COFFEE ROASTER TASTING
I became an acolyte of coffee later in life. Converting in my late 20s during a business trip to France. I limped into the cafe culture sipping on cappuccinos and lattes on the Champ Elyses and other people watching locales around Paris. Even adding sugar cubes to help soften the bitter coffee blow. Returning home I began using the same “coffee shop as a people watching destination” logic to explore beyond my Philadelphia neighborhood. It became a master class on escaping tourists when I lived in Hong Kong.
On vacations my go to souvenir became a coffee mug from a city’s preeminent coffee shop. A collection that started with a travel mug from Kaffitar in Reykjavik has expanded to include mugs from coffee shops in Nairobi, Dhaka, Palestine, Kazan, and Quito. It wasn’t just the Savannah’s or Boston’s or San Francisco’s where I hunted down coffee shops but also the San Angelo Texas’s and Cagayan de Oro’s. Google map searches lead me to wonderful, under-the-radar, punching-above-their-weight coffee roasters and cafes around the world.
Those same Google searches also flooded my social media feeds with coffee of the month subscription services. Especially during the year-end holiday season where a subscription seems like the perfect gift for a coffee lover. Or is it? Why get stuck into a monthly coffee subscription when you could control your own coffee “destiny” with just a little bit of extra time and research. I visited several “best coffee” websites and curated my own list aggregating lists into a single spreadsheet. A count of the names and, voila, I have my own coffee subscription lists. I ordered beans from places like Onyx and PT’s.
What I didn’t do on my initial coffee exploration was start at the beginning. That was a mistake. If you are on a journey to find good coffee, to try all the best coffees available, to find a roaster and blend that surpasses all others…then the logical place to start, the ideal benchmarks from which to judge all other roasters…then you need to start with the Third Wave’s Big Three. Third Wave is the “return to the farm to find high quality beans sourced in a sustainable manor paying the farmer an appropriate wage then delicately roasting the beans to maximize flavor” movement. The Big Three are: Stumptown, Counter Culture, and Intelligentsia, having started in 1999, 1996, and 1995, respectively. In my opinion, the Starbucks meets Third Wave, ushered in the development which has seen each small town get its own awesome coffee shop. I perused Stumptown’s, Counter Culture’s, and Intelligentsia’s websites to find what they consider they house blends then was on my way to Whole Foods to begin the coffee adventure.
A Few Guidelines / Background
I am currently using a Keurig K-Duo as my coffee pot. I don’t consider myself a coffee snob and the fact that I enjoy a K-cup on occasion when I don’t feel like brewing an entire pot should serve as evidence to that “non-a-snob” assertion. I also use a Bochum Chambord French Press on occasion. I use an OXO conical burr coffee grinder. For purposes of this journey I will also use a JavaPresse manual grinder combined with the French Press when I’m trying to maximize flavor. That said most of my coffee drinking starts with the OXO grinder, then into the Keurig K-Duo. I use one tablespoon of beans for one cup of coffee - typically six tablespoons for six cups. I will tell you at the outset, that the one-to-one ratio is a must. In the past, I’ve tried to “cheat” and only grind three to four tablespoons of coffee then make six to eight cups - it works for a morning caffeine fix. It doesn’t work if you truly want to get a pure/true taste. Let the coffee talking heads debate water temperature, French press vs. pour over, and grinders…the best thing you can do to get coffee to taste how it’s supposed to taste is to use the proper bean to water ratio. I prefer lighter roasts - I want to taste the coffee not the roast.
On to the tasting…
On vacations my go to souvenir became a coffee mug from a city’s preeminent coffee shop. A collection that started with a travel mug from Kaffitar in Reykjavik has expanded to include mugs from coffee shops in Nairobi, Dhaka, Palestine, Kazan, and Quito. It wasn’t just the Savannah’s or Boston’s or San Francisco’s where I hunted down coffee shops but also the San Angelo Texas’s and Cagayan de Oro’s. Google map searches lead me to wonderful, under-the-radar, punching-above-their-weight coffee roasters and cafes around the world.
Those same Google searches also flooded my social media feeds with coffee of the month subscription services. Especially during the year-end holiday season where a subscription seems like the perfect gift for a coffee lover. Or is it? Why get stuck into a monthly coffee subscription when you could control your own coffee “destiny” with just a little bit of extra time and research. I visited several “best coffee” websites and curated my own list aggregating lists into a single spreadsheet. A count of the names and, voila, I have my own coffee subscription lists. I ordered beans from places like Onyx and PT’s.
What I didn’t do on my initial coffee exploration was start at the beginning. That was a mistake. If you are on a journey to find good coffee, to try all the best coffees available, to find a roaster and blend that surpasses all others…then the logical place to start, the ideal benchmarks from which to judge all other roasters…then you need to start with the Third Wave’s Big Three. Third Wave is the “return to the farm to find high quality beans sourced in a sustainable manor paying the farmer an appropriate wage then delicately roasting the beans to maximize flavor” movement. The Big Three are: Stumptown, Counter Culture, and Intelligentsia, having started in 1999, 1996, and 1995, respectively. In my opinion, the Starbucks meets Third Wave, ushered in the development which has seen each small town get its own awesome coffee shop. I perused Stumptown’s, Counter Culture’s, and Intelligentsia’s websites to find what they consider they house blends then was on my way to Whole Foods to begin the coffee adventure.
A Few Guidelines / Background
I am currently using a Keurig K-Duo as my coffee pot. I don’t consider myself a coffee snob and the fact that I enjoy a K-cup on occasion when I don’t feel like brewing an entire pot should serve as evidence to that “non-a-snob” assertion. I also use a Bochum Chambord French Press on occasion. I use an OXO conical burr coffee grinder. For purposes of this journey I will also use a JavaPresse manual grinder combined with the French Press when I’m trying to maximize flavor. That said most of my coffee drinking starts with the OXO grinder, then into the Keurig K-Duo. I use one tablespoon of beans for one cup of coffee - typically six tablespoons for six cups. I will tell you at the outset, that the one-to-one ratio is a must. In the past, I’ve tried to “cheat” and only grind three to four tablespoons of coffee then make six to eight cups - it works for a morning caffeine fix. It doesn’t work if you truly want to get a pure/true taste. Let the coffee talking heads debate water temperature, French press vs. pour over, and grinders…the best thing you can do to get coffee to taste how it’s supposed to taste is to use the proper bean to water ratio. I prefer lighter roasts - I want to taste the coffee not the roast.
