Coffee is Life

This cracks me up

2008-07-21T20:29:03Z

S.O.S doesn't mean Save Our Springs...It's Save Our Starbucks! :D

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/07/19/save-our-starbucks-campai_n_113748.html

Caffe Medici: coffee snobbery taken to its illogical extreme.

2008-07-20T04:27:14Z

For over a year now, my friends have heard me go on and on about how Caffe Medici is so great, and how their coffee is a cut above everywhere else in town. A few of you take my word, not because I know something of coffee, but because of the cartoon character for which I was the model.

Well, my love affair with Medici is over.

For months, my dear kitten has complained that they won't serve her an iced cappuccino, but joined me there nevertheless. Well, today I ordered espresso over ice. They refused to serve me:

barista: I'm going to put some water in. Is that ok?
linear: No. That's not ok. I want espresso over ice.
barista: We can't serve espresso over ice, because...
(whereupon the barista, easily 20 years my junior begins to lecture me on how ice shocks the espresso, and...)
linear: Look, I know Michael, the owner. Most of the music you play here comes from my private collection, I've been ordering this drink ever since it hit 100 degrees...
barista: I'm sorry. Michael said not to serve espresso over ice.

So I went to the next closest coffee house : Starbucks.

Medici may be considered to have the best espresso in town, but to dictate how a drink is consumed is misplaced snobbery.

If I go to the Cafe at the Four Seasons for crème brûlée, and ask for steak sauce to put on my crème brûlée, the waiter will look at me funny and have a joke with his colleagues in back, but he will present me with the steak sauce; and to be honest, all it would take is one coked-up NYC rockstar chef (or Tyson Cole) to start serving steak sauce on creme brule, and every 4 star restaurant would follow suit.

Similarly, if you've ever followed the United States Barista Championship, you'd witness a parade of signature drinks, which have been described as " utterly nauseating in both their desperation to attain originality, and in their substance". And yet, I can't have my espresso over ice?

Medici, the affair is over.

auscoffeehouses @ 2008-03-24T14:07:00

2008-03-24T19:07:35Z

Hey, I just want to point out that Sodade Coffee House is now open at 12001 Burnet (right where Burnet intersects Mopac, by Yoga Yoga, Mangia, and Tacodeli.) The coffee seems decent, it's open till 10pm (which is significant for a local coffee shop that far north) and it also has some yerba mate drinks. It's run by a Brazilian guy who seems nice enough, and I hear that he's open to suggestions. Check it out if you're up there -- it could be a nice addition to North Austin.

Kick Butt Coffee

2008-03-04T05:07:43Z

The sign at Mission Restaurant Supply says Kick Butt Coffee is now open, oddly enough.

Has anyone tried them out? What was your experience?

O where o where...

2008-03-03T21:30:32Z

I am searching for decently made hot chai. I've tried it at spiderhouse, kenneys coffe co [wells branch], and also JP's java. All seemed watered down and insufficent.

Any suggestions?

auscoffeehouses @ 2007-11-19T06:07:00

2007-11-19T12:30:16Z

Hey, I just wanted to take a second to thank folks for their advice on finding quality espresso, and to share my findings (well, my opinions.)

JP's Java is really good. And it has convenient hours, and I dig the atmosphere.

Caffe Medici, on the other hand, is frickin' incredible. This is what I was looking for. The double espresso I had there was rich and creamy, almost a syrup. It was apparently a really good pull, but still, awesome. And my g/f, who normally isn't very big on espresso beverages in general, was won over by their double cappuccino. And I look forward to trying their "regular" coffee, which is french press, which I love.

Fun fact: according to one of the baristas at Medici, the owner of Medici (Michael) got his start at JP's Java, and the owner of JP's gave him a lot of support in starting Medici... so I guess it's not so surprising that they should come up in the same breath.

