Bold Bean Coffee Roaster

Jacksonville, Florida. Stockton Street shop. My taste buds are a little burnt out, but here goes.

Visited the shop yesterday but I wasn't really in a coffee mood for a change and had a hard time with the flavors. I thought bright and acidic, dark chocolate and a little nutty. So today I will start with the label notes and see if I can detect the flavors described or interpret what they mean.

Sweet Spot House Espresso Blend: "With notes of: Dried fruit, cocoa, spices." Also a "sweet and syrupy flavor profile...An edge of spice and fruited complexity..."

I get the cocoa and the spices. I get the sweet - like burnt sugar/caramel. If I strain really hard I can convince myself of an almost raisiny aroma, but it also seems a little almond like. Of course almond extract has a certain fruitiness to it, so maybe that's where my taste buds and olfactory receptors are getting confused. As it approaches room temperature I get more of the fruit and some of the sour I mentioned from yesterday.

Another good decaf here as well, but I'm just gonna enjoy it and not dwell on breaking down beyond the pronounced smokey, almost meaty first impression.

I like roasteries as I've mentioned before. I'm not keen on the warehouse aesthetic - here big open space, concrete floor, metal chairs and tables, exposed wooden ceiling beams and cross supports. Unfortunately those two often go together. Here the metal chairs are not exactly comfortable but they are not torturous. Yesterday Brian Eno was playing in the background setting the mood for the place. I thought only nerdy men my age listened to Eno. Today it's Beatles, some Neil Young.

Another alcohol and caffeine establishment.

Final verdict. I like the coffee, but it's not the warm, cozy, comfortable space I prefer for hanging out regularly.

Ratings (1-5 cups)

Coffee:

Ambiance/Comfort:

Space/Size:

Price (3 is average):

Comments

Big Mouth Coffee Roasters

Beacon NY. First impressions. Good coffee. Bright, fragrant and flavorful. Chocolate maybe, something fruity. Lighter roast.* They don' do triple shots so I should have gotten a small instead of medium, a little watery but that's avoidable if you know they only do multiples of 2 shots. Ambiance. A little sterile somehow. Large cavernous space with utilitarian, almost Spartan furnishings. A leather sofa and chairs in one corner does little to remedy the lack of coziness and warmth. If that's what you want in a coffee shop. On the other hand there's plenty of space and few indoor patrons today - mostly grab and grow. So a good home office away from home. As I am typing a line forms and it's almost out the door, one person at the cash register also making drinks - that's tough. Maybe someone else will come in from the back to help. The line for some odd reason runs next to my table where's there's very little space instead of down the middle of the entranc...

Coffee Labs El Salvador Santa Rosa, Washed Process

First thing I note is slightly fermented fruit. Berry of some sort. Blueberry even, but I wonder if my brain is just primed for blueberry after that Ethiopian I had at Drip. Something nutty, bitter nut in the taste. No way I can tell what type, but not almond at least I know that. Hard to smell anything past the fruit, which is powerful and nice. Of course as soon as I say almond, I start to get that almond extract/cherry aroma. The power of suggestion. Taste is bright, acidic, a little bitter, some of that woody taste that is so familiar. Not getting any chocolates, caramels, or florals, unless the fruity and floral are combining in a way that I can't separate - it is aromatic. And now for the label notes: Cacao nibs, Meyer lemon, roasted hazelnuts. Roast level - 3 on a scale of 9 (light) Retasting after reading the notes. Yeah, OK, I can get the lemony - it's a cirtusy but sweet aroma, that fruit that I was struggling to name, but I would need to have a Meyer lemon on hand to...

First Village Coffee

Ossining, NY. Despite the small facade (the door on the right is a different business) it's reasonably spacious inside with a front display/bar area where assorted book-store type materials are for sale, and a back room with numerous tables and chairs, plus the covid-era outdoor seating on the street. Coffee first impressions- nutty, a little fruity, hint of dark chocolate. That woody taste as it cools. Light and smooth, easy to drink. I felt a little awkward today for some reason, having nothing to do with the coffee house - it was my second stop after venturing up to Newburgh where I also felt ill-at ease and out of sorts - it's me, not the place. Point being I didn't linger inside or ask any questions about the source of the coffee. Cute coffee shop, soft biscotti again - guess that's a thing now. It was fine once, but I prefer old-fashioned hard biscotti. Ratings (1-5 cups) Coffee: Ambiance/Comfort: Space/Size: Price (3 is average):

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