On to the tasting…
INTELLIGENTSIA
I first gained awareness of Intelligentsia walking past their store on Abbott Kinney - an equal parts cool but pretentious place. A brick archway gives way to an outdoor seating area. There’s a circular coffee bar with a handful of cash registers and it can be a somewhat overbearing experience at first. I like the seating in the back that has a ground floor bench area then bar style seating above. I put all that aside, ordered an Americano, took my first sip, and thought “not bad…not bad at all.”
Intelligentsia has a House blend which has notes of apple, citrus, and milk chocolate. The bag has both a roast and best by date. It’s a plastic pull to open and resealable bag - under appreciated but I think essential bag features. The coffee is a lighter roast. While I like my coffee to be light, I also like there to be a bit of a pop to it, and Intelligentsia’s House coffee brings that refreshing pop. After finishing up a bag from a decent local roaster, Intelligentsia’s had a bit more “oomph” to the flavor. I could taste a bit of the chocolate and apple but I thought this also tasted a bit woody. The initial pop was there but it wasn’t long lasting. This coffee was consumed two weeks prior to the best by data so maybe that contributed to a slightly woody flavor.
STUMPTOWN
Oregon was one of the last states I visited then oddly enough I found myself in Portland three times over the course of three years. After downing a few Voodoo donuts I made my way over to a Stumptown coffee location. With an Americano in hand I walked through the park along the Willamette River. Good way to spend a weekend morning.
The bag of Stumptown I purchased was pre-ground. I didn’t even think to check. I thought that it’s a pretty good assumption that if I’m buying premium coffee at Whole Foods that it’s all whole bean. I’ve never before, in fifteen years of purchasing coffee at Whole Foods, ever picked up a bag of ground beans, even by accident. Until now. I didn’t even realize it was ground beans when I took the photo but if you zoom in and look very carefully at the bottom you will see the bag does indeed say “ground coffee”.
Hair Bender is Stumptown’s original house/flagship blend developed back in 1999. Similar to Intelligentsia, it has citrusy and dark chocolate notes. I thought this coffee tasted bad. It had a muddled profile. I wouldn’t say a muddy/earthy taste but it tasted thick rather than smooth. I attributed this to it being ground coffee so I went back to Whole Foods, carefully picked a bag of whole beans, and…still…a bit of a muddled profile. The bag had a roast date and best by date and similar to Intelligentsia I was close to the best by date. French press didn’t make a ton of difference. Neither did the hand grinder. A bit of a head scratcher.
COUNTER CULTURE
If you are ever passing through the Raleigh / Durham area, be sure to check out Counter Culture’s headquarters. Every Friday at 10, there brewers lead a cupping tasting event and walk you through their current brews. It’s a great event. I’ve gone a couple of brewery tours in my lifetime but this is the first, and to date only, coffee brewery tour I’ve been in. The presenter did a good job of breaking down the coffee flavor wheel and gave a good analogy of how roasting impacts the coffee bean. If the coffee bean were bread, no toasting (burn) results in a 100% bread taste. The more you burn, the more you transform the bread into an end product that tastes less like what you originally started with. The darker the roast, the less the original coffee taste. I’ve always been a fan of light roasts because I want to taste the coffee - not how it was cooked.
Anyway…back home to the tasting. Unlike Intelligentsia and Stumptown, which still produce their original house coffees, Counter Culture refines their beans over the years. If pressed, I think Counter Culture would say that Forty-Six is their current “house” coffee. Their flagship bean if you will. But as recently stated above, I’m not a huge fan of dark roasts, and Forty-Six falls in the dark roast category. I selected Apollo for the tasting - it’s a citrus, floral, silky blend. It’s a good roast. I didn’t get much citrus but definitely some floral notes. And the silky is dead on. A pleasurable feel / texture with every swallow. It doesn’t leave you feeling too heavy. A better benchmark to judge future coffees in the ongoing taste lineup than Intelligentsia and Stumptown.
Big Three Roundup
If you are a fan of coffee you owe it to yourself to give Intelligentsia, Stumptown, and Coffee Culture a try. Counter Culture was my clear favorite. I know that Counter Culture has a Philadelphia roasting facility. If that’s where the beans in Whole Foods shipped from then there’s a clear supply and distribution chain advantage Counter Culture has over the others. Intelligentsia tasted fine but didn’t leave a lasting impression. Stumptown’s lasting impression wasn’t a good one. Counter Culture tasted similar to before in that it has some flavor pop but is overall most distinguished as being a smooth cup of coffee. Good initial taste, nothing bitter afterwards. While it’s not the best coffee I’ve ever had, it is a good one upon which to judge all others.
And Two More
Intelligentsia, Stumptown, and Counter Culture are in a tier of their own as Level 1. Directly beneath, also in their own tier, call it Level 1A, are La Colombe and Blue Bottle. These coffee brands are everywhere and you may not even know it. From my personal experience, which is admitted limited, a third of Manhattan independent coffee shops, are using La Colombe. I half-joke that I didn’t drive from Philadelphia to New York to drink a coffee bean roasted in Philadelphia but I do wish NYC coffee shops said they roasted La Colombe on their website and user reviews so I could find a local roaster.
I first gained awareness of Intelligentsia walking past their store on Abbott Kinney - an equal parts cool but pretentious place. A brick archway gives way to an outdoor seating area. There’s a circular coffee bar with a handful of cash registers and it can be a somewhat overbearing experience at first. I like the seating in the back that has a ground floor bench area then bar style seating above. I put all that aside, ordered an Americano, took my first sip, and thought “not bad…not bad at all.”
Intelligentsia has a House blend which has notes of apple, citrus, and milk chocolate. The bag has both a roast and best by date. It’s a plastic pull to open and resealable bag - under appreciated but I think essential bag features. The coffee is a lighter roast. While I like my coffee to be light, I also like there to be a bit of a pop to it, and Intelligentsia’s House coffee brings that refreshing pop. After finishing up a bag from a decent local roaster, Intelligentsia’s had a bit more “oomph” to the flavor. I could taste a bit of the chocolate and apple but I thought this also tasted a bit woody. The initial pop was there but it wasn’t long lasting. This coffee was consumed two weeks prior to the best by data so maybe that contributed to a slightly woody flavor.