I have not yet had the chance to infiltrate Motive or build up my army of nekkid elven barista ladies (platoon maybe, but hardly an army) but I'll keep you apprised.

auscoffeehouses @ 2007-11-12T14:31:00

2007-11-12T21:08:43Z

Where do you go around town for really good espresso? I don't mean for a specialty drink, or atmosphere, or wifi or anything else other than a place that pulls a really, really high quality shot of espresso. (Okay, it might also be cool if they can also make a really good cappuccino, but that's secondary.)

Nor does it have to be a coffee house, per se -- restaurants, hotels, whatever, all are fine.

The most caffeinated city

2007-11-07T21:21:37Z

Would never think it:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071106/lf_nm_life/cities_caffeine_dc

auscoffeehouses @ 2007-09-19T02:13:00

2007-09-19T07:12:13Z

If you hadn't heard, Texpresso closed a few weeks ago.

If you hadn't heard, Texpresso has just reopened.

If you're in Austin and you haven't been there yet, you ought to drop by. The owner, Dave, bills the Texpresso as "the smoothest, richest, creamiest, most delicious cup of coffee in the world," and he may very well be right. The atmosphere is a little sterile, but it's pleasant, and there are times (like when I want to get some work done) that sterile is good. You can also sit outdoors behind the restaurant and enjoy the remarkably mellow vibe. They talk sports a lot and I could give a damn about most sports, but they're almost always friendly and upbeat and they always remember my name and how I take my coffee. They've got wifi, of course, and they're just a few yards from an Alamo Drafthouse, a comic book/gaming shop, Star of India, a decent Korean restaurant, and Obee's, which makes a pretty mean sandwich.

New Coffee Places Opening Soon

2007-07-18T14:11:43Z

I got a friend's request today from a new coffee place opening up on Airport Road. It's called Kick Butt Coffee. LOL!! ;), You can draw your own conclusions from that, but I'm excited a new one is popping up.

Also, the Fair Bean Coffee place is coming to fruition. I actually saw the sign put up. It's located on South 1st in a new shopping center-just across from End of An Ear. My guess is they'll be open sometime this fall.

benefit for Ararat Restaurant this Thursday night (tomorrow!)

2007-06-20T14:05:52Z

Ararat is proud to announce that our next benefit party will be at our favorite Eastside coffee shop, Café Mundi, located at 1704 East 5th St. (between Comal & Chicon)
www.cafemundi.com
www.myspace.com/cafemundi

Celebrating the Summer Solstice Ararat Style with a
~ Black Tie & Flip Flops Affair ~
Thursday, June 21st 6pm-Midnite.

Hosted by the infamous duo from "The Buttons & Bows Show" Hilah Johnson & Mark Stewart!!!
www.myspace.com/thebuttonsandbowsshow
Buttons and Bows have been playing shows and hosting events at venues such as Beerland, Elysium, Room 710, Scholze's Biergarten, Church of the Friendly Ghost, Victory Grill, The Pecan Street Festival, and a sophisticated political play festival (The Bonfire Festival), among others. Their upcoming show Hilah's Dollhouse was scheduled to open at Ararat's former location on North Loop Blvd. earlier this year. And after the unfortunate postponing we are pleased to announce that the show will go on....
At the new Salvage Vanguard Theater starting July 6th.
So come sample the fun!!

Featuring live music with The Righteous Tidings at 6:45!!
www.myspace.com/araratrestaurant

Followed by the music of WinoVino accompanied by a special pirate belly dance performance with Ararat's own shockadelic Salome!!
www.myspace.com/winovinomusic
www.myspace.com/clowndestino

Belly dancing performances by the lovely Ararat dancers Zahira, Rania, Michelle, Sherry, Yamina, & Leila starting at 8:20pm.
www.myspace.com/araratrestaurant
www.myspace.com/raniabellydance
www.myspace.com/michellesefcik
www.myspace.com/troupemirage
www.myspace.com/yaminabobina
www.myspace.com/leilasharif

