We visited the in-laws in southwestern Michigan over the weekend, and tried out "chameleon*" in Harbert. They cater to the tourists: "Upscale, contemporary coffee shop; baked goods, Italian ice. *coffee, sweets & urbane treats" according to the Harbert web site.
I tried the double cappa, as it was already afternoon and I was on zero caffeine for the day. I was asked which kind of milk I wanted; they have soy milk as an option. I blinked and blurted out "lowfat"; I don't know exactly what I got. Their machine is an automatic; apologies, but I'm not familiar enough with the various brands that I could tell which brand it was.
The barrista foamed the milk, then punched the button for the espresso. It went into two small pitchers, so it was difficult to see how much crema there was -- until I saw him pour it into the cup, when it was apparent that the crema was minimal, just a millimeter or so thick. When I tasted the cappa, the foam on top was nearly dry and fairly tasteless. The last time I had a good cappa (in Richmond, VA), the milk had a nice sweetness to it; none of that was evident here. The espresso was very, very darkly roasted, with the charcoally flavor predominant. It was bitter enough to require a couple of packets of Splenda before I drank it.
My husband went for the straight coffee. I tasted that, and it was the same very dark roast that they used for the espresso. This is perhaps not surprising, as the place seems to cater to the tourist crowd, who're more likely to be familiar with Starbuck's uber-dark blends. Even as dark as it was roasted, there was the hint of a chocolate, and even the barest hint of a fruity something. I would love to try this blend at something like a city or even full city. Unfortunately, the shop had only the one variety of brewed coffee.
Chameleon is on Red Arrow Hwy, in Harbert, MI, just two buildings north of the Swedish Bakery. (Speaking of which, I think I saw an Intelligentsia sign in the Swedish Bakery's window. Unfortunately, they had closed by the time we drove by.) Chameleon is open every day but Wednesday; sandwiches are ~$7 (we didn't try them), coffee was ~$2, double cappa was ~$3.50.
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