). However, the area southeast of the Anacostia is not experiencing the urban resurgence that has changed much of DC over the past 15 years; unemployment in most of this area is near 30% and profound poverty is widespread.

Likely as a result of this, these areas of DC lack basic neighborhood amenities, like decent grocery stores and sit-down restaurants, that most people take for granted. It is perplexing to see many neighborhoods northwest of the river (in fact neighborhoods that have far higher crime rates) prosper while nearly identical ones southeast rarely receive any new investment; there seems to be an irrational stigma attached to areas across the river. When I visited, I went with a friend who’s family had lived in DC for several generations; he was the first in his family to step foot anywhere in DC south of the Anacostia river. I suppose, that is how bizarre segregation can be.

I crossed the river for a cappuccino. To be more precise, I went to the first and only place southeast of the river to serve espresso, Big Chair Coffee n’ Grill. Big Chair, in the Anacostia neighborhood, is named after a big chair across the

street from it that was erected ages ago by a local furniture company (back when the area was more prosperous). Now, the chair is a local landmark, and I have to say it is certainly a big chair.

You should understand that I had some reason to hope for a good experience at Big Chair, and it is related to Murky Coffee (the now defunct coffee house that was run by Nick Cho), which I talked a little bit about in my review of North Side Social. When Murky closed its doors in DC, its property was auctioned off; this property included an espresso machine. The owners of Big Chair bought this machine before opening up shop in Anacostia, and it now makes all of their espresso. Even though they have an excellent espresso machine, Big Chair certainly isn’t focused on espresso. They have a full grill menu and a liquor license, so as I only had a cappuccino I can’t judge these offerings.

Big Chair is located inside a converted row-house; the main coffee bar and kitchen is on the first floor with more seating on the second floor. I went on a weekday early afternoon and

Big_Chair_Coffee_Outside — Outside image from dc.urbanturf.com and Gretchen Cook

there were a few people on the first floor, mostly reading or waiting for their food. I ordered a small cappuccino and went upstairs to do some reading. Unfortunately, my drink came in a paper cup; perhaps they thought I was taking it to go, but I didn’t give any indication of this, so they should have assumed that I was staying.

When I got the drink, the froth was quite poor, with a texture similar to

001 — This was taken after the foam settled.

dish-soap (with very little microfoam) and below that mostly warm milk; the espresso was not much better. The taste was quite flat, with the common dull bitterness that occurs from poor extraction or old beans. If the espresso hadn’t been drowned in too much milk it likely would have been slightly offensive, but as it was it was just a bit boring. So, although their machine is legit, their cappuccino left quite a bit to be desired. My ratings follow (all out of 5):

Smoothness: 3

Presentation: 2

Strength: 2.5

Complexity: 2

Foam: 3

Mean Score: 2.5

SD = .5

I was a bit disappointed with Big Chair’s cappuccino. As I’ve heard good things about the other aspects of Big Chair, I suspect it is similar to a lot of neighborhood coffee shops that offer good drip coffee and food offerings but where the espresso is mediocre. There are many coffee shops in DC like this, and it makes finding good espresso a bit of a challenge. However, most people don’t really care how the espresso is, so these sorts of places are often still great assets to their communities. So, to conclude, Anacostia certainly isn’t scary (as many local fear-mongers will lead you to believe), but it still doesn’t have good espresso. Maybe I’ll be back in a few months to see if things have improved; I’ll update if so.

Modern Times cappuccino review – unironically used typewriters

Modern Times Coffeehouse

In the basement of Politics and Prose

5015 Connecticut Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20008

http://www.moderntimescoffeehouse.com/

Read about my planned cappuccino tour around the DC area.

Politics and Prose is a rather famous part of the DC bookstore scene. It is best known for its numerous book talks, that often feature prominent authors of all sorts. It also helps that it is located in one of the wealthiest neighborhoods

Politics&ProseCapture — A Google streetview image because I was feeling lazy

in DC; a place full of rich people who like to attend book talks and actually buy new books from brick and mortar stores (pure craziness). If this place didn’t sound cool enough, it also was rumored to have an excellent coffee house in the basement. Books and good coffee in a nice neighborhood – I had to see this.