STUMPTOWN
Oregon was one of the last states I visited then oddly enough I found myself in Portland three times over the course of three years. After downing a few Voodoo donuts I made my way over to a Stumptown coffee location. With an Americano in hand I walked through the park along the Willamette River. Good way to spend a weekend morning.
The bag of Stumptown I purchased was pre-ground. I didn’t even think to check. I thought that it’s a pretty good assumption that if I’m buying premium coffee at Whole Foods that it’s all whole bean. I’ve never before, in fifteen years of purchasing coffee at Whole Foods, ever picked up a bag of ground beans, even by accident. Until now. I didn’t even realize it was ground beans when I took the photo but if you zoom in and look very carefully at the bottom you will see the bag does indeed say “ground coffee”.
Hair Bender is Stumptown’s original house/flagship blend developed back in 1999. Similar to Intelligentsia, it has citrusy and dark chocolate notes. I thought this coffee tasted bad. It had a muddled profile. I wouldn’t say a muddy/earthy taste but it tasted thick rather than smooth. I attributed this to it being ground coffee so I went back to Whole Foods, carefully picked a bag of whole beans, and…still…a bit of a muddled profile. The bag had a roast date and best by date and similar to Intelligentsia I was close to the best by date. French press didn’t make a ton of difference. Neither did the hand grinder. A bit of a head scratcher.
COUNTER CULTURE
If you are ever passing through the Raleigh / Durham area, be sure to check out Counter Culture’s headquarters. Every Friday at 10, there brewers lead a cupping tasting event and walk you through their current brews. It’s a great event. I’ve gone a couple of brewery tours in my lifetime but this is the first, and to date only, coffee brewery tour I’ve been in. The presenter did a good job of breaking down the coffee flavor wheel and gave a good analogy of how roasting impacts the coffee bean. If the coffee bean were bread, no toasting (burn) results in a 100% bread taste. The more you burn, the more you transform the bread into an end product that tastes less like what you originally started with. The darker the roast, the less the original coffee taste. I’ve always been a fan of light roasts because I want to taste the coffee - not how it was cooked.
Anyway…back home to the tasting. Unlike Intelligentsia and Stumptown, which still produce their original house coffees, Counter Culture refines their beans over the years. If pressed, I think Counter Culture would say that Forty-Six is their current “house” coffee. Their flagship bean if you will. But as recently stated above, I’m not a huge fan of dark roasts, and Forty-Six falls in the dark roast category. I selected Apollo for the tasting - it’s a citrus, floral, silky blend. It’s a good roast. I didn’t get much citrus but definitely some floral notes. And the silky is dead on. A pleasurable feel / texture with every swallow. It doesn’t leave you feeling too heavy. A better benchmark to judge future coffees in the ongoing taste lineup than Intelligentsia and Stumptown.
Big Three Roundup
If you are a fan of coffee you owe it to yourself to give Intelligentsia, Stumptown, and Coffee Culture a try. Counter Culture was my clear favorite. I know that Counter Culture has a Philadelphia roasting facility. If that’s where the beans in Whole Foods shipped from then there’s a clear supply and distribution chain advantage Counter Culture has over the others. Intelligentsia tasted fine but didn’t leave a lasting impression. Stumptown’s lasting impression wasn’t a good one. Counter Culture tasted similar to before in that it has some flavor pop but is overall most distinguished as being a smooth cup of coffee. Good initial taste, nothing bitter afterwards. While it’s not the best coffee I’ve ever had, it is a good one upon which to judge all others.
And Two More
Intelligentsia, Stumptown, and Counter Culture are in a tier of their own as Level 1. Directly beneath, also in their own tier, call it Level 1A, are La Colombe and Blue Bottle. These coffee brands are everywhere and you may not even know it. From my personal experience, which is admitted limited, a third of Manhattan independent coffee shops, are using La Colombe. I half-joke that I didn’t drive from Philadelphia to New York to drink a coffee bean roasted in Philadelphia but I do wish NYC coffee shops said they roasted La Colombe on their website and user reviews so I could find a local roaster.
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La Colombe (left) and Blue Bottle (right) - two completely different roasting approaches
LA COLOMBE
The pride of Philadelphia. La Colombe’s had a cafe off Rittenhouse Square for twenty plus years. I can’t think of a better way to spend Philadelphia morning then grabbing an Americano at La Colombe then sitting on a bench in Rittenhouse Square and people watching. One thing that immediately distinguishes La Colombe from other Philadelphia coffee shops is the first taste - it is scorching hot. Burn your tongue and not take another sip for five minutes hot. La Colombe says to roast at 195 degrees Fahrenheit - they aren’t joking. Their coffee comes out hot. I’ve been to many La Colombe cafes and coffee shops brewing La Colombe and it always has a consistent taste - hot.
Corsica is their house coffee and it has a bitter taste to it. It’s a dark roast. It’s not comparable to Starbucks but I think it shares a philosophy of roast over the bean. There’s an overpowering aroma the second you open the bag, that continues through the grind, all the way through to the last sip. I shouldn’t be a fan of this coffee but I do like it. If you set the pretentiousness aside (the box makes references to using filtered water and weighing your beans) it’s a good coffee. It’s not as smooth as Counter Culture, I don’t believe La Colombe intends it to be. Counter Culture is more “approachable” where as La Colombe’s catering to a bit more of the coffee snob crowd. I like it every once in a while. I like it on Rittenhouse Square Saturday mornings. I’m not a huge fan of this being my daily pot.
BLUE BOTTLE
The first thing you’ll notice about Blue Bottle is the price - $20.49 at Target. The others previously mentioned check in between $15-17 but I’ve seen Stumptown and Intelligentsia one sale for $12-13. The higher price is an immediate turn off and puts my “how snobbish is this coffee” sensor on high alert. I went with the Bright medium roast.
