Rancilio Senior Member Joined: 12 Dec 2008 Posts: 422 Location: New Jersey Expertise: I like coffee
Espresso: Giotto Premium Grinder: Mazzer Mini Roaster: Back to Basics Popcorn...
Posted Wed Feb 4, 2009, 11:04am Subject: Re: Is there good coffee in NNJ?
hunts Said:
Hi Rancilio, I used to order about 1LB of beans from Vivace (or two 1/2 LB bags) for my espresso drinks. Since I'm the only coffee drinker in the household, it usually takes me at least a month to finish 1LB! I do use a foodsaver container, which helps to keep it fresh longer.
For Vivace, I get the Vita Blend and the Dolce Blend for $6.50 for 1/2 LB bag and is the best espresso, latte, cappaccino I have ever had while I was visiting Seattle. I've had Intelli Black Cat before, and Vivace is still my personal favorite. Anyone carrying Intelli and have a Clover must be serious about their coffee, so I am definitely swinging by your store when I'm in the neighborhood, cornercafe!
I keep hearing all the hype about Clover and how it is so damn good that Starbucks actually purchased that company, but yet I cannot locate any Starbucks that have a Clover. You would think they would equip all their stores with the Clover, no? Anyway, I definitely must have a cup from the Clover when I'm in Ridgewood!
Hey Hunts, one of the reasons I buy 50 lb of coffee beans at a time is, I share the beans with my son who's an espresso coffee drinker with many Italian friends that pop over any time of the day who they think they are still in Italy drinking single shuts of espresso coffee continuously (Typical Italian Style) so the coffee gets used up pretty fast. Also I don't want to find myself without coffee in the house. I recently formed a coffee roaster co-op of 6 members of our area in NNJ and right now we are in the process of studying the possibilities of making it work. If the co-op plans go thru, it will be mostly a web coffee roasting company with very competitve prices and services in the continental USA. Mr.T
Posted Sun Mar 8, 2009, 5:59pm Subject: Review: Ridgewood Coffee Company, Ridgewood, NJ
I have not been logging in to CG as much as I used to so imagine my surprise when I was walking through downtown Ridgewood (my town) and I saw that the Ridgewood Coffee Company is using Intelligentsia and Ecco beans, and has a Clover. This place had undrinkable coffee until a few months ago when new ownership took over and they seem to be on the right track. Their staff has been trained by Intelligentsia and I had an eminently drinkable shot of Espresso and my wife enjoyed her Macchiatto. I met the owners and they seem very passionate about their coffee. If I had not just had a shot before I left my house, I would have tried the Clover but I will do that tomorrow. I can't believe I can get Black Cat less than 5 minutes form my house!!!! I am truly a very happy guy today. I would highly recommend anyone check it out. You can even stop by Starbucks down the street for a CD or a sandwich:) Good luck RCC!!!!
Ed, You may also want to include a trip to A Mano for some of the best (albeit somewhat expensive) pizza this side of Naples (where they trained their pizza maker) I think it is BYOB and for dessert make sure to have the Lobster Tail. They have a beautiful space and I can't recommend the pizza enough. This is real Naples style, brick oven, thin crust, fresh moz. cheese etc. For a slightly more economical and more filling yet outstanding pizza, we also have the world class Brooklyn's Pizza a few blocks away. Must taste the sauce to believe it. Somehow related to Patsy's in Brooklyn. Next to espresso, pizza is one of my top foodie passions. Bring a few extra gas cans along for your lawn mower and the gas savings will pay for the tip:) But do try RCC. I don't think you will be disappointed. Neil
Posted Sun Mar 8, 2009, 10:51pm Subject: Re: Is there good coffee in NNJ?
Visited Ridgewood Coffee Company several weeks ago. It is a great place and I'll definitely be back. Nice to get a shot of Black Cat locally, not to mention buying the beans w/o shipping charges. And they're open pretty late, too.
Neil, the Starbucks in Ridgewood closed back when the company announced its original wave of closures. It's been gone for quite a while now.
As for A Mano, thanks for the suggestion. I'll probably try it sometime when I'm in town, but I've never felt the need to travel too far for pizza. Great pizza can be found all over metro NY. Great espresso, on the other hand, is far more rare outside of the city. It's available at Ridgewood Coffee Company.
E d C u s t a r d pseudo-barista
"...the extreme of banality allows us to catch a glimpse of the sublime." Umberto Eco
Posted Mon Mar 9, 2009, 8:06pm Subject: Re: Is there good coffee in NNJ?
My bad. The only excuse I can offer is that I first started going to Ridgewood for wine (SuperCellars at their original location), not espresso, and that Starbucks was the only one I had ever seen.
E d C u s t a r d pseudo-barista
"...the extreme of banality allows us to catch a glimpse of the sublime." Umberto Eco
Posted Tue Mar 10, 2009, 2:49am Subject: Re: Is there good coffee in NNJ?
Went back to Ridgewood Coffee Company yesterday and tried the Ecco Ethiopian Beloya on the Clover. Really nice cup of coffee. Very smooth with good body and nice fruit. My 11 year old said she could smell the fruit. I also had a small sample of the medium bodied Intelly Flo Blend made on their Fetco and that was also nice. All I can say is that with RCC in town, I may not be getting as much sleep as I once did. Neil
Posted Tue Mar 10, 2009, 4:48am Subject: Re: Is there good coffee in NNJ?
I'd love to get them to pull an espresso with that Ecco Beloya. Last year Counter Culture Coffee had Biloya Sundried Espresso that was hands down the single best bag of beans I've ever had in my possession. It made for really tasty shots that were fruit bombs. Loads of blueberry. Made me a devout worshipper of Ethiopian beans to the degree that it threatened to compete with the one true religion, football.
Sleep? That's the issue now, isn't it? I'll never get down to Ridgewood early enough in the day to really indulge my espresso desires in the hedonistic fashion that I crave. Maybe some Friday or Saturday when I've got a couple of days to wind down.
E d C u s t a r d pseudo-barista
"...the extreme of banality allows us to catch a glimpse of the sublime." Umberto Eco
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