Politics and Prose is located in a nondescript strip of stores along Connecticut Avenue NW. The bookstore is quite nice (especially the discounted book section next to the cafe) and it would be a good place to browse. It is also one of the more dignified bookstores I’ve been to; it is the sort of place where you will see an older gentleman unabashedly set up a typewriter and begin his work as he sips coffee (I actually saw this). The cafe is downstairs and was extremely busy on the Saturday afternoon I was there. This is pretty normal for popular DC cafes; but if you go on a weekend don’t expect a seat.

P1010043 — The cappuccino at Modern Times

Modern Times has a menu that includes a wide variety of sandwiches and salads but, because it was so busy, I just ordered a cappuccino and quickly took the seat of someone who was leaving. Their cappuccino was a bit of an enigma. The microfoam was excellent and the presentation was also quite nice. The espresso element was too bitter, especially initially. However, this bitterness gave way after a while (likely due to my own accommodation) to a dark chocolate flavor. This kept my interest, even though it wasn’t the most pleasing taste. My ratings (all of out 5) are as follows:

Smoothness: 3

Presentation: 4.6

Strength: 4.8

Complexity: 4.3

Foam: 4.8

Mean Score: 4.3

SD = .75

I will likely be back to Politics and Prose and will certainly get a cappuccino at Modern Times while I’m there. However, next time I’ll try to come during a weekday when the cafe isn’t as busy; I suspect I’ll get a better cappuccino then. I don’t think Modern Times is worth a trip by itself, but it is a good place to get espresso if you find yourself in the area. Politics and Prose, on the other hand, is worth the trip.

Northside Social cappuccino review – a Murky connection

Northside Social – Coffee and Wine

3211 Wilson Blvd

Arlington, Virginia 22201

http://northsidesocialarlington.com/

Read about my planned cappuccino tour around the DC area.

Northside Social Exterior — Northside Social has ample seating inside and out.

I think it would be fitting if I start my tour of DC cappuccinos with the place where DC’s most famous espresso bar finally gave up the ghost. Before Northside Social came into existence, its store front was occupied by a different coffee shop named Murky Coffee. Murky was owned by Nick Cho, who is famous for both bringing world class coffee to DC (the land of Starbucks and Caribou) as well as telling a customer who had requested an espresso over ice (coffee sin!) that he would “punch him in his dick” if he ever came into his store again. Unfortunately, Murky closed just before I arrived here in DC; apparently, although Nick Cho is serious about his coffee, he isn’t serious about paying bills, wages, and taxes. I’ll have more on this in upcoming posts. Several cafes in DC have a connection with Murky.

With that in mind, Northside Social is a very different place from what Murky was. I was lucky to visit Northside with a friend who lived in Arlington when Murky was around, so he had some perspective on how much it has changed. Murky was very utilitarian, with crappy chairs and extension cords everywhere. It also pretty much only served coffee and typical indie coffee shop fare (muffins, scones, etc.).

Northside Social is a different story. The new owners have made the interior very attractive, with lots of comfortable seating. The space is also very large for a DC area cafe (it occupies a large converted house), with lots of smaller rooms where one can find a bit more quiet. Most importantly, Northside Social specializes in a wide variety of wine and food along with the coffee. I had a cranberry turkey sandwich along with my cappuccino; it was made with fresh bread made in-house and was delicious. My friend had a scone (also made in-house) which he thought was also delicious.

I ordered the “classic cappuccino” (they listed this as an option on the menu – this will get you a proper 6oz drink). They serve Counter Culture Coffee (a roaster out of North Carolina), which is the most common brand of beans in high-end coffee shops in the DC area. Most coffee geeks agree that they rank among the best coffee roasters in the country. So, Northside Social is certainly starting with excellent coffee.

The cappuccino was a mixed bag. The presentation and microfoam were excellent (because I was a little delayed in taking the picture, some bubbles started to form around the periphery – the original presentation was better than

Northside Social Cap — A lovely cappuccino

the picture would suggest). However, the underlying espresso was a bit bitter, and lacked complexity. Given that I know they were using high quality coffee, I think they probably over-extracted the espresso. It was quite unfortunate given everything else this place has going for it. My ratings are as follows (all are out of 5)

Smoothness: 3.5

Presentation: 5

Strength: 5

Complexity: 3.5

Foam: 4.8

Mean Score: 4.36

SD = .87

Northside Social has a pretty good cappuccino. I will almost certainly be back in the future, hoping that they don’t mess up the espresso next time. They seemed capable of producing great espresso here (if perhaps inconsistently), and the other amenities of the place make it a pretty wonderful cafe.