I’ve been to Peet’s coffee original location in Berkeley but sadly did not think of swinging by Blue Bottles flagship location in Oakland, assuming one exists. I did swing by a Blue Bottle in San Francisco and the cafe had a light and airy feel - lots of white and light brown natural wood. That’s how I’d describe the taste of Bright - light and airy. It’s a phenomenal everyday coffee. The hints of blueberry, raisin, and lemon zest came through - I thought the lemon the strongest of all. I thought it brought a bit of sophistication that was missing from the heavy hand of La Colombe and the lack of flavor all around from Stumptown and Intelligentsia. Looking at the beans alone compared to La Colombe and even a novice can tell that Bright isn’t going to be as “burn” centric. I’ve always like Counter Culture and think that’s a great benchmark. Bright was Counter Culture with a bit more culture. Did I just commit myself to a $20 a bag habit? Have I become a coffee snob?
The pride of Philadelphia. La Colombe’s had a cafe off Rittenhouse Square for twenty plus years. I can’t think of a better way to spend Philadelphia morning then grabbing an Americano at La Colombe then sitting on a bench in Rittenhouse Square and people watching. One thing that immediately distinguishes La Colombe from other Philadelphia coffee shops is the first taste - it is scorching hot. Burn your tongue and not take another sip for five minutes hot. La Colombe says to roast at 195 degrees Fahrenheit - they aren’t joking. Their coffee comes out hot. I’ve been to many La Colombe cafes and coffee shops brewing La Colombe and it always has a consistent taste - hot.
Corsica is their house coffee and it has a bitter taste to it. It’s a dark roast. It’s not comparable to Starbucks but I think it shares a philosophy of roast over the bean. There’s an overpowering aroma the second you open the bag, that continues through the grind, all the way through to the last sip. I shouldn’t be a fan of this coffee but I do like it. If you set the pretentiousness aside (the box makes references to using filtered water and weighing your beans) it’s a good coffee. It’s not as smooth as Counter Culture, I don’t believe La Colombe intends it to be. Counter Culture is more “approachable” where as La Colombe’s catering to a bit more of the coffee snob crowd. I like it every once in a while. I like it on Rittenhouse Square Saturday mornings. I’m not a huge fan of this being my daily pot.
BLUE BOTTLE
The first thing you’ll notice about Blue Bottle is the price - $20.49 at Target. The others previously mentioned check in between $15-17 but I’ve seen Stumptown and Intelligentsia one sale for $12-13. The higher price is an immediate turn off and puts my “how snobbish is this coffee” sensor on high alert. I went with the Bright medium roast.
I’ve been to Peet’s coffee original location in Berkeley but sadly did not think of swinging by Blue Bottles flagship location in Oakland, assuming one exists. I did swing by a Blue Bottle in San Francisco and the cafe had a light and airy feel - lots of white and light brown natural wood. That’s how I’d describe the taste of Bright - light and airy. It’s a phenomenal everyday coffee. The hints of blueberry, raisin, and lemon zest came through - I thought the lemon the strongest of all. I thought it brought a bit of sophistication that was missing from the heavy hand of La Colombe and the lack of flavor all around from Stumptown and Intelligentsia. Looking at the beans alone compared to La Colombe and even a novice can tell that Bright isn’t going to be as “burn” centric. I’ve always like Counter Culture and think that’s a great benchmark. Bright was Counter Culture with a bit more culture. Did I just commit myself to a $20 a bag habit? Have I become a coffee snob?
After the Big 3 plus 2 tasting I pivoted to local tasting. With coffee, you don’t need to sample bags from across the country or around the world. There’s local places doing great roasts. Instead of having bags mailed monthly, you can drive to local shops and pick up what you like. Do you know what the best pizza place is? And also in Philadelphia, do you know the best cheesesteak place is? The one around the corner from your house. Although without naming names, Conshohocken may be an exception to this rule…but not the broader Montgomery County region. With One Village and Backyard Beans, Montgomery County has two standout, top of the line, coffee roasters. For this local comparison, I’m including a third roaster, Wake Coffee, who I’ve always been partial to because they are based in Ambler, and, well, I like Ambler.
ONE VILLAGE
One Village is a Souderton, PA based roaster since 2007. I first became “aware” of one village because of a “local” company designation they received in Whole Foods. Since that initial awareness, I’ve only seen One Village in Whole Foods an a few other local, high-end grocery stores. It has always been a head scratcher to me that they’ve never opened a local coffee shop. I did make a stop to their roasting facility as part of a broader “into the deep” central Pennsylvania trip - no barista there but they did have merchandise (I picked up a mug), beans, and a self service drip coffee pot. I have also never seen a local coffee shop featuring their beans vs. say La Colombe or Counter Culture, etc. Another head scratcher because they roast a very clean, crisp tasting coffee. For this tasting session I went with the Nordico medium roast and could pick up the hints of chocolate and berries. It’s a smooth cup of coffee, good for everyday drinking. I don’t want to oversell and compare it out right to Blue Bottle, but the beans are in that same vein. Drinking this coffee gave me the idea to create a NCAA Basketball tournament bracket for coffee and I’d like to have Blue Bottle and One Village go head to head.
BACKYARD BEANS
Backyard Beans is another roaster that I became “aware” of while shopping in Whole Foods. Similar to One Village they started as a roaster only but opened a cafe in Lansdale in 2016/17 or so - catty-corner with Stove and Tap, across the street from Round House brewing - that’s a triple play combo right there. Backyard Beans coffee provides a punch. In the cafe, they serve their coffee scorching hot, similar to La Colombe, and you need to wait twenty minutes before taking your first sip lest you get a burnt tongue. Knowing that Backyard Beans prides themselves on darker roasts, for the tasting I went with their Punch in the Face roast. To me, Punch in the Face may be too bold of a name. Unlike La Colombe’s dark roasts, Punch in the Face was more “accessible”. Yeah it was strong. Yeah it was bold. Yeah it was great for an afternoon pick me up or slogging through tax work. But it was also good. La Colombe is tough to drink every day, tough to drink a 6-8 cup pot, need to consider using the French Press…but Punch in the Face works as an every day coffee. It’s smooth going down and while there’s a nice “hit”, it isn’t from an acidy, burnt bean…I wish I had better taste buds to accurately describe what gave the coffee it’s hit. In an NCAA bracket, I’d match this up with La Colombe - compare the watt a page of the coffee to one another. In 2022, Backyard Beans opened a second cafe on Butler Pike in the center of Ambler - it has a sleek modern design, a few food options, but I prefer the minimalist, “woody” design of their original location in Lansdale.
