Coffee!

So these little thoughts whipped through my mind today after I'd spent $3.50 on a Latte that proceded to burn a lasting memory on the roof of my mouth. Didn't they hear the milk screaming at them in agony? Should they have warnings on their cups - careful Barista in training! Should I take it back and complain that it's too hot, especially as the person before me thought their's was too cold? Should I just shut up - wait for it to cool down - then drink it?

I ended up doing the latter (although I never finished it), because I realised that the person making the coffee was probably really not to blame - as with most things it's in the training, and the training doesn't come from each customer having a different idea of how their milk should be heated, it comes, first from a realisation that there is infact an art to making coffee and coffee drinks, secondly from an understanding of how that works - just because you have a nice espresso machine, doesn't mean you can make coffee!

And that's one of the reasons why there's such a huge difference in the quality of coffee that's served around the city. I don't really know enough about coffee to comment on the type of bean and the roasting method etc (would love to hear from someone who does). I'm also convinced that the type of machine you use, whether you filter your water and how you clean your machine comes in to play. As with everything though, the proof is in the pudding, so here is the beginning of a list (in no particular order) of places where I think they serve great coffee - please add to it and comment and note that this list is not reseved for just espresso based coffees!

Ciao for Now

The Verb

Falai

Grumpy Cafe

Le Gamin

Cafe Gitane