Wow, a sure sign of ‘getting old’. I think that Espresso Royale (specifically the one on Marlboro Street near NorthEastern) needs to turn down their freaking music.
First of all, the coffee shop is a great place to go. It has decent drinks, free wifi, and plenty of seating. However the guys and gals that work there find that they must pump their indie music as loud as possible. Even if you have an iPod in, you can barely hear yourself think unless you’re blasting equally obnoxious music just as loud into your ears.
Secondly, I don’t think it’s all the fault of the music. The room has horrid (as in none) acoustical design. It is probably impossible to make music sound good in here as is, and when combined with people talking loudly to speak over it then the problem just compounds. Perhaps some acoustical consultant will give them some free tips as to spare us all.
A great sounding room that I was in recently however is The Last Hurrah attached to the Omni Parker House. It’s a great quiet bar. It’s not so quiet that you feel that everyone is listening on your conversations, but the bar isn’t blasting music loudly and the bar doesn’t sound like the back-bar of a starbucks with things grinding all the time, etc. Great place.
I’m a huge coffee snob. I’m normally totally excited about new coffee. Italian espresso is supposed to be as good as it gets, and Naples is supposed to the ‘the’ place for it. Maybe so far I’ve found all of the ‘meh’ places, but the espresso here is a solid ‘B’.
It’s not flawed, and its always served properly, but there’s simply nothing great about it. I get the sense that it’s sooo common to make/drink espresso here that it’s like a hamburger in the US. Most people are happy with crap, even though we pride ourselves as being decent at burgers and grilling. I see people weakly tamping, and not really looking at what they are doing when making it. Apathy about it is high. Just like the North End in Boston.
I’m guessing, that like many Italian shops in Boston, and all over, that the beans are old, they aren’t always freshly ground (that day, but perhaps an hour ago), and that the beans just aren’t blended all that well. I’m going to get a few pounds to take back home (since I don’t have to carry the paperwork for the conference I’m going to take as much as customs will theoretically allow). At least the espresso is cheap. 0,50 to 0,80 Euros gets you a drink generally. It’s cheap enough to have several times a day without too much penalty.
I’m looking for somewhere that is EXCELLENT in coffee.
So far, the best coffee I’ve ever had has been: -9th Street Espresso in NYC, A+ -from a Chemex pot at Rich’s apartment (freshly roasted that week and ground of course), A -Coffee at large in Portland, Oregon. They really care about their coffee there. A -Diesel Cafe in Somerville. B. Not perfect, but solid. -Anything Jarrod would pull at Torrafazonia, when that was the name of the place. A
Keep in mind that the average starbucks shot would get a C-, and anything from Dunkin Doughnuts or whatever like that would probably get an F.
I really want to go to Intellgensia in Chicago. It’s too bad all of the 100USD/pound Brazilian coffee is already roasted and drank, because I would have loved to try that.
So I’m a bit disapointed with the coffee so far. I want to try a cappuccino, and if they can best the amazing latte art that I’ve been getting lately in the States then I might change my review.
I have put into consideration that perhaps I drink too much coffee. Maybe. I’m not convinced. I have drank high caffeine drinks all my life. I know as a toddler I’d drink my grandfather’s coffee. Hell, they likely put it in my bottle. Seems reasonable to me. I know my mother stopped smoking when she was pregnant with me, but I can’t imagine for two seconds that she stopped coffee.
I currently consume about six strong caffeinated drinks per day. As of 2pm today I’ve already had a quad iced Americano. Just pulled another two shots. These aren’t my last for the day. When I’m in the office I’ve been downing 2-3 large pots of French press coffee and then a few cups of black tea.
If I don’t drink coffee, I get headaches. Badly. Yes, there is a chemical addiction there, and I know it. All of my counter space in my kitchen is dedicated to making coffee. I only have an espresso machine, a turkish ibrik, a french press… and I’m thinking of getting a chemex. Ok, maybe I am a bit far in. What’s horrid, is that almost no coffee shop can make a drink that I actually like anymore. That’s what I get I guess for getting my first espresso maker at 13. Thank you John Firesheets (my good friend who for many years was my only guitar teacher. Amazing guy) for getting my drinking coffee that much more!
So one thing that I can’t get ANYWHERE around here to make anymore is a decent iced cappuccino! They all claim that putting heated foam onto ice is dangerous and causes bacteria to spore. Maybe I’ve just had enough of the bacteria that my body no longer cares, but I see no ill effects from it.
They tell me all sorts of food-related things are dangerous. Very rare steak, rare hamburger, raw eggs, oysters on the halfshell, raw milk, raw cheese, moldy cheese, raw seafood at large, etc…
I have only once ever had my stomach ever feel bad in a way that I attributed to bad food, and I don’t even know for sure that it was the food then. I’ve eaten raw eggs, rare/uncooked seafoods and meats for a long time. No ill effects. I mean, I cook my pork well, but steak? Barely. Tuna? Never does heat touch it.
So I wish that these places would stop it with the liability bullshit and foam their milk right. I’ve tricked a few $tarbuck$ by telling them to give me an “iced latte with foam”. Some of them are stupid enough to not get it. La Roma by default no longer makes them right, although most of them will if I ask pretty. Espresso Royale at least still makes decent ones.