WAKE COFFEE
Backyard Beans move to Ambler would seem to encroach on Wake Coffee, however, Ambler has shot up significantly in the hip suburban town rankings, and if the town can support three microbreweries, then it can support two coffee shops. Wake was originally a roaster and opened up their cafe on Main Street, down by the Ambler train station in 2016/2017 (with Track Brewing, I think that was the name, running evening operations, although Track was a horrible microbrewery and Wake was operating the space solo less than a year later…long way of saying that during summer hours Wake has a weekend beer garden with appearances from local bands). I went with Wake’s Ambler roast, their house coffee. To be fair to Wake, One Village and Backyard Beans are very, very good coffees. Wake tasted a bit muddled, a bit thicker, than One Village without Backyard Beans’ pop. If One Village and Backyard Beans are 1A and 1B (in either order), then Wake would be a distant third. I gave the French Press a shot, and that improved the taste a little, but not to the others’ level. I love their coffee shop. I love stopping in there when driving through Ambler. I think their coffee tastes better in the store. They’ve opened a second location in Flourtown that I’m going to check out soon. That location doubles as a pizzeria/sandwich joint in the evenings. I’m going to stop for dinner there in the coming weeks. But Wake isn’t One Village or Backyard Beans.
That wraps up Montgomery County for now. I’ve been to all the Main Line coffee shuts up and down Lancaster Ave, I’ve been to places down in Jenkintown and Elkins Park, up to places in Trooper and Souderton, and I think that One Village and Backyard Beans are the top two roasters the county has to offer. Numerous great coffee shops but if I’m buying beans for home, I’m limiting the purchasing to those two.
On to Philadelphia.
La Colombe ushered in the coffee shop era in Philadelphia. I can remember people at work in the early 2000s going to La Colombe and I stayed behind questioning the sanity of spending $3.00 on a cup of coffee. Times have changed. I’m not sure how many other local roasters have spawned from La Colombe’s “university” but in terms of setting the bar for other coffee shops to follow…well it’s a high bar and while the city is littered with a plethora of phenomenal coffee shops, I do believe that the top roasters is a relatively limited list - roasters that I’d consider buying their beans over defaulting to La Colombe. There’s five roasters at the top of my list (ReAnimator, Pilgrim, Ultimo, Elixir, and Caphe) and I’ll throw in a few more like Rival Bros and Herman’s coffee when I’m in their areas and can pick up some beans.
ONE VILLAGE
One Village is a Souderton, PA based roaster since 2007. I first became “aware” of one village because of a “local” company designation they received in Whole Foods. Since that initial awareness, I’ve only seen One Village in Whole Foods an a few other local, high-end grocery stores. It has always been a head scratcher to me that they’ve never opened a local coffee shop. I did make a stop to their roasting facility as part of a broader “into the deep” central Pennsylvania trip - no barista there but they did have merchandise (I picked up a mug), beans, and a self service drip coffee pot. I have also never seen a local coffee shop featuring their beans vs. say La Colombe or Counter Culture, etc. Another head scratcher because they roast a very clean, crisp tasting coffee. For this tasting session I went with the Nordico medium roast and could pick up the hints of chocolate and berries. It’s a smooth cup of coffee, good for everyday drinking. I don’t want to oversell and compare it out right to Blue Bottle, but the beans are in that same vein. Drinking this coffee gave me the idea to create a NCAA Basketball tournament bracket for coffee and I’d like to have Blue Bottle and One Village go head to head.
BACKYARD BEANS
Backyard Beans is another roaster that I became “aware” of while shopping in Whole Foods. Similar to One Village they started as a roaster only but opened a cafe in Lansdale in 2016/17 or so - catty-corner with Stove and Tap, across the street from Round House brewing - that’s a triple play combo right there. Backyard Beans coffee provides a punch. In the cafe, they serve their coffee scorching hot, similar to La Colombe, and you need to wait twenty minutes before taking your first sip lest you get a burnt tongue. Knowing that Backyard Beans prides themselves on darker roasts, for the tasting I went with their Punch in the Face roast. To me, Punch in the Face may be too bold of a name. Unlike La Colombe’s dark roasts, Punch in the Face was more “accessible”. Yeah it was strong. Yeah it was bold. Yeah it was great for an afternoon pick me up or slogging through tax work. But it was also good. La Colombe is tough to drink every day, tough to drink a 6-8 cup pot, need to consider using the French Press…but Punch in the Face works as an every day coffee. It’s smooth going down and while there’s a nice “hit”, it isn’t from an acidy, burnt bean…I wish I had better taste buds to accurately describe what gave the coffee it’s hit. In an NCAA bracket, I’d match this up with La Colombe - compare the watt a page of the coffee to one another. In 2022, Backyard Beans opened a second cafe on Butler Pike in the center of Ambler - it has a sleek modern design, a few food options, but I prefer the minimalist, “woody” design of their original location in Lansdale.
WAKE COFFEE
Backyard Beans move to Ambler would seem to encroach on Wake Coffee, however, Ambler has shot up significantly in the hip suburban town rankings, and if the town can support three microbreweries, then it can support two coffee shops. Wake was originally a roaster and opened up their cafe on Main Street, down by the Ambler train station in 2016/2017 (with Track Brewing, I think that was the name, running evening operations, although Track was a horrible microbrewery and Wake was operating the space solo less than a year later…long way of saying that during summer hours Wake has a weekend beer garden with appearances from local bands). I went with Wake’s Ambler roast, their house coffee. To be fair to Wake, One Village and Backyard Beans are very, very good coffees. Wake tasted a bit muddled, a bit thicker, than One Village without Backyard Beans’ pop. If One Village and Backyard Beans are 1A and 1B (in either order), then Wake would be a distant third. I gave the French Press a shot, and that improved the taste a little, but not to the others’ level. I love their coffee shop. I love stopping in there when driving through Ambler. I think their coffee tastes better in the store. They’ve opened a second location in Flourtown that I’m going to check out soon. That location doubles as a pizzeria/sandwich joint in the evenings. I’m going to stop for dinner there in the coming weeks. But Wake isn’t One Village or Backyard Beans.
