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Permalink Reply by Joseph Robertson on December 27, 2009 at 5:44pm

Coffee I hope....

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Permalink Reply by Jonathan Aldrich on December 27, 2009 at 5:56pm

was there last weekend, made a point to stop at voluto(49th parallel), 21st street coffee & tea(intelli, 2 clovers) and aldo(intelli and currently also carrying some stumptown). aldo's website has a nice list on the left toward the bottom of "local talent".

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Permalink Reply by Logan Demmy on December 27, 2009 at 6:17pm

Good thoughts. Thanks


Jonathan Aldrich said:

was there last weekend, made a point to stop at voluto(49th parallel), 21st street coffee & tea(intelli, 2 clovers) and aldo(intelli and currently also carrying some stumptown). aldo's website has a nice list on the left toward the bottom of "local talent".

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Permalink Reply by emily jackson on December 27, 2009 at 10:16pm

you should also check out tazza d'oro. i worked there for the past few years ( i relocated to olympia 3 months ago and i miss the shop alot) and they do a great job. they carry verve coffee. a rotating single origin espresso and a house espresso blend called "bicycle love". so good. (you can tell them that i recommended you....)
the coffee scene in pittsburgh is pretty tight. the baristas who work at different shops totally recommend others in good confidence.
espresso a mano, in lawrenceville is also very good. matt (carries counter culture) is a generally great dude to talk to. if you geek out with him, he will love you forever.
Voluto is super-rad. i love the 49th parallel espresso! the baristas are super knowledgeable about their equipment and are always willing to chat. they close a little early though. that is their one downfall.
Each shop has it's own personality, which is a reflection of the neighborhood that each is in.
Getting good coffee totally depends on where you are going to be and if you'll have access to transportation.
sometimes you end up stuck in a suburb, and can only get to a crazy mocha ( local chain). trust me. find a car, hitch a ride, get into the city and try some rad espresso.

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Permalink Reply by Rich Westerfield on December 31, 2009 at 1:18pm

Emily - You moved? Are you with B&B now? News to us, we haven't been out much lately.

Definitely a big yes on Tazza d'Oro. Our favorite overall hangout when not in our own shop. And yes to Voluto, Espresso a Mano and 21st Street's Strip location. Gotta take another look at our "local talent" list as we haven't been to a few of those in awhile. Personally also had good shots recently at Asylum (Uptown - ask for Matt), J'eet (Upper Lawrenceville - ask for Brad). Both use regional roasters but know their stuff. Oh Yeah! Ice Cream in Shadyside uses Victrola. Recently had a great talk with the owner who's a coffee fanatic but never had their coffee.

I know I'm forgetting somebody...

As far as Crazy Mocha goes, the guy who currently roasts most of their espresso is someone I've known all my life, and it's getting better ;-)

Jonathan... were you with the guy wearing the really loud multicolored jacket?

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Permalink Reply by Logan Demmy on December 31, 2009 at 1:28pm

Well I didnt get as much time in Pittsburgh as I wanted so only got to get to the strip location of 21st. I had a great experience there wednesday afternoon. The two guys behind the counter really knew there stuff. That experience will definitely prompt a return trip to check out the others mentioned.

Thanks for the suggestions,
Cheers

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Permalink Reply by Jonathan Aldrich on December 31, 2009 at 4:28pm

No, I was with a couple girls- we'd all been down in Morgantown for my cousin's wedding and were on our way back to the airport. I don't believe you were there when I was in Rich.

Rich Westerfield said:

Emily - You moved? Are you with B&B now? News to us, we haven't been out much lately.

Definitely a big yes on Tazza d'Oro. Our favorite overall hangout when not in our own shop. And yes to Voluto, Espresso a Mano and 21st Street's Strip location. Gotta take another look at our "local talent" list as we haven't been to a few of those in awhile. Personally also had good shots recently at Asylum (Uptown - ask for Matt), J'eet (Upper Lawrenceville - ask for Brad). Both use regional roasters but know their stuff. Oh Yeah! Ice Cream in Shadyside uses Victrola. Recently had a great talk with the owner who's a coffee fanatic but never had their coffee.

I know I'm forgetting somebody...

As far as Crazy Mocha goes, the guy who currently roasts most of their espresso is someone I've known all my life, and it's getting better ;-)

Jonathan... were you with the guy wearing the really loud multicolored jacket?

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Permalink Reply by emily jackson on December 31, 2009 at 4:59pm

rich,
yeah, i'm in olympia now with B&B. i really love it. It's such a change of pace working here.
to tell the truth, i really thought that i would be pulling straight shots and making traditional capps all the time, like i was at tazza. but there are still alot of 20 oz "why bother?'s " that i have to make. i really miss the comraderie of the pgh cafe scene.
c'est la vie.
i'm just working on getting more training and coffee education and getting paid to do it!
the move has been fruitful thus far and i'm sure it will continue to be that way.
sorry for hijacking this thread.


Rich Westerfield said:

Emily - You moved? Are you with B&B now? News to us, we haven't been out much lately.

Definitely a big yes on Tazza d'Oro. Our favorite overall hangout when not in our own shop. And yes to Voluto, Espresso a Mano and 21st Street's Strip location. Gotta take another look at our "local talent" list as we haven't been to a few of those in awhile. Personally also had good shots recently at Asylum (Uptown - ask for Matt), J'eet (Upper Lawrenceville - ask for Brad). Both use regional roasters but know their stuff. Oh Yeah! Ice Cream in Shadyside uses Victrola. Recently had a great talk with the owner who's a coffee fanatic but never had their coffee.

I know I'm forgetting somebody...

As far as Crazy Mocha goes, the guy who currently roasts most of their espresso is someone I've known all my life, and it's getting better ;-)

Jonathan... were you with the guy wearing the really loud multicolored jacket?

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