Savoury Single Origins and Such...

cortado with home-made almond milk @ abraco.

last wednesday for the first time in months i had a drink from abraco with their home made almond milk.

it was slightly perfect.i'm kind of happy that they don't even offer soymilk.

there's nothing here hiding the taste of the espresso,it really comes through,and rather it's just elevated by a super rich,olive-y mouthfeel.not really sweet at all,savoury and reminiscent of walnuts and the aforementioned olive.

ecco reserve espresso @ kaffe 1668.

speaking of savoury,the new-ish ecco reserve single origin espresso is really hard-hitting and woodsy.

ecco reserve soy macchiato #1 @ kaffe 1668.

i had 2 macchiatos made with it,and both times,they were really salty and savoury-like soya sauce or black bean sauce. different,no bad, so i understood when i was told that in terms of milk-y drinks the espresso doesn't stretch much further than a macchiato.

ecco reserve soy macchiato #2 @ kaffe 1668.

and something sweet...

clover-brewed intelligentsia kenya @ kaffe 1668.

this was amazing.super juicy,like ripe strawberries,refreshing,even.i could drink it like water,given the chance.

the sign's description is a bit funny,and it's definitely worth the $3.91 plus tax.

pdx in nyc.

last monday the very first stumptown cafe finally opened in the new ace hotel lobby.i remember hearing about how this was supposed to open when i was actually staying in portland back in february,and they planned to open in april.anywhoo,having been to all of the stumptown cafes in portland and having had amazing stumptown drinks at barista,the albina press,fresh pot,sweetpea bakery and others,i was really curious to see how it would taste here,especially since all the stumptown i've had so far in new york has been in the range of mediocre to really gross.



well,it was really good.
really,really good.probably because of the really good baristas working there who mainly moved from pdx themselves in the past few months,but nonetheless,it was very solid.
i had an espresso(really straightforward and punchy with a little vanilla aftertaste)
and a soy macchiato(not too complex,but very strong,roasty,and a bit caramel-ish).



i got excited about the hotel,too.it's JUST like ace hotel portland but multiplied by 100.huge waiting room,photobooth,taxidermy,long desks in middle for laptop/whatever use(didn't bring mine,worked on drawing work)was there for 1.5 hours,,everyone was so so so so so hip/old fashioned-y dressed/eurotrash













oh,and i went back the next morning,just to try it out again...




oh,i found my stamp card from portland...
their french press brewed coffee of the day.
juicy and fruity.gonna be pretty hard to hate on if they keep having great coffee...