That wraps up Montgomery County for now. I’ve been to all the Main Line coffee shuts up and down Lancaster Ave, I’ve been to places down in Jenkintown and Elkins Park, up to places in Trooper and Souderton, and I think that One Village and Backyard Beans are the top two roasters the county has to offer. Numerous great coffee shops but if I’m buying beans for home, I’m limiting the purchasing to those two.
On to Philadelphia.
La Colombe ushered in the coffee shop era in Philadelphia. I can remember people at work in the early 2000s going to La Colombe and I stayed behind questioning the sanity of spending $3.00 on a cup of coffee. Times have changed. I’m not sure how many other local roasters have spawned from La Colombe’s “university” but in terms of setting the bar for other coffee shops to follow…well it’s a high bar and while the city is littered with a plethora of phenomenal coffee shops, I do believe that the top roasters is a relatively limited list - roasters that I’d consider buying their beans over defaulting to La Colombe. There’s five roasters at the top of my list (ReAnimator, Pilgrim, Ultimo, Elixir, and Caphe) and I’ll throw in a few more like Rival Bros and Herman’s coffee when I’m in their areas and can pick up some beans.
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REANIMATOR
Let’s start with ReAnimator which began operations on Master Street, at a time when there was absolutely nothing over that way. A walk through that section of the city now and it feels like Fishtown’s and Temple University’s expansion have finally run into one another. ReAnimator has a few other locations throughout Philadelphia, I really like their 47th and Pine location, but these days it’s just as easy to find their coffee in a Whole Foods. They do a good job producing seasonal flavors - my favorite was a “Foles”gers coffee flavor produced leading up to the Eagles 2018 Super Bowl appearance. For this tasting I went with their Foundation blend which has hints of dark cocoa, blueberry, and toasted walnut. ReAnimator’s website states it’s their take on the classic Italian style espresso blend, but roasted with a lighter, cleaner profile. I agree with that statement - not that I’m one to argue. It’s a smooth, light coffee, similar to Blue Bottle. It’s good everyday coffee although it lacks a bit of a punch. In an all-encompassing coffee taste comparison, the lack of a punch, doesn’t leave much of a memory. It’s good in the moment. Two odd things about the coffee - 10 oz. Bag and a use by date one month after the roast date…which feels a bit aggressive.
PILGRIM
Pilgrim Roasters opened on Manayunk’s Main Street in 2017/2018, shortly after I moved into the neighborhood as this immediately became my go to coffee shop. I walked an extra half mile, past Volo, a very good coffee shop serving La Colombe, to reach Pilgrim - so I definitely put their beans above La Colombe and I don’t believe that is simply a biased-homer pick. The main reason I like Pilgrim’s beans over La Colombe is they primarily do Scandinavian-style light roasts. I’ve cycle through a series of their current house roasts and it’s always a consistent light roast but strong flavor hit. The current house flavor is a Colombian bean with notes of tea biscuit, honey, and pear. I drank this coffee on alternating days with ReAnimator, and I got to say, I don’t notice much of a difference between these two coffees. I try to pop into Manayunk every two months so I’d be more inclined to pick up a bag of Pilgrim on-site but if pressed, I’m not sure I’d be able to tell the difference between these two bags. Both are good, everyday coffees, but neither truly left a lasting impression and they sort of blended together.
ELIXIR
Elixir Coffee Roasters is located at 207 S. Sydenham St, almost an alley off Walnut Street a few blocks east of Ritttenhouse Square. They’ve since expanded to a few other Center City locations. The original coffee shop can be a bit cramped vs. cozy and yet it can still feel like an oasis from the hustle and bustle along Walnut Street. Drinking Elixir, side-by-side with ReAnimator and Pilgrim, and it’s tough to call out a “winner” amongst these three. At the start of the summer, their Treehouse blend is considered their middle of the fairway house coffee. It’s tame. It’s good for everyday. You accidentally only pour 5.5 teaspoons for a 6 cup pot and it’s going to be a bit tepid, not much of a pop. It runs together with the other two.
Let’s start with ReAnimator which began operations on Master Street, at a time when there was absolutely nothing over that way. A walk through that section of the city now and it feels like Fishtown’s and Temple University’s expansion have finally run into one another. ReAnimator has a few other locations throughout Philadelphia, I really like their 47th and Pine location, but these days it’s just as easy to find their coffee in a Whole Foods. They do a good job producing seasonal flavors - my favorite was a “Foles”gers coffee flavor produced leading up to the Eagles 2018 Super Bowl appearance. For this tasting I went with their Foundation blend which has hints of dark cocoa, blueberry, and toasted walnut. ReAnimator’s website states it’s their take on the classic Italian style espresso blend, but roasted with a lighter, cleaner profile. I agree with that statement - not that I’m one to argue. It’s a smooth, light coffee, similar to Blue Bottle. It’s good everyday coffee although it lacks a bit of a punch. In an all-encompassing coffee taste comparison, the lack of a punch, doesn’t leave much of a memory. It’s good in the moment. Two odd things about the coffee - 10 oz. Bag and a use by date one month after the roast date…which feels a bit aggressive.
PILGRIM
Pilgrim Roasters opened on Manayunk’s Main Street in 2017/2018, shortly after I moved into the neighborhood as this immediately became my go to coffee shop. I walked an extra half mile, past Volo, a very good coffee shop serving La Colombe, to reach Pilgrim - so I definitely put their beans above La Colombe and I don’t believe that is simply a biased-homer pick. The main reason I like Pilgrim’s beans over La Colombe is they primarily do Scandinavian-style light roasts. I’ve cycle through a series of their current house roasts and it’s always a consistent light roast but strong flavor hit. The current house flavor is a Colombian bean with notes of tea biscuit, honey, and pear. I drank this coffee on alternating days with ReAnimator, and I got to say, I don’t notice much of a difference between these two coffees. I try to pop into Manayunk every two months so I’d be more inclined to pick up a bag of Pilgrim on-site but if pressed, I’m not sure I’d be able to tell the difference between these two bags. Both are good, everyday coffees, but neither truly left a lasting impression and they sort of blended together.
