Posted Mon Aug 30, 2004, 12:02am Subject: Day 16 in LA
I drove to Long Beach today for a lobster dinner on the water. Afterward, we decided to stop by Polly's for some coffee and desert. It was a rather bizarre experience in some ways. I have to think that I did not see Polly's at its' best.
"Single espresso, please. Can you serve it in a china cup?", I asked.
"We don't have china cups. Well, we have them but not for espresso. We have these little cardboard cups." the young male barista responded.
I watch the pour with interest. A metal cup was under one of the two spouts of portafilter. Machine ran for quite awhile but I didn't time the shot. Half the pour ended in drip tray and the other half in the cup. The espresso is poured into my cup.
"I gave you a double", says the barista."
A double? I had seen half the pour going into the drip tray. That would mean that the entire pour would be considered a quad. I looked in my cup. The thin layer of crema was rapidly dissipating. After 30 seconds, there was just a ring around the edge. The espresso tasted unpleasant.
My wife asked the barista the difference between a latte and a cap. He explained that a latte was made with espresso and steamed milk and the cap was espresso with foam.
"You don't make your caps 1/3 espresso, 1/3 milk and 1/3 foam?" I questioned.
"We can do that." the barista replied.
"Can you do latte art?", I asked.
"You know latte art?"
"Yes! Can you do it?" .
"Of course", he rejoined.
"Do a Rosetta for me."
"Okay!", he replied.
What I got was foam with large bubbles in it. It was bad foam, light and fluffy. There was a suggestion of a heart amid the bubbles. The latte was not very good.
I looked around the shop while sipping my latte.. They are very serious roasters in this shop. They have a huge Probat roaster. There was a sample of some dark roasted beans sitting on the counter. I pointed to them and asked the barista if the beans represented French roast, Vienna roast or Italian Roast.
"What?", he said.
I pointed to the sign that listed the various roasts. "Is it this, this or this?", I asked.
"I'm not sure.", was his reply.
Okay, he is not the roaster, fair enough, but he should know beans about his beans, shouldn't he?
Looking at a case full of beans, I commented, "I see that some of your beans are dated 8/23, it is now 8/29, how long do you keep them before throwing them out?"
"Oh, we never throw beans out." was the response.
Polly's brochure says " beans can lose 25% of their flavor within 2 weeks of roasting, that's why we roast daily in small batches." The container with the week old date on it was completely full of beans. If they hadn't sold one bean in the first week, then the odds appeared to be slim that they would empty the case during the second week. Thus it seems that Polly's will sell beans even if they are over two weeks old, in spite of what they have written in their brochure.
I will give them this. They post their roast dates. That is praiseworthy indeed.
I'm afraid Polly's gets 1 star for drink quality and 2 stars for ambience, friendliness and affability from me. I am prepared to believe that the barista was new and inexperienced. I would like to give Polly's a second chance, but, I am not likely to be in their neighborhood again.
Spinnaker007 Senior Member Joined: 24 Apr 2003 Posts: 1,775 Location: Chicago! Expertise: I like coffee
Posted Mon Aug 30, 2004, 6:32am Subject: Re: Day 16 in LA
Uncle Bob,
You ought to try Coffee Klatch in San Dimas. Sure, it is a bit far from you, but, just one single espresso from CK will make up for all the bad ones you’ve had so far in L.A.
The best part is that you will get to chat with Heather, the 2003 USBC champ, and her father, Mike. They are very nice people, and they will love to talk espresso and coffee with you. She is a very busy person, so call ahead to make sure she is there first.
Strad Senior Member Joined: 4 Aug 2004 Posts: 25 Location: Los Angeles Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Mon Aug 30, 2004, 10:30am Subject: Re: Day 16 in LA
Bob -
As a 20 year resident of the L.A. area, a long time coffee fan, but only a recent CG member and aspiring CG proper, I've been reading all of your posts with great interest. I haven't chimed in with places for you to try great coffee in southern California, because frankly I'm hard pressed (pun not intended) to offer much help. The more I read on this site (thank you all for the education), the more I taste and try, the more disappointed I am in the Los Angeles coffee scene. One would think that in a city of this size that there would be choices. Unfortunately I'm not finding many. I find it doubly surprising, as this has become a great restaurant city in the time I’ve lived here. Coffee seems to be a complete other beast however.
Come out to Encino and we can make the trek to San Dimas to see if they make the grade!
You ought to try Coffee Klatch in San Dimas. Sure, it is a bit far from you, but, just one single espresso from CK will make up for all the bad ones you’ve had so far in L.A.
Well, I hadn't considered that, Larry. It is counter-intuitive though. I mean, Sunday is for the after church crowd; the get-out-of-the-house-early-and-read- the-Sunday-paper-over-a-cup-of-Java crowd and the I-think-I'll-take-my-aging-parents- out-for-lobster-on-my-rare-day-off crowd. You'd think that with all of those crowds, Polly's would field the first team on the weekend. Shows how much I know.
Lobster at Khouris was superb. At $10 a pound, the lobster was sweet and plentiful. The total table price came to $100. And, the lobster was much better than the lobster we had at the Palm at 3 times that price. Kooor-reeees! Koooor-reeeees! Kooor-reees!
Strad Senior Member Joined: 4 Aug 2004 Posts: 25 Location: Los Angeles Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Mon Aug 30, 2004, 12:44pm Subject: Re: Day 16 in LA
OK Folks:
How about all of us in L.A. making a trek to San Dimas en masse for a sip of that sweet nectar? (oops... guess I've been reading about the crotchless portafilter a bit too much).
I am commiting this to memory and then eating my computer so that your secret will be safe with me, Steve.
It would take pretty big "cajones" for me to write a negative review of the Coffee Katch. Mine aint that big, I'll admit. So if I love it, I'll say. If not, well, my car broke down and we didin't make it. ;o)).
On the other hand, I have absolutely no reputation to ruin and am not working to build one either. Other than having scalding coffee dumped on me at the next SCAA convention and having my coffee idols shun me for life, I have absolutely nothing to lose by being honest.
So who knows what I might say? Certainly, not me! I ought to, at least, drink the coffee before getting spun up. Don't you agree?
ljguitar Senior Member Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Posts: 2,450 Location: Cheyenne Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: Expobar Pulsar Grinder: Mazzer Super Jolly, Solis Drip: Bunn Roaster: iRoast2
Posted Mon Aug 30, 2004, 1:30pm Subject: Re: Day 16 in LA
brokencup Said:
---Well, I hadn't considered that, Larry. It is counter-intuitive though. I mean, Sunday is for the after church crowd; the get-out-of-the-house-early-and-read- the-Sunday-paper-over-a-cup-of-Java crowd and the I-think-I'll-take-my-aging-parents- out-for-lobster-on-my-rare-day-off crowd. ---At $10 a pound, the lobster was sweet and plentiful. The total table price came to $100. And, the lobster was much better than the lobster we had at the Palm at 3 times that price.
I gotta travel out that way again...here it is $20 LB and not that good.
You'd think businesses would put good weekend help on wouldn't you. Our experience is that the good help don't want to work weekends (imagine that) so they are fill in people - know very little and don't seem to mind not knowing people.
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