Iced, Double Tall, What???

There are always questions about where to get the best cup of coffee around the hotel. The only problem, or maybe not, is that there is a Starbucks every two blocks. Pretty much chaing out the competition.

I recent read an article in Time Out Chicago, "Coffee Obsessives" by Julia Kramer. I goes into detail about four local roast masters that bring a different light onto coffee, besides Starbucks. Since I do not like coffee, more of a chai tea guy, I thought I would share it because it is better than any coffee talk I could produce.

#1
THE OBSESSIVE Kevin Ashtari, owner, Asado Coffee Co

THE FIX A year ago, Asado proved that a no-frills coffeehouse could source serious beans (the house drip is fair-trade from Uganda), carefully roast them (using an in-house 12-kilo gas-fired drum roaster) and beautifully brew them (via Beehouse brand dripper cones manufactured in Japan). Since then, big coffee guns such as Intelligentsia have followed suit, scrapping tumultuous (and expensive) Clover machines and jumping on board with pour-over coffee, made one cup at a time by hand.

SYMPTOMS “I would say we’re ridiculously obsessive,” says Ashtari. “Each cup here is made with love.” Indeed, the baristas’ patient, careful process—first pre-wetting the grounds, allowing the coffee to “bloom,” then pouring a slow, steady and constantly moving stream of hot water over them—is the secret to consistently flawless cups of coffee.

#2
THE OBSESSIVE Maggie McCoy, owner, Bagel on Damen

THE FIX Bagel on Damen is the first place in Chicago to carry beans roasted by Stumptown, the Portland, Oregon–based company that has earned cult status on the coasts. The Brooklyn roasting facility, which roasts beans from around the globe, ships bags to Wicker Park weekly: Bagel on Damen carries Hair Bender Blend, Columbia el Jordan, Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Grade 2 and the Decaf House, available from Stumptown’s machine of choice, a Fetco. Patrons can also special-order Stumptown coffees from the Brooklyn roastery via McCoy.

SYMPTOMS It took a lot of persistence to convince Stumptown, which is famous for saying it would never offer its beans outside Portland, to sell to McCoy. “I contacted them, and I was really adamant about it, and I just kept e-mailing and being persistent,” she says. Finally, a Stumptown rep checked out the location, trained the staff and agreed.

#3
THE OBSESSIVE Jesse Diaz, Aaron Campos and Christopher Oppenhuis, co-owners, Star Lounge Coffee Bar

THE FIX Similar to how a brewery like Half Acre got started “contract-brewing” out of another brewery’s facility, Dark Matter coffee got its start “toll-roasting” for a year out of Bridgeport Coffee’s roastery. Three months ago, the crew purchased a small fluid-bed roaster for crafting Dark Matter coffee, eight pounds at a time, above their coffee bar, Star Lounge. “There’s no direct fire,” Diaz explains of his air-roasting process (where hot air—rather than a flame—roasts the beans). Diaz believes the air lends a clean profile that’s “true to what the actual soil tastes like.” Dark Matter is brewed at Star Lounge as regular drip or via the pour-over method (a “much better depiction of the coffee,” Diaz says), but expect to see it around town as well: Recently, Dark Matter created some “wild-card” roasts for Alinea.

SYMPTOMS While there are about 200 species of coffee, according to Diaz, almost all the coffee we drink is Arabica. For espresso, Diaz uses beans from the Robusta species, which he says has four times the caffeine of your average espresso. “I dare somebody to drink three or four of my espressos,” he says.

#4
THE OBSESSIVE Mike Pilkington, owner, Bridgeport Coffee Co

THE FIX Pilkington has been roasting coffee locally for six years. Like Dark Matter, he uses a fluid-bed roaster, but in the future he hopes to have both types of roasters in order to match each type of bean with the best-suited method. At Bridgeport Coffee, the coffee is brewed through a Fetco-brand drip as well as a pour-over option.

SYMPTOMS “Fair trade is just not enough,” says Pilkington, who has teamed up with the Star Lounge crew and other small independent roasters to establish a buying co-op that would source beans directly from farmers. Meanwhile, he focuses on “relationship-based coffees” from farmers in places like New Guinea and Costa Rica.


And after all that, if you still want Starbucks, I would like a grande easy iced chai.