Espresso News and Reviews – TheShot.coffeeratings.com

We’ve written about coffee in India before, but this Sunday’s piece in The Seattle Times is one of the best-researched, most thought-out pieces we’ve seen on the subject in the mainstream Western media: As India gains strength, so does its coffee | Special reports pages | The Seattle Times. At least on the growing side of things. (Coffee consumption in India is another story that’s poorly reported globally. The Seattle Times‘ Part 1 was dubious and a bit patronizing.)

The article notes the long history of coffee growing and coffee consumption in India, dating back to the 1600s. This while most of the Western media has treated the news of Starbucks‘ recent entry into India as if the American fast food chain was on a mission to liberate the uncouth India masses from their coffee ignorance. (This is a little like introducing potatoes to Peruvians.)

The article also does a great service by introducing Sunalini Menon, who was formerly the head of quality at the Coffee Board of India and is credited with much of Indian coffee’s quality gains. Of particular interest is the controversy Ms. Menon raises by suggesting that robusta, when handled properly, should be eligible at Cup of Excellence competitions.

Over the past several years, far and away some of the best robusta we’ve ever tasted has come out of India. In India, robusta can be handled like the most precious of arabica beans, and we often love what a measured dose of it does to round out an espresso blend. (Insert the *gag* *spew* *hack* of professional tastemakers here.)

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LaCoppa has had a strange history for such a relatively “young” espresso roaster and café chain. Owner/founder Arnold V. Spinelli is the one constant — as he developed this endeavor after selling off his 14-store Spinelli Coffee chain (founded in 1986 San Francisco) to Tully’s Coffee back in 1998. (Curiously enough, Tully’s Coffee has since run aground from a chronic lack of cash flow and recently turned to Grey’s Anatomy hearththrob Patrick Dempsey to either save or sink them faster.)

Arnold had a period where he collaborated with Sal Bonavita and where the combined enterprise shared Sal’s last name. But today it’s all Mr. Spinelli, and LaCoppa Coffee sits proudly on Mill Valley’s main Lytton Square off on a corner — roasting their own but also serving retail coffee drinks.

They sport outdoor bench and French café chair seating along the Throckmorton Ave. sidewalk for maximum people-watching. There’s also covered outdoor seating overlooking Lytton Square along Miller Ave. Inside it’s a small space with mostly bench seating and a couple of tiny, zinc-topped café tables. There’s a dessert counter and bean sales for their many blends (they use their Espresso Speciale for their espresso drinks). They also offer a true Melitta bar service, reminiscient of a time a decade ago when the few pour-over bars in the Bay Area were decidedly German and not Japanese — as current trends dictate.

Their four-group Pasquini machine at the entrance shows its age, and the staff show their unawareness by leaving the portafilters cooling outside of the machine’s group heads. (Doh!) Espresso shots are served as gargantuan doubles by default: with a thin, paltry layer of crema on a huge surface of a wide-mouthed, classic brown ACF cup. It tastes of tobacco smoke and some of that old-style dark SF-style roasting (i.e., Spinelli) with a touch of ash. The milk-frothing is generally decent, even microfoam. In any case, it’s not your best coffee shop but it’s a likeable one — even if it’s a complete throwback to espresso in 1980s San Francisco.

Read the review of LaCoppa Coffee in Mill Valley.

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This corner espresso bar and retail space opened in August 2012, taking over a space that was formerly Bentley Carpet Mills. (It is also currently housing a pop-up clothing store called Taylor Stitch.) Large windows allow a lot of light in. The inside is also marked by a stark black + white color scheme. They offer breakfasts and panini and a relatively ample shelf of coffee merchandising. And why not? They know what they’re doing here. There’s large Blue Bottle signage on the front window, and they serve pour-overs using Blue-Bottle-logo Bonmac ceramics.

Their espresso machine is a three-group, heat-exchanger BFC, which is an unusual (and decidedly knowledgeable) choice. Word has it that it’s a loaner and will eventually be replaced with a La Marzocco, but they’re not hurting for a switch by any means.

Using their BFC and Blue Bottle’s 17ft Ceiling blend, they pull properly short shots of espresso with a sweet aroma and a glass of sparkling water on the side. It has a mottled medium and darker brown crema with a subtle flavor that’s moderately potent: not too sweet, but far from any earthier notes. More spices and light on the herbalness with almost no tobacco. Definitely improving the coffee in the neighborhood, even with the new (and brick & mortar) Réveille Coffee Co. location opened up across the street.

Read the review of The Station S.F.

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