Milwaukee Specialty Food and Coffee

East Side/Riverwest: Stone Creek Shorewood

This morning, I returned to Stone Creek Coffee's Shorewood location to purchase a pound of coffee as a birthday gift for my Dad.  (It was Tanzanian Peaberry, which I think is some of their best stuff).  I enjoyed a double espresso as my free drink.  Like the previous evening's latte, the quality was very good.

East Side/Riverwest: Stone Creek Shorewood

I'm at Stone Creek Coffee in Shorewood, which has lately been enriched by some new friendly faces. The poor girl here tonight--who happens to be very attractive--is battling a cold.  There is a whole boatload of marked-out pastries available at half-price, indicating that it's probably been dead here today.  I'm using a drink coupon obtained yesterday for a decaf latte that was just great.

Stone Creek is promoting something called Green Bike Espresso.  It must be pretty new, as there doesn't seem to be any mention of it on their website yet.  I wonder if they are using that blend for the espresso in their cafes, and if that accounts for the better-tasting latte.

Contributing Author Kari Koch: I am Living in a Starbucks World, But I am Not a Starbucks Girl

Waiting for my coffee had never been so incredibly dull! I stood in Starbucks and the atmosphere was muggy and the clientele was typical of a North Shore community in Milwaukee County. It was interesting yet slightly creepy how the children of polished parents systematically mirrored their elders in miniature form. Even more strange was the seemingly out-of-place rumble of Harley Davidson motorcycles outside the coffee house. What an odd and misplaced sound this was outside the walls that house the usual buzz of mocha machines galore. Milwaukee is so ridiculously odd in this sense! The privileged upper class wife walks into Starbucks with her Prada sunglasses and Coach bag. She is typically stoic and orders something I could never make let alone repeat while her childrens' eyes grow wide looking at the cakes and muffins for sale. Directly behind her in line are two Harley Davidson riders clad in leather showcasing rough sneers across their faces. The theme, however, is clear: no matter who you are you seem to need to satisfy your hunger for an overpriced coffee. What do I have to say to this? Hogwash! If you are going to spend your money carelessly, why not do it in style?

I am far more entertained by small and independently owned coffee houses than by large corporate chain coffee houses. I am not entirely anti-corporation and I will willingly admit to my passionate love affair with Starbucks' green tea lemonade. But in general if I am going to be overcharged for coffee then I would rather give my money to the upcoming successful independent business owner. Call me a liberal even though I think Obama is a serious git who only knows how to give well-rehearsed speeches. Call me a dreamer and an anti-establishment supporter even though I have happily worked for two large corporations in my lifetime. If you are going to call me anything, friend, please just call me entertained. For I have discovered the wonders of a world with a lot less Starbucks involved. 

Ristretto: East Side/Riverwest: Alterra Humboldt

The Guatemala Asobagri continues to amaze. For my money, this has everything you could want from a drip coffee, most notably a bold presence in the mouth, of the kind you can otherwise obtain only chewing coffee beans. The drip coffee of the week always seems so much better when you drink it here on Humboldt.

Glendale/Whitefish Bay: Bayshore

This is the time of year when the weather can't win: if it's too hot, it's the "dog days"; too cool, and it's a harbinger of the coming Fall, a downer.  The summer slipped away from me a little bit, since I was pretty wrapped up in work.  I now have the capability to work from pretty much anywhere, so it'll be fun to spend some nice Fall days drinking coffee and earning money at the same time.  This evening, I'm at Alterra Bayshore starting things off with some Guatemala Asobagri.

Random Pictures

-It's mid-August and I have a news hole to fill, but no news—but rather than insulting you by pulling a story out of my ass like *ahem* some other media I know, I'll post some random pictures.

Ristretto: East Side/Riverwest: Alterra Humboldt

I'm at Alterra Humboldt enjoying a cup of the Traditional Mocha Java, which unfortunately will cease to be the coffee of the week after tonight, but will continue to be available at Alterra's online store by clicking the link.  It's probably the best drip coffee they've offered as a daily brew for a month or more.

Glendale/Whitefish Bay: Marimba Vibes at Stone Creek

Sometimes I wonder if particular styles of music are selected for marketing purposes.  I notice that jazz often seems to be used to mean "upscale."  For instance, when the renovated Bayshore Towne Centre opened, the outdoor streetscape is filled with jazzy sounds.  Lately, it's been traditional jazz.  The pieces seem to be endless; I was shocked to actually hear one end and the next begin one evening a couple weeks back.  I think it's still going.

I wanted to come to Stone Creek Coffee's Glendale location, as I planned to stick around a while, and Bayshore doesn't lend itself to that on weekends.  I've thought of an important parameter for coffee houses: "hangout-ability".  I didn't come up with the term.  Even in this regard, I think you really have to think of hangout-ability as a kind of x-y diagram, depending on whether you want to work quietly or people-watch.  I find this quality most elusive in Milwaukee coffeehouses, except one.  I think that one is called Madison something-or-another ;-)

The drink to get at Stone Creek is the Americano ($2.00 for a small).  It bypasses the problems with their drip coffee and espresso.  I actually thought mine was swell and drank it black.  That's what I'm talkin' 'bout!

Glendale/Whitefish Bay: No Soup for Me

One thing I've always had a genuinely hard time understanding is the enduring appeal of soup.  I've been to two different Alterra locations today, and have observed people ordering soup at two.  On a hot, steamy August day!  I mean, going out for soup?  I think what always turned me off of soup is the amount of effort involved in ingesting it, spoonful by tedious spoonful, while (usually) having to blow on it to get it to an acceptable temperature.  Despite this, you don't feel full afterwards, unless maybe it's the very heartiest of soups.  If the general public were to be polled, they'd no doubt include soup in the four food groups every coffeehouse should have.  Sorry, General, I just don't see it--so the soupy stuff will be conspicously absent when I compile my list of main food groups.

East Side/Riverwest: A Day at the Remote Office (Alterra on Humboldt)

One of the reasons I switched from my Eee PC to the Latitude was the desire/need to work remotely.  It's hard to imagine a better venue than Alterra Humboldt.  (Apparently my 2-second YouTube video of the ceiling fan here comes up as one of the first few results when you Google "alterra humboldt".  Surely that's the only explanation for its 274 views since being posted several months ago.  I'm guessing (hoping?) it wasn't watched on the viewers' personal time.  Get a life, people!  Speaking of blurring the distinction between personal and work time, it's easy to understand why this is such a popular place for doing so.  The music volume is agressive, which drowns out other peoples' conversations.  Let's face it, few things are more distracting and generally annoying than being involuntarily subjected to strangers' conversations.  Alterra locations are seldom dead enough for the baristas to stand around and chitchat.  (This warm Saturday afternoon is one of those occasions.)  Oh well, I'm off to work. . .