ELIXIR
Elixir Coffee Roasters is located at 207 S. Sydenham St, almost an alley off Walnut Street a few blocks east of Ritttenhouse Square. They’ve since expanded to a few other Center City locations. The original coffee shop can be a bit cramped vs. cozy and yet it can still feel like an oasis from the hustle and bustle along Walnut Street. Drinking Elixir, side-by-side with ReAnimator and Pilgrim, and it’s tough to call out a “winner” amongst these three. At the start of the summer, their Treehouse blend is considered their middle of the fairway house coffee. It’s tame. It’s good for everyday. You accidentally only pour 5.5 teaspoons for a 6 cup pot and it’s going to be a bit tepid, not much of a pop. It runs together with the other two.
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On to the next three: Caphe, Rival, and Ultimo.
CAPHE
There’s a Vince McMahon meme where the WWE CEO’s facial expression becomes more surprised with each subsequent description. If you were to populate Caphe Roasters credentials into the meme, it starts with “woman owned”, then “Vietnamese owned”, with the eye-popping finale being “located in Kensington”. The Philadelphia culinary media has a tendency to overhype certain places in certain neighborhoods and when Caphe Roasters hit the scene I thought “here we go again”. Caphe may be the only exception to the Philadelphia culinary hype machine. It's great coffee - no hype man needed. Their coffee tends to be a lighter style roast, similar to Pilgrim, but I think much more pop to it. I’ve tried different varieties over the years and their coffee always packs either a bit of a punch or a bit of flavor to what is otherwise a smooth sip. For this tasting round I picked up a bag at Weavers Way that had hints of jack fruit, apple, and honey and for better or worse, those hints come through. The other Philadelphia coffees didn’t have the flavors come through as strongly. Caphe Roasters opened a cafe in Kensington (after previously only having a roasting facility) either before or in the early stages of COVID and it’s definitely worth checking out some morning. They have the typical Vietnamese offers with their own twist. It’s a nice and welcoming environment.
RIVAL BROS
Rival Bros has a few cafe locations across Philadelphia now and can be found in stores throughout the broader metro area - oddly enough (or not) Our Daily Bagel in Conshohocken sells their beans. They have a decent distribution network. Out of these Philadelphia coffees, I give a slight nod to Rival Bros as having the coffee with the most pop, although similar to what I mentioned with Elixir above, if you skimp on the beans a bit, that pop goes away. I used about 5 teaspoons in a six-cup pot to use up the last of the beans and that was enough of a reduction to make the coffee lose its pop. I didn’t quite pick up on any hints of cocoa or warm spices but the Revolver variety balances smooth with a pop to perfection. That said, I don’t believe this coffee rises to the level of Blue Bottle.
ULTIMO
At one point in the past, I think in the 2010 to 2015 timeframe, Ultimo Coffee’s 1900 S. 15th Street location was named a “Top 25 Coffee Cafe in America”. I think it was #1, at least was the only Pennsylvania cafe mentioned. So naturally I made a trip down here…and…well. It’s good coffee. Its coffee shop isn’t any more special than any others I’ve been in. Personally, if you are in the area, I like Hive, it’s a few blocks up and has window seating overlooking Broad. I won’t argue that Hive’s coffee shop “vibe” is better than Ultimo’s but I’d go to Hive for the street scene watching. Like others, Ultimo has since expanded, unlike the others, that expansion has reached Northwest neighborhoods and I frequent their Wayne Avenue location before or after a trip to the Forbidden Drive.
CAPHE
There’s a Vince McMahon meme where the WWE CEO’s facial expression becomes more surprised with each subsequent description. If you were to populate Caphe Roasters credentials into the meme, it starts with “woman owned”, then “Vietnamese owned”, with the eye-popping finale being “located in Kensington”. The Philadelphia culinary media has a tendency to overhype certain places in certain neighborhoods and when Caphe Roasters hit the scene I thought “here we go again”. Caphe may be the only exception to the Philadelphia culinary hype machine. It's great coffee - no hype man needed. Their coffee tends to be a lighter style roast, similar to Pilgrim, but I think much more pop to it. I’ve tried different varieties over the years and their coffee always packs either a bit of a punch or a bit of flavor to what is otherwise a smooth sip. For this tasting round I picked up a bag at Weavers Way that had hints of jack fruit, apple, and honey and for better or worse, those hints come through. The other Philadelphia coffees didn’t have the flavors come through as strongly. Caphe Roasters opened a cafe in Kensington (after previously only having a roasting facility) either before or in the early stages of COVID and it’s definitely worth checking out some morning. They have the typical Vietnamese offers with their own twist. It’s a nice and welcoming environment.
RIVAL BROS
Rival Bros has a few cafe locations across Philadelphia now and can be found in stores throughout the broader metro area - oddly enough (or not) Our Daily Bagel in Conshohocken sells their beans. They have a decent distribution network. Out of these Philadelphia coffees, I give a slight nod to Rival Bros as having the coffee with the most pop, although similar to what I mentioned with Elixir above, if you skimp on the beans a bit, that pop goes away. I used about 5 teaspoons in a six-cup pot to use up the last of the beans and that was enough of a reduction to make the coffee lose its pop. I didn’t quite pick up on any hints of cocoa or warm spices but the Revolver variety balances smooth with a pop to perfection. That said, I don’t believe this coffee rises to the level of Blue Bottle.
ULTIMO
At one point in the past, I think in the 2010 to 2015 timeframe, Ultimo Coffee’s 1900 S. 15th Street location was named a “Top 25 Coffee Cafe in America”. I think it was #1, at least was the only Pennsylvania cafe mentioned. So naturally I made a trip down here…and…well. It’s good coffee. Its coffee shop isn’t any more special than any others I’ve been in. Personally, if you are in the area, I like Hive, it’s a few blocks up and has window seating overlooking Broad. I won’t argue that Hive’s coffee shop “vibe” is better than Ultimo’s but I’d go to Hive for the street scene watching. Like others, Ultimo has since expanded, unlike the others, that expansion has reached Northwest neighborhoods and I frequent their Wayne Avenue location before or after a trip to the Forbidden Drive.