Next week I travel up to Friendship Heights to see how they make cappuccinos in the basement of the venerable bookstore, Politics and Prose.

A tour of DC cappuccinos

A couple of years ago I started a project to try a cappuccino at every legitimate coffee house in Madison, WI. I ended (only missing a few places) that project a few days before moving to the Washington, DC area; now I would like to try a similar thing here in DC. I learned a lot from my first project in Madison and I hope to share some of my experiences with DC coffee houses. I’ve already explored a great deal of DC’s coffee scene but up until now I have not done so in a systematic way; this is what I will do on this blog in the coming months.

I like cappuccinos; that is primarily the reason why I will review those rather than other espresso drinks (or even drip coffee). However, there are other reasons why cappuccinos are a good test of the quality of a cafe. Most espresso drinks consist primarily of prepared espresso and milk in various forms and quantities. The best way to test a cafe’s espresso is to drink it straight; however, this will give you no indication of how well that cafe prepares milk. Alternatively, trying a latte will give you a good indication of how well the cafe steams milk, but the high milk to espresso ratio makes it very difficult to make an assessment of the underlying espresso. A cappuccino is 1/3 espresso, 1/3 steamed milk, and 1/3 foam; this composition allows the nuanced features of the espresso to come through, while retaining the silkiness and sweetness of the milk (that most people prefer).

One problem with enjoying cappuccinos is that excellent ones are a relative rarity. Everything must come together: the cafe must use fresh, high quality beans, the barista must use the proper amount and perfect fineness of grind and must tamp the espresso with a certain amount of pressure (and only use one application of pressure), the machine must be at a certain precise temperature to produce a good extraction, the barista must use the proper amount of milk and be able to use the steam wand to produce a good amount of microfoam. A problem (or many of them) can arise at any point in this process, producing a cappuccino ranging from good to terrible. Large chains, such as Starbucks, have been able to produce espresso drinks of decent quality consistently by using “full-auto” espresso machines; these machines grind and tamp coffee by themselves, producing espresso at the push of a button. This means that the barista need only froth milk effectively, largely avoiding the possibility of truly terrible espresso drinks. However, this automation never seems to produce truly exceptional espresso. Fortunately, most cafes still use “semi-auto” espresso machines, which require a barista of great skill…and keeps things interesting.

The bottom line: there are a lot of terrible cappuccinos out there and hopefully I can help you avoid them. There are also certainly some amazing ones, that I hope to find (and keep all to myself!). Just as I did in Madison, I will be using several criteria in my assessments of cappuccinos. Most importantly, understand that my score is of the drink itself and not other qualities of the cafe (price, food, ambiance, other happiness producing properties…); I will comment on other features of a cafe but these will not be included in my scores. The criteria are as follows, only slightly modified (and hopefully improved…) from the reviews I did in Madison (all rated on a 5 point scale):

Smoothness: Bitter cups will get a low score.

Presentation: Cappuccinos should be in a 5 -6 oz cup; milk art is always a plus.

Strength: A sufficiently robust drink will get a high score, a milky one will earn a low score.

Complexity: If the cup seems to have hints of several flavors, it will score highly.

Foam: A cappuccino should have a layer of finely frothed milk (microfoam).

The following map shows the cafes that I will visit; once I visit a cafe I will change its icon into a cup and a link to the review will be included in the title. The latest reviews can always be found at this blog, under the “DC Cappuccino Reviews” category. DC has far more cafes than Madison does, so I must be rather selective about the places I chose to visit (or I’ll never finish!). Essentially, if I have found any indication on the internet (mainly yelp and google searches) or by word of mouth that a cafe has good cappuccinos, I have included it on my list. I have also left off the large chains, as these are typically very similar to one another and thus not very interesting (see my review of the cappuccino at a Madison Starbucks). This is only a preliminary list and I will add cafes to it as I get new leads.

