Posted Sat Aug 27, 2005, 11:26am Subject: Re: Ritual Coffee Roasters
freedom1095 Said:
If laptop users could develop a culture where sharing space and regular support (i.e. drink/munchie buying) of the cafe they are in, things may improve.
An idea for a place like Ritual may be to even *provide* table tents for laptop users who don't mind sharing a table to place next to them so others would feel like they can sit down without bothering anyone...
I've been dealing with laptops in cafes since 1989 when the first Macintosh Portable started to appear. I wonder when the first paper-based notebook appeared in a cafe. There goes the neighborhood.
No matter what reading/writing material one brings, I think it boils down to common courtesy in a semi-public space. We need to get out of our bubbles and talk to one another, if only for a moment to say "Is this seat free?" If we can't even bring ourselves to do that, and I think this is key, then we're totally screwed as a society. No real life culture will develop without real life communication.
Customers do not have the right to hog up more than one chair. They don't own the space. They only occupy it as a paying customer. That should be understood as they enter an establishment. It should be a given. But for those unsocialized abusers who just don't get it, I'm all for in putting it in writing... be it a sign, coasters, a table tent, a sticker that can be pasted on the forehead, a rubber stamp, a temporary tattoo, etc.
The rest is up to us. Don't turn away. Speak up. Equal rights for customers. Know them. If the reader/writer doesn't want to be 'bothered'... then they should seek the solitude of their bedroom... and not be in a cafe in the first place.
On Friday 09/02/05 I visited Vivace, Victrola and Vita in Seattle. All pulled good 1oz double ristretto shots but nothing outstanding. So that was somewhat disappointing. I had four Dolce 1oz double ristrettos at Vivace and only one tasted sweet. Dolce ristrettos were just OK, maybe beans were used too quickly after roasting. At home I can pull more body more fruity Dolce shots with my inferior Zaffiro/Rocky equipment. Might be because I pull very short 0.75oz Dolce doubles.
Today, 09/03/05, I visited all three Stumptown coffee houses in Portland. I had four double Hairbender 1oz ristrettos and two of them were absolutely outstanding, very complex and a very nice chocolate taste, very impressive. Much better than any double ristretto I had in Seattle or in San Francisco including Ritual which also uses Hairbender beans. I also had a 3oz macchiato and per request a 6oz double latte at Stumptown which were also extremely good. The Stumptown shots had dark brown crema and the Ritual shots had light brown crema. The 1oz double ristrettos and 3oz double macchiatos at Ritual are more mellow. Maybe the San Francisco crowd isn't ready for stumptown like ristrettos and machiattos.
I'm sorry that your espressos at Vivace and Victrola were merely OK. That's unfortunate. I've had great coffee at Victrola and while Vivace is far less consistent, when it's been good it's been very good in my experience.
Glad you liked the coffee at Stumptown. I would suspect the flavour differences between Ritual and Stumptown had more to do with the machines than anything having to do with style.
Glad you liked the coffee at Stumptown. I would suspect the flavour differences between Ritual and Stumptown had more to do with the machines than anything having to do with style.
My best Stumptown shot was at the Belmont location. Why do they need a 5 group machine? Looks real nice though. Next best shot was at Division and least favorite shot in down town on 3rd. That shot was pulled a bit long, about 1.6oz, maybe because almost all shots were used to make lattes. Still very important to me to taste such truly awesome shots because it makes me realize how good ristrettos can taste, the bar is set very high. Now if only Ritual in San Francisco could pull the same shots!
On Friday 09/02/05 I visited Vivace, Victrola and Vita in Seattle. All pulled good 1oz double ristretto shots but nothing outstanding. So that was somewhat disappointing. I had four Dolce 1oz double ristrettos at Vivace and only one tasted sweet. Dolce ristrettos were just OK, maybe beans were used too quickly after roasting. At home I can pull more body more fruity Dolce shots with my inferior Zaffiro/Rocky equipment. Might be because I pull very short 0.75oz Dolce doubles.
if someone could actually prove to me that they could pull a better tasting shot of vivace espresso on the setup you describe than you could get in an actual vivace cafe, i would literally eat a hat.
I have visted Vivace twice, both times i brought back a 1 lb of Vivace espresso whole bean. Pulled better shots at home on a Silvia and Isomac Tea than the shots i was served at Vivace.
"Best" and "better" are such difficult concepts. Taste is so subjective, so personal and so impacted by external factors (ranging from your mood at the moment to personal pride) that this is little to no way to quantify it.
It's probably better to stick with "better to my taste" or the like.
That being said, I have to admit that even the best (to my taste) shot of either Vivace espresso I've ever pulled on a home machine was inferior (to my taste) to shots I or someone else pulled on a temp stabilized commercial machine.
if someone could actually prove to me that they could pull a better tasting shot of vivace espresso on the setup you describe than you could get in an actual vivace cafe, i would literally eat a hat.
I live 900 miles from Vivace and I only get to visit Vivace once each year. Most of the time I get much better tasting shots at Vivace than I can pull at home. My 2005 Vivace visit was disappointing because I have had much better shots in the past. I had this ristretto at Vivace in 2001 and it was a very good and very sweet tasting shot. Anyone know why the crema is so dark?
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