Espresso News and Reviews - TheShot.coffeeratings.com

If Peet’s Coffee & Tea has been a slow-growth contrast to Starbucks‘ cancerous proliferation in recent years, Intelligentsia’s expansion has been deliberately glacial. And why not? You get big, you get less selective about your coffee growers and suppliers. You start accepting employees with fewer skills and less passion about truly good coffee. And how’s [...]

Tags: Barista, chicago_cafes, chicago_coffee, clover_brewer, espresso_review, intelligentsia, la_marzocco, peets_coffee, Starbucks

5 Comments »

On the heel’s of Chicago’s informal crowning as America’s caffeine capital, today’s Chicago Tribune published an article that provided a light, unscientific, comparative review of 32 different take-out coffee offerings in the Chicago area: Know your Joe — chicagotribune.com. Instead of the single espresso, the yardstick used at CoffeeRatings.com, the Tribune based their evaluations on [...]

Tags: best_coffee, cafe_reviews, chicago, chicago_cafes, chicago_coffee, drip_coffee, illy, intelligentsia, metropolis_coffee

No Comments »

Last Friday, the Chicago Sun-Times published a brief guide to the independent coffee houses of Chicago: Independent coffeehouses :: Chicago Sun-Times :: jump2web ::. Although limited, it’s not a bad reference (other than the annoying pop-ups) — and something I might put to use when I’m back there next week. I only wish they would [...]

Tags: chicago_coffee

No Comments »

At last month’s 2007 Great Lakes regional barista competition, reigning U.S. Barista Champion, Matthew Riddle of Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea in Chicago, defended his title for the right to compete at May’s U.S. Barista Championship: No regular Joes | Chicago Tribune.

Tags: barista_championships, chicago_coffee, intelligentsia

No Comments »

The November issue of Chicago magazine reviewed the best straight up cups of coffee available in the Loop: Black Gold | Articles | Archives | Chicago magazine. Not surprisingly, Intelligentsia came out on top.

Tags: best_coffee, chicago_coffee, intelligentsia

No Comments »

Every once in a while I have the privilege of visiting some place else. Eventhough American cities are becoming more and more homogenized, not everything is a Starbucks. When it comes to espresso, Chicago has a few notable exceptions that I experienced this year.

Name
Address
Neighborhood
Espresso [info]
Cafe [info]
Overall [info]

Intelligentsia
53 W. Jackson Blvd.
Loop [...]

Tags: best_coffee, cafe_reviews, caffe_artigiano, chicago, chicago_cafes, chicago_coffee, intelligentsia, lavazza, la_marzocco, metropolis_coffee, san_tommaso, torino

8 Comments »