And of course no Ararat event would be complete without a little fire feast……
And finally after much traveling, performing & teaching all over the world this past year we are stoked to announce that the Fire Temptress ~SAGE~ will be gracing our stage at 9:30pm.
Accompanied by the musical stylings of gypsy revolutionist Oliver Rajamani!!! So come ready to dance cuz this is just the warm up!
www.myspace.com/sangredelsolfire
www.myspace.com/rajamani

Followed by a booty-shakin' dance party with boogieologist DJ.MaryMac
www.myspace.com/marymacngravy

A bazaar filled with psychic readings, handmade jewelry, local arts, crafts, henna, and community/world information will be open from 6-10pm. For booth/vending info please contact kelly_ararat@yahoo.com

Detailed information, updates & lineup can be found at www.myspace.com/araratrestaurant

We look forward to celebrating with you! This event is all ages, $5 cover. *sliding scale for kids under 12*
All proceeds to benefit Ararat's search for a new home...

Thank you for your love and support!!! And many thanks to Cafe Mundi for sharing their space with us! Remember to support your local coffee shops and I highly recommend the Vegan Delight w/ Cheese! Delish!!

Peace & Blessings~Kelly

24 hour coffee

2007-05-08T05:00:53Z

I need a 24 hour coffee place (or one that opens around 5 am) thats central/south... the only ones I know about are Epoch and Anderson Lane Starbucks, both too far north.

I am studying for a final and want to be as close to school as possible so I can study for as long as possible before my test starts. I go to ACC Rio Grande (very close to 12th and Lamar)

Einsteins is probably open, but its probably crazy early in the morning. In fact I know it is and I don't want to be too distracted.

I'm thinking of going to Katz's and just getting coffee and studying there... has anyone ever done that? Will they shun me?

Thanks!

north austin coffee shops?

2007-05-02T21:51:29Z

I just moved to the north side of town (mopac and duval) and was wondering if there were any good coffee shops nearby.

Dominican Joe's

2007-04-24T21:20:39Z

Has anyone been to Dominican Joe's on South Congress & Riverside? I tried the mocha there and it wasn't all that great. In fact, I felt like it was gas station rate sweet coffee mixes. Uggghhh. Yet, if you like quiet....that, it most definitely is...at least on Sundays.

Something to note

2007-04-14T22:35:36Z

It's not exactly "new", but Swerve is now the Irie Bean Coffee Bar on 2310 South Lamar. There's no mention of Swerve, so I'm guessing it's a completely different company that also happens to be a coffee spot. At least it changed from a coffee business to coffee business & will maintain the cool backyard area.

Clementine SUCKS!

2007-04-14T21:32:41Z

Sitting here in Clementine Cafe (on 2200 Manor) as we "speak" and I have to say I'm giving the service a thumbs down... polite but not the least bit courteous... got the run around when I asked for water (got blown off 3 times!) as it was simply beneath the staff to put my cup beneath the (already running) faucet behind them. Sitting at the bar I waved at the staff, both of whom looked right at me and ignored me outright - got a "bottomless" cup of coffee (at least got charged for it) but then got charged $.50 for a refill and when I inquired about it was hassled about the difference between a 2.38 regular cup of coffee and a 2.50 "bottomless" cup... never got a receipt so I couldn't point to anything but let it go as it was the principle not the extra couple quarters I cared about...

Austin art business is total scam!

2007-02-15T17:26:53Z

The people at ArtDirect.com/ArtCloseouts.com have completely scammed me out of $200.

BUYER BEWARE!
Do **NOT** purchase anything from them.
Do **NOT** let your friends and family do business with them.

They are completley crooked. A total scam.
They have had numerous complaints and disputes through EBay and PayPal so they KNOW how to work the system.

Once again:
WARN YOUR FRIENDS!
ArtDirect.com and ArtCloseouts.com = TOTAL SCAM ARTISTS!!

Say no to: http://www.artdirect.com/Shop/Control/fp/SFV/12840 !
Say no to: http://cgi3.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewUserPage&userid=art-closeouts !

