Introducing: Seattle Coffee Tour
/Congratulations, you are now participating in a series I will be running on coffee shops. I will be touring Seattle to taste coffee all around town - shops big and small, corporate and local. Then you'll get to hear all about the experience with a personal review by yours truly.
This won't be a true coffee tasting where you pull out the french press then sniff, slurp, describe, and share. Rather, a tasting of lattes, mochas, and such. The fru-fru drinks.
Also, you'll hear about the fun latte art that you see on the foam. It's not a serious review, but a fun tour with yummy coffee. And the review might be swayed since my faithful coffee commando confidant, Josh, will be joining me on the tour.
Here's how it will work:
I'll try to organize the entry starting with a general description of our visit, then I'll do some bullet points in the sequence I have above. Not to mention, there will be pictures at the end (and maybe in the middle on some occasions)!
Lastly, below is some information to educate yourself. This is so you know what the heck I'm talking about:
Cheers!
This won't be a true coffee tasting where you pull out the french press then sniff, slurp, describe, and share. Rather, a tasting of lattes, mochas, and such. The fru-fru drinks.
Also, you'll hear about the fun latte art that you see on the foam. It's not a serious review, but a fun tour with yummy coffee. And the review might be swayed since my faithful coffee commando confidant, Josh, will be joining me on the tour.
Here's how it will work:
- Blog Category: There will be a category on my blog called "Coffee Tour." You'll find this in the top navigation bar. All my posts about the tour will be associated with this category.
- Coffee Shop Name: You probably want to know the shop's name.
- Location: Just in case you want to head there yourself.
- The Order: What did Josh and I actually purchase?
- General Babble: I will most likely give you some random thoughts on the experience. Perhaps some information or other random thoughts.
- Ratings: I will be rating each shop in several areas on a scale of 1 to 5. With 5 being the "I've died and gone to heaven" best and 1 being "wow, ick, get this out of my face." The categories include:
- Overall Visit
- Latte Art
- Atmosphere
- Drink Options
- Coffee Knowledge: I'll try to find out about their roasting and beans and share this with you. This is more official coffee stuff than the rest of the review.
- Food: Coffee pairs great with food. If I have something there, I'll be sure to let you know about it.
I'll try to organize the entry starting with a general description of our visit, then I'll do some bullet points in the sequence I have above. Not to mention, there will be pictures at the end (and maybe in the middle on some occasions)!
Lastly, below is some information to educate yourself. This is so you know what the heck I'm talking about:
- Region - Coffee beans come from all over the world. Such regions include: Latin America, Africa / Arabia, Asia / Pacific, Multi-Region blends, and dark roasts. As a heads-up, most lattes and such drinks are made using dark roasts and more specially espresso roast.
- Espresso - a concentrated coffee beverage brewed by forcing hot water under pressure through finely ground coffee. Definition from Wikipedia.
- Pairing - This is when you match food to the coffee you are drinking. It works best with french press that is not dressed up.
- Crema -
- Dressed up (aka Fru Fru) - I believe this is a Heather term only. It is when you add sweeteners, milk, chocolate, anything really, to your coffee. This is how I like it best.
- Latte Art (aka Coffee Art or Foam Art) - These are patterns made in the foam that tops espresso drinks made by your barista. There are stencils out there, but the true art is done by those barista free hand. It's in the wrist I hear (and the proper equipment, which I personally don't have...boo).
- Rosetta - This is a common pattern used in latte art. It's almost like a flower.
- Coffee Geek - Got you. I've never really looked at this site until I was trying to find stuff to educate you with...read up my friends.
- How To - This will show you the steps to making latte art it at home. Beware: you have to have the right equipment for this stuff.
- Glossary (for all those times when you just don't know what to say about your coffee) - Cocoa, nutty, caramel, fruity, buttery, spicy, citrus, smooth, earthy, floral, body, bright, complex, clean, exotic, balanced, intense, smoky, and oh so much more.
Cheers!