[googlemaps http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=201189551063676516414.000499bd5cd0e01391673&ll=38.904927,-77.040939&spn=0.213736,0.274658&z=11&output=embed&w=400&h=400]

Finally, I will also take some time in each post to talk about the neighborhoods in which the cafes are located. So, if you are a tourist wanting to know more about DC and you have a hankering for espresso, my reviews should be a good starting point.

Ok, now that all of that is out of the way, first stop….North Side Social in Arlington! I hope it’s good!

And we have a winner…I guess

So, I have been in DC for a few months and after a good amount of research (both on the webs and in person) I feel confident that I know the best place for espresso (and more specifically a cappuccino). If you want something good, go to Perigrine Espresso near eastern market; trust me. After several samples of both their cappuccino and that of their only real competitor Chinatown Coffee Co. (along with a bunch of other places around the area that simply don’t stack up) it became rather obvious that they are the best around. However, I have to say that they still don’t match Bradbury’s in Madison, WI; now maybe if they start serving crepes….. (though there is a crepe cart at eastern market, so a start)

Oh and a side note, Eastern market is a pretty sweet place to be; I want to live there. Now if only I made that sort of money…

And we will miss you Nick Cho! Seriously. When you get all those taxes payed please come back and save DC from its (good) coffee drought. Maybe open something up in Takoma Park too.

Cappuccino Review #14 – Escape Java Joint

Escape Java Joint

*UPDATE* – NOW CLOSED

: You really have to search for the part with the coffee.

942 Williamson Street.

Madison

website

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

The Willy (for Williamson ) St. area is Madison’s most eclectic. It is full of students and hippies. They have their own currency and the towns largest coop. So, it isn’t all that surprising that the coffee shops in this area are a bit odd. Mother Fool’s (which I reviewed earlier and has some of the best cappuccinos in town) is also there, but Escape Java Joint certainly takes the cake in the ‘strange’ department. Trust me, just go there.

I wonder if someone tried to take these awesome chairs....

The place consists of several areas that are completely different (a couple separate buildings really). When we went we sat in the huge outdoor area; they even have their names imprinted on the chairs. There is no menu, but just have a chat with the guy behind the counter and he’ll try to figure out what you might like. And he will check up on you several times to make sure your drink is good; it shows that they at least care!

Anyway, the cappuccino was decent. Their smallest was a 12oz, so I ordered it dry. It actually reminded me a lot of the cappuccino from Michelangelo’s on

State st. Their scores turned out to be the same (in all regards). I enjoyed the drink, and the strange environment added to the entire experience. So I’m a happy camper. Here are the numbers, all copied and pasted (out of 5):

Presentation: 3

Smoothness: 4

Strength: 3

Complexity: 3

Foam: 4

Correctness: 3

Mean: 3.33/5

SD: .52

So….go there. It is cool and you will have fun. Oh and they have music there a lot; one of their giant rooms has a stage.

Cappuccino Review # 13 – Froth House

Froth House

11 N Allen St.

Madison

website

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

Some coffee shops I really want to be great; they have a certain feel that makes you really like them right when you walk in. Froth House is just that sort of place. It is the perfect neighborhood hangout where you expect to run into someone you know if you live in the area. It also helps that it is my neighborhood coffee shop, located by the corner of Allen and Regent next to the Regent street coop, a wine and beer store, a book store, and a number of other small businesses. Basically it is a little town center on Madison’s near west side, which is pretty cool.

The Froth House also has one of the better patio areas I have seen, and they serve food and drinks directly back there through a back window of the store. Throw in the frequent musical acts and it makes their implementation of the patio one of the best in town.

But how is the cappuccino? Sadly not so great. Because the 12 oz is the

smallest size they serve, I ordered a dry cappuccino. I got a drink that was filled to the brim of the cup, not a good sign. The foam was of an ok quality, though there was way too much of it. However, the drink itself was actually quite bad; on my first sip I tasted some coffee, but soon it degenerated into mostly milk (or rather, bitter milk). It was essentially a latte, and a weak one at that. Ok, the numbers: (all out of 5, as usual).

Presentation: 3

Smoothness: 3

Strength: 1

Complexity: 1

Foam: 3

Correctness: 1

Mean 2/5

SD: 1.1

On a more positive note, their Nutella latte is delicious, and their breakfasts are great too. Just don’t get the cappuccino.