[x-posted everywhere]

New here...

2007-01-17T07:18:36Z

Hi, I'm new to this group! I just moved back to Austin after living in San Antonio for about four years. Uh... Don't have much to say right now, so here is a list of some of the places I like to go to have coffee in this area:

* Hill Country Coffee Company (in Manchaca, in the old post office building)
* Mochas and Javas (in San Marcos)
* CoffeeNut (in Buda)
* Cedar Perk (in Cedar Park)
* Kasbah (on Guadalupe)

Meh... Don't have much to say right now except "Hi!"

Yet another coffee house opening

2006-12-30T16:55:30Z

I don't know what's the motivation, but another coffee place is opening up
on South 1st Street. We already have Bouldin Creek, Cafe Caffeine on West Mary
& Green Muse around the corner on Oltorf, but there's one planned to be open
up by March in the new shopping center across from End of An Ear. It will
be called the Fair Bean. They're doing the whole fair trade coffee thing, so it
will be interesting to check out.

Also, Jo's Coffee on South Congress has had a good drink for awhile that
adds more madness in the caffeine category. It's called the Berlin Bomber-I think..
It mixes their already homemade Iced Turbo with regular Ice Coffee. Hmmmm.
It's insane to drink, but it's really good.

Casa Brasil

2006-11-28T01:16:23Z

I didn't see this one listed on the info page:
http://www.casabrasil.us/

Thunderbird coffee

2006-11-12T03:39:14Z

There's a new? place just west of Lamar on Koenig (2222) called Thunderbird. I haven't checked it out myself but I drove by it the other day on the way home from work, and saw that it was open and had a decent crowd inside.

Its an odd looking place. The building is light blue with wooden siding, and its shaped like a big rectuangular box.

Its on the SW corner of one of the intersections on 2222 between Lamar and Burnet.

Cafe Java

2006-10-24T14:06:11Z

I've been going to this place for a couple of years now. It's located at Metric and Stonehollow, in the little shopping center across from the Northridge ACC campus. They have wireless and serve standard diner fare along with your expected array of espresso and coffee drinks. Hours are 7am-9pm weekdays, and they close at 3pm on the weekends.

Laptop-friendly places

2006-10-16T17:47:47Z

Can anyone tell me which coffee houses have...

An outlet at each (or some) tables,
and/or a connection for a dial-up modem?

In search of smoke free (or almost free) patios!

2006-09-29T15:25:08Z

First off, let me say that as an ex-smoker, I understand the joy of a cigarette with your coffee. However, now that I don't smoke, I like to enjoy the fresh air and breeze (when it's cool enough in Austin) while I drink my coffee.

My goal is to find a coffee shop with a good outdoor seating area AND a nice balanced outdoor smoking policy. OR a generally non-smoking regular crowd. Does this exist? I like Epoch because they are right by my house, but the smoking is really bad. Every time I've gone, people are ignoring the "No smoking within 15 feet of entrance" signs and smoking right by the door. It also seems as though every outdoor table is occupied by smokers. I do like Genuine Joe's on Anderson even though it's not as convenient to me.

Does anyone have any other suggestions?

Thanks!

Survey for a $5 Amazon Gift Certificate

2006-09-22T03:50:31Z

(Cross-posted)

They’re giving out $5 Amazon Gift Certificates to people who take this survey.

I didn’t qualify for it but my friend did.

OTX Research is inviting you to take a 10 minute online survey! If you qualify and complete the survey, we will e-mail you a $5 Amazon.com online gift certificate to thank you for your time.

To begin, please click the link below or copy and paste the URL into your web browser:

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There is a limit of one $5 gift certificate per household, so you may only take it once. We are depending on your honest and accurate responses -- please be truthful.

OTX is a market research company. As such, we do NOT sell anything nor do we want to get email addresses for non-research purposes. Our aim is to get honest opinions about a variety of topics.

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