Milwaukee Specialty Food and Coffee

Specialty Coffee Drinks: French Press Service

Saturday at Stone Creek in Whitefish Bay, I again received a cup of the dreaded aged coffee.  My conclusion is that the discovery cost of ordering drip coffee in a coffeehouse is far too high.  Unless you go right at opening or know the staff, you pretty much have no idea whether or not the coffee will be fresh.  I really wish more places would offer French press service.  I know Alterra Foundry does; not sure about their other locations.

Snapshots: Great Harvest Bread Co.

Over the weekend, it was good to renew an old acquaintance, the Great Harvest Bread Co.  I hadn't been there in ages, because my Mom used to buy all our bread from there many years ago, and I became kind of overexposed to the distinctive taste of their bread.  Now, I'm overexposed to Breadsmith from going there all the time myself, so it's good to change things up a little.

I was particulary pleased to see that, like similar stores, they sell granola, but at the reasonable price of about $5.95 for a pound and a half, which is competitive with boxed cereals.  Alterra gets the same dough for one pound.  City Market recently raised the price to $8.95, which strikes me as exorbitant (they're a bit too pricey for me in general).

Late Night Coffee: Opportunity Knocks...or, um, Cruises

Sounds like there is an opportunity for some shrewd coffee establishment along Hwy. 100 (Caribou?) to expand their hours and do some serious business.

LiveJournal member shydescending writes the following:

the number of people converging on the 24-hour Starbucks on hwy 100 at night has reached absurd proportions. in addition to the parking problem, one can no longer get a table. therefore I need a new place to do my homework.

Snapshots: Downer Ave. Starbucks

I'm pleased to report that I stopped in at the N. Downer Ave. Starbucks today, and the drip Ubora blend was fresh (and very good).  Come to think of it, I think I've had the best-quality drinks at that location of all Starbucks.  Something tells me that's probably the one Milwaukee-market store where any lapses in quality would be most likely to be duly noted, reported, and corrected.

Blog News: Voice Mail and New Poll

A voice mail box is available at (414) 241-4430 to receive your questions, comments, rants and raves.

Also, as the first Milwaukee Specialty Food and Coffee road trip will be to Chicago next Wednesday, October 3rd, for Genesis and Intelligentsia, there's a brand new poll!  Your input is requested as to which topics Milwaukee Specialty Food and Coffee should be expanded to include, if any.  Please note that if I were to talk about wine or cigars/cigarettes, I'd be speaking strictly as a layperson and wouldn't bring any expertise to the table.  I consider my level of coffee expertise to be that of an above-average barista.

OT: Rock of Ages on WKTI

This is kind of out of nowhere, but I happen to be listening to the smooth jazz station and they're playing the song that used to be the theme music of "Rock of Ages" on WKTI back in the mid-1980s.  A Catholic priest, Fr. Joe Jagodensky, would play pop songs and explain their possible Christian relevance.  Does anyone remember this show or know what happened to Fr. Joe?

Snapshots: 27th & Oklahoma Starbucks

I'm keen that this not become a corporate-bashing site, as I feel there are more than enough of those.  Not to mention that "Starbucks sucks" doesn't exactly strike me as intrepid reporting.  In that spirit, since I was on the South Side on other business earlier today, I made a point of stopping at "my" Starbucks, the one on 27th and Oklahoma.  Like the last couple times, I ordered a drip coffee, hoping for different results this time.  Unfortunately, I was disappointed.  The coffee was probably an hour and a half old.  I'm not a scientist, but I know that often, when coffee gets a little old at the office, I add a little water to "reconstitute" it.  To a limited extent, that allows the flavor to be recovered.  Well, I ordered a cup of water and added a little to my coffee, and voila, a little flavor appeared.

Snapshots: Whitefish Bay Starbucks

Every weekend, I walk on the Oak Leaf Trail from Downtown to Whitefish Bay.  Before heading back, I often stop at the Whitefish Bay Starbucks.  The past couple of visits, I've had drip coffee, and both times, it has tasted like it had been held much too long (I believe Starbucks policy is to only hold it an hour).  I drink a lot of not-so-fresh coffee at the office, so I have some idea of how the taste worsens after a certain time.  I'd put the coffee I had at Starbucks at about 1 1/2 to 2 hours old. 

Snapshots: City Market Switches to Stone Creek

City Market is now serving Stone Creek coffee, having made the switch from its previous supplier, Boom Bros.  Now as before, several varieties of drip coffee are brewed each day.

Editorial: Tulip mania?

With the prospect of recession looming, the business world—large and small alike—is only going to get more creative in devising new ways of luring money out of your wallet.  As I mentioned at the time, there's a variety of coffee called Esmeralda Especial that is selling at stratospheric prices.  There's something I find a bit curious about this development.  Read what coffee roaster The Roasterie has to say about Esmeralda Especial.

OK, done reading?  Here's the part that catches my eye: "Owner of The Roasterie, Danny O’Neill, and Production Manager Nathan Kurtz, were both judges for the Panama Cupping Competition. O’Neill, gave the Esmeralda a perfect 100 score during the judging. This was the first time O’Neill has ever given a coffee a perfect score."  This is April, 2007.  "During a May 29th online auction for the best coffees from Panama, The Roasterie, inc., was one of seven roasters that purchased the famous Esmeralda Especial from the Hacienda la Esmeralda farm." The article states that the winning bid was $130 a pound, and, as you can see from the link, The Roasterie is selling it at $236 a pound (rounded up to the next dollar) if you buy a 2-pound bag.