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HERMAN'S COFFEE
I love Herman's Coffee cafe/market setup. The cafe is located at the diagonal where E. Moyamensing crosses over 3rd Street. E. Moyamensing feels like a grand boulevard in this section and offers a different perspective on the city in a neighborhood where one rarely ventures - the road is so wide that cars can park perpendicular to the curb which opens up quite a bit more parking spaces. The market space in the cafe has artisanal items along with the egg, milk, etc. basics. If you live in the neighborhood and need to make a quick grocery run, this would be the place to go instead of a big box store. The cafe is in also in what I believe has to be a converted garage - open garage doors add brightness in an otherwise industrial feel. Maybe not the best coffee shop to bring a laptop and do whatever people do on laptops in coffee shops but that's a selling point. Herman's lacks all the pretentiousness you find in the Center City coffee shops.
As for the coffee - there Pennsport Blend (named after their neighborhood) is there house blend. The best I can describe it compared to the other Philadelphia coffees is that it's thicker. It tastes "heavier". Like comparing a stout beer to a pilsner. And in the same way that a good stout can be thick and heavy yet still smooth, so is Herman's Coffee. The Pennsport Blend doesn't pack a heavy flavor or caffeine punch - if it did, the coffee may be a bit too much to handle. As it is, it's like a Guiness of coffees.
That wraps up the Philadelphia tastings for now. I covered the major roasters, a few of the minors. I thought Rival Bros stood out the most although Pilgrim and Caphe will always be in my coffee rotation and I'm always up for making a trip to Herman's every once in a while.
I love Herman's Coffee cafe/market setup. The cafe is located at the diagonal where E. Moyamensing crosses over 3rd Street. E. Moyamensing feels like a grand boulevard in this section and offers a different perspective on the city in a neighborhood where one rarely ventures - the road is so wide that cars can park perpendicular to the curb which opens up quite a bit more parking spaces. The market space in the cafe has artisanal items along with the egg, milk, etc. basics. If you live in the neighborhood and need to make a quick grocery run, this would be the place to go instead of a big box store. The cafe is in also in what I believe has to be a converted garage - open garage doors add brightness in an otherwise industrial feel. Maybe not the best coffee shop to bring a laptop and do whatever people do on laptops in coffee shops but that's a selling point. Herman's lacks all the pretentiousness you find in the Center City coffee shops.
As for the coffee - there Pennsport Blend (named after their neighborhood) is there house blend. The best I can describe it compared to the other Philadelphia coffees is that it's thicker. It tastes "heavier". Like comparing a stout beer to a pilsner. And in the same way that a good stout can be thick and heavy yet still smooth, so is Herman's Coffee. The Pennsport Blend doesn't pack a heavy flavor or caffeine punch - if it did, the coffee may be a bit too much to handle. As it is, it's like a Guiness of coffees.
That wraps up the Philadelphia tastings for now. I covered the major roasters, a few of the minors. I thought Rival Bros stood out the most although Pilgrim and Caphe will always be in my coffee rotation and I'm always up for making a trip to Herman's every once in a while.
On to the rest of the country. After the first two, the order is largely random although I'm focusing on re-tasting coffees I've had at the roaster's flagship location during my travels.
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GEORGE HOWELL
https://georgehowellcoffee.com/
George Howell is a Boston-based coffee roaster. I walked into their Washington St/Chinatown location early on a Thursday morning, ordered an Americano and told the cashier I'd like a bag of their house beans to go. The cashier responded: "We don't do house coffee. We source what's fresh and in season. Right now George is really into... " I'm not sure what followed. I sort of lost interest after "don't" but I did grab whatever bag the cashier recommended. I thought, you know, this guy, this had better be good coffee. And I'll be damned if it isn't the best coffee I've ever had. George is doing phenomenal work in identifying growers and beans.
When ordering beans, their website can be a bit overwhelming. George Howell specializes in small batches, sometimes very, very small batches. As such, the website has tens of bags available. You could spend a solid afternoon reading the descriptions, the farms, the flavor profile of the beans. With a $50 threshold for free shipping I settled on a bag each of Worka Chelbasa (Medium/Ethiopian), Montecarlos Cattura (Light/El Salvador), and a premium bag of Mamuto AB (Light/Kenya). The two former were 12 oz. bags, the latter 8 oz. The bags arrived less than a week later and all had roasted stamp dates from a day or two before I placed my order. So the stuff is fresh.
I started with the Worka Chelbasa. I started with George Howell because I remember it being the best coffee I've had in my travels. But how strong is that memory. Yeah. The memory was spot on. This is wonderful coffee. Light and flavorful. I've noticed throughout the tastings that the drip coffee maker has a tendency to change flavor profiles batch to batch, the Worka Chelbasa comes out wonderful and consistent every time. This is a lighter roast, so if there's a knock it'd be that maybe the coffee could be a bit stronger, but I love light roasts and this coffee checks all my boxes. Good for everyday. Good for special occasions.
https://georgehowellcoffee.com/
George Howell is a Boston-based coffee roaster. I walked into their Washington St/Chinatown location early on a Thursday morning, ordered an Americano and told the cashier I'd like a bag of their house beans to go. The cashier responded: "We don't do house coffee. We source what's fresh and in season. Right now George is really into... " I'm not sure what followed. I sort of lost interest after "don't" but I did grab whatever bag the cashier recommended. I thought, you know, this guy, this had better be good coffee. And I'll be damned if it isn't the best coffee I've ever had. George is doing phenomenal work in identifying growers and beans.
When ordering beans, their website can be a bit overwhelming. George Howell specializes in small batches, sometimes very, very small batches. As such, the website has tens of bags available. You could spend a solid afternoon reading the descriptions, the farms, the flavor profile of the beans. With a $50 threshold for free shipping I settled on a bag each of Worka Chelbasa (Medium/Ethiopian), Montecarlos Cattura (Light/El Salvador), and a premium bag of Mamuto AB (Light/Kenya). The two former were 12 oz. bags, the latter 8 oz. The bags arrived less than a week later and all had roasted stamp dates from a day or two before I placed my order. So the stuff is fresh.
I started with the Worka Chelbasa. I started with George Howell because I remember it being the best coffee I've had in my travels. But how strong is that memory. Yeah. The memory was spot on. This is wonderful coffee. Light and flavorful. I've noticed throughout the tastings that the drip coffee maker has a tendency to change flavor profiles batch to batch, the Worka Chelbasa comes out wonderful and consistent every time. This is a lighter roast, so if there's a knock it'd be that maybe the coffee could be a bit stronger, but I love light roasts and this coffee checks all my boxes. Good for everyday. Good for special occasions.