I don't drink bad coffee. Most people would call me a coffee snob.
http://coffeesnobdavis.com - My public service blog about the current state of coffee in Davis. If you are a coffee snob, I tell you where not to waste your time and money in search of good coffee in Davis. If good coffee is ever found, I'll let you know that too.
http://espressomap.com/ - Nearby cafes that serve good coffee.
I love your coffee comments here. I moved to SF from Davis a couple years ago and I've been spoiled rotten by Blue Bottle, Ritual and my home french press (with freshly roasted, non-over-roasted beans). Whenever I go back to Davis I'm surprised by the low coffee quality, but I think it's like that in most of the world. The only other non-SF great coffee I've had was at Cafe Grumpy in NYC (even Eugene's Wandering Goat Cafe seemed overroasted to me).
The sad part is that this means all these people haven't experienced what coffee can really taste like (or just don't care). —PhilipNeustrom
2009-09-08 17:02:37 i too, love your coffee comments. i haven't found anywhere that has a barista that can pull a proper espresso (with the thick head of crema that i yearn for) though i haven't bothered looking, after seeing many of your comments. if you have any suggestions that save me the drive to the bay area, i would love to hear any (sac maybe?). until then i'll stick to my reliable french press, and indulge when i am away from here. thanks for bothering to review so many places. —MiranPark
2009-09-08 21:46:07 I loved your comment about meat cakes. —SunjeetBaadkar
2009-09-14 09:19:57 thanks, i'll try temple the next time i'm out that way. why is vegan asian panda redundant? all pandas are technically asian and vegan? —MiranPark
2009-12-25 11:56:00 more coffee reviews please! Peetes is lacking your touch —StevenDaubert
2009-12-26 09:16:11 By far, imho, the best spot in town is Konditorei. The problem with many other places is thamthey vary over the years. Mishka's was great at one point but high staff turnover has always made it fluxuate. —WesHardaker
I left out Konditorei because I have not tried their coffee in 2 years. If memory serves me correctly, they scored about a D+. Good pastries though. —CoffeeSnobDavis
Let me know when you try it again. Take a straight espresso and rate it. Do *not* get it to go though, which quickly ruins any espresso drink. If you don't like it, then I'll know our tastes differ enough that I should ignore the rest of your ratings!
2009-12-26 09:53:05 Don't forget there are two Peet's outlets in Davis; I assume you're grading the downtown, but if you make it out to the Marketplace shopping center you might wish to give it a try. —DonShor
I have tried both. The Marketplace Peet's is about on par with the rest of the Peet's I have tried, D+. The downtown Peet's gave me something more like motoroil. —CoