cpl593h Senior Member Joined: 6 Apr 2005 Posts: 656 Location: Santa Cruz, CA Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: Zaffiro+PID home/GB5 work Grinder: Super Jolly home/Major work Vac Pot: Yama 8c Drip: Chemex
Posted Mon Jun 30, 2008, 4:48pm Subject: Re: Santa Cruz Espresso Update
Tim - it was a pleasure to have you and your family in our shop! I'm really glad you enjoyed our espresso. Verve loves coffeegeeks!
Just for the sake of good information... our Streetlevel blend is pulled at 42 seconds, heavily updosed. The Sermon blend is a more conventional application.
Looks like I missed TimothyH by one day. I got to meet him at Lulu's in Santa Cruz last year.
I went back to Verve today to get some more Misty Valley which I used to make very nice drip coffee at home. Unfortunately they were out. Did get this very nice Sermon shot at Verve.
At Verve they have a new experimental blend which contains Panama natural process beans. Jared treated me to some freebee shots. Absolutely amazing intense fruity complex shot with a long intense finish. You have to taste it to believe it. Best shot I had all year.
On the way back to the valley I stopped by Lulu's. Unfortunately they got rid of the Clover because it broke down too often. I had this Brazil SO espresso. Nice mild flavor with a very nice smooth mouth texture.
Gary, sorry we missed you yesterday. I wondered if I'd run into again this year. We have tried a couple of cafes in Aptos this week. (Surf City and Pacific Coffee) as well as the current winner-Verve. It is great to sample espresso from different baristas. Gives me an idea of what is out there and gives me something to shoot for.
The coffee scene is wonderful here. I am so envious, we just have nothing to compare with this in my area of the country.
Posted Sat Jul 12, 2008, 10:44pm Subject: Re: Santa Cruz Espresso Update
So here I was 100 miles from Santa Cruz and I find this large bag of beans. So weird! What to do with it? Duh, take it home and pull nice shots with it!
After a loong wait, Verve Coffe Roasters has now been open for nearly two weeks....in Capitola at 816 41st. This is another serious upgrade to the Santa Cruz coffee scene. Great espresso ...
Finally had a chance to stop by Verve for myself. Great straight shots, though I will point out that their "double ristretto" is much "shorter" than (e.g.) Vivace or Artigiano. But truly excellent, nonetheless.
BTW, Verve is not within the city limits of Capitola. It's actually in Santa Cruz (Opal Cliffs), but as the Capitola city limits are a couple of blocks away . . .
Posted Wed Aug 6, 2008, 1:35pm Subject: Re: Santa Cruz Espresso Update
The GB5 at Verve was out for service and they were pulling shots on this lever espresso machine. Nice ristrettos but not as tasty as shots pulled on the GB5.
Posted Wed Aug 6, 2008, 1:39pm Subject: Re: Santa Cruz Espresso Update
I wanted to get a macchiato made with Verve's streetlevel blend. But they they were using another blend and I didn't get the nice chocolate flavor I was hoping for.
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