Posted by TheShot on 03 May 2011 | Tagged as: Café Society, Consumer Trends, Quality Issues
A couple weeks ago, a regular reader made a very relevant comment on our last post: “You have become very negative. When was the last positive post?” They were completely on target, and we have noticed this trend in ourselves for months now. (See: Coffee Commenter Archetype #10.) The reasons are worth a post here. [...]
[view full post]Posted by TheShot on 01 Aug 2010 | Tagged as: Add Milk, Beans, Café Society, Consumer Trends, Foreign Brew, Machine, Quality Issues, Starbucks
Quick!: name a city that’s surrounded by the exquisite natural beauty of mountains and seas, with brightly painted houses that decorate quaint neighborhoods, with great food everywhere you turn, with a nearby wine country consisting of hundreds of vineyards and many nationally renowned restaurants, with hipsters who frequent farmers’ markets in transitional neighborhoods, with a [...]
[view full post]Posted by TheShot on 28 Jul 2010 | Tagged as: Café Society, Consumer Trends, Foreign Brew, Home Brew, Machine, Roasting
This unusual, two-story café resides at the base of the ultra modern, five-star 15 on Orange Hotel. On the upper floor, it has a serving area with a two-group Saeco Steel SE 200 at a bar, a number of black tables and chairs, a branded lit display, a couple of Saeco home machines on display, [...]
[view full post]Posted by TheShot on 26 Jul 2010 | Tagged as: Beans, Café Society, Consumer Trends, Foreign Brew, Roasting
In the transitioning Cape Town neighborhood of Woodstock, which out-Missions the Mission, this espresso bar and roaster perhaps looks like no other you’ve seen before. Located inside the newly-art-conscious Old Biscuit Mill, this small space is a pristine, stark black-&-white-themed coffee lab that exudes meticulous organization. The Old Biscuit Mill is known in town for [...]
[view full post]Posted by TheShot on 23 Jul 2010 | Tagged as: Add Milk, Café Society, Foreign Brew, Roasting
Opening in Sept. 2009, this beachfront café in downtown Kalk Bay bustles with lovers of coffee and baked goods. They’ve adopted a theme based on New York City’s TriBeCa neighborhood, which is expressed in NYC imagery on the walls. The tables are pretty classy, actually, and there are often musicians in front along the sidewalk [...]
[view full post]Posted by TheShot on 21 Jul 2010 | Tagged as: Foreign Brew, Roasting
This downtown espresso bar and roaster was co-founded by Carl Wessel and former Origin roaster, Judd Francis. It’s a tiny, tiny spot with room for only three stools at the espresso bar, two stools along the shop window counter, and two inside chairs. Inside there are worn, wooden floors, artsy touches like cacti and odd [...]
[view full post]Posted by TheShot on 20 Jul 2010 | Tagged as: Barista, Beans, Foreign Brew
Mention the name “Woolworths” to an American, and they’ll think “Woolworth’s” [sic] (again with that possessive thing). Woolworth was founded in 1879 as one of America’s first five-and-dime stores — even if it has become known as Foot Locker since the turn of the millennium. For those who remember Woolworth as a discount dimestore, the [...]
[view full post]Posted by TheShot on 16 Jul 2010 | Tagged as: Add Milk, Consumer Trends, Foreign Brew, Quality Issues, Starbucks
One of the most important, and most tragic, stories of human history since the age of the Portuguese explorers is the story of Colonialism. Today the vestiges of Colonialism are apparent everywhere from globalization to the impact of slavery and race relations around the world. For example, to look at the history of Cape Town, [...]
[view full post]Posted by TheShot on 12 Jul 2010 | Tagged as: Add Milk, Barista, Café Society, Consumer Trends, Fair Trade, Foreign Brew, Quality Issues, Roasting
Among coffee aficionados in town, quality artisan coffee originates with Origin. Opening in 2006 in a more modest space, this place changed the face of coffee in Cape Town if not South Africa. Since its expansion, it is now three transparent levels of coffee, café, roasting, regional Synesso distributor, and barista training labs. If that [...]
[view full post]Posted by TheShot on 09 Jul 2010 | Tagged as: Add Milk, Beans, Café Society, Consumer Trends, Foreign Brew
This breakfast spot near the Parliament is often frequented by well-heeled, manicured parliamentarians — and for good reason. They have excellent baked goods and very good coffee. Very, very good coffee — at least when it comes to blending with steamed milk. Out front they have a few wooden sidewalk café tables under parasols advertising [...]
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