Omnivore Atlanta

DOH! The secret beans revealed

My first food industry job was as a barista. I grew up cooking and enjoying eating, but that job, at a coffeehouse in suburban New York, was the start of my culinary obsession. In the weeks before the coffeehouse opened, my boss and trainer had me pull thousands of shots of espresso and steam hundreds of pitchers of milk. Everyone fixated on the flavor, mouthfeel and balance of each drink. This ritual, of aiming for perfection over and over, delighted my detail- and pleasure-loving nature. I didn’t know it at the time, but that job was the true beginning of my career.

America’s enthusiasm for coffee runs on parallel tracks with its growing foodie culture. Coffee is, for many, the gateway drug — the first step toward heightened standards when it comes to matters of taste. Good coffee, or at least better coffee, was available to the masses long before many cities had decent gourmet markets.

In the last five to 10 years, coffee’s made huge leaps in quality thanks mainly to roasters and baristas. A competitive barista culture has emerged in Atlanta out of the Westside coffee shop Octane, where baristas face-off during its Thursday Night Smackdowns. This weekend Atlanta hosts the World Barista Championship, where 49 baristas representing their countries will compete. While latte art and sugary drinks still make up a portion of such events, more emphasis is being placed on extracting perfect espresso, and the complex flavor profiles of different origins and roasts.

At Octane and at Decatur’s new coffee shop Method, you’ll find baristas so passionate, hearing them discuss coffee is like listening to a star sommelier.

We also have roasters and growers to thank for the coffee revolution. There are now a number of local roasters in Atlanta, as well as access to a selection of highly specialized national brands. Roasters are becoming active players in everything from educating the public to advocating for the farmers whose coffee they buy. Counter Culture, a relatively new company to enter the Atlanta market, is making huge changes to the lives of farmers they buy from in South and Central America, says Octane’s owner, Tony Riffel. “They are getting these farmers to taste their own coffee, for the first time ever,” Riffel says. “That’s huge.”

So what makes good coffee good? And what’s available in Atlanta? In an effort to guide folks, Atlanta photographer and coffee aficionado Joel Silverman offered to host a CL blind coffee tasting panel. Silverman set the whole thing up, buying the beans, making the espresso, and establishing parameters for the tasting. I invited Riffel, Greg Best, mixologist at Holeman & Finch (who, in my opinion, has one of the best palates in the city), and Jennifer Zyman, CL Cheap Eats writer and food blogger extraordinaire to take part.

Continue reading “A guide to Atlanta coffee”

(Photo by Jennifer Zyman)

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Although he is the owner of Method Coffee Bar & Tea Lounge (1593 North Decatur Road. 404-549-8942. www.methodcoffeebar.com), Don Lowell insists Dale Donchey is the mastermind behind the operation. Donchey placed third in this year’s Southeastern Regional Barista Championship and is going to Portland for the Nationals in March.

The coffee shop’s name comes from its devotion to methodology from beans to brew. Method sources all of its coffee beans from Intelligentsia, the lauded Chicago roaster whose “direct trade” sourcing philosophy and commitment to quality has made it the preferred bean for discerning coffee drinkers. The coffee shop serves an ever-changing handful of varietals in a range of prices, which the seasoned (and super friendly) baristas will describe to you in such romantic detail you’d think you were discussing wine with a seasoned sommelier.

While the coffee shop brews its espresso on a top-of-the-line La Marzocco machine, its use of Chemex coffeemakers is the draw for aficionados. The Chemex method employs a heat-resistant, non-porous glass carafe with a special unbleached paper filter. The coffee grounds are slowly saturated with hot water resulting in a clean cup of coffee where each note shines. Method “pre-doses” (or pre-measures) each bean varietal accordingly to achieve the perfect strength and balance of flavor. Each dosage of whole beans is stored in an individual glass bottle until it is ground to order and brewed drip by precious drip before your eyes.

Tea is another area where Method excels as they treat and present their impeccably chosen whole leaf teas with great care. An assortment of Vosges sipping chocolate—like the spicy Aztec—is perfect for chocolate junkies and kids alike. And a short, but sweet list of locally made pastries from tattooed baker Larisa Slaughter provides that much needed nibble as you linger, sip and type.

(photo by Jennifer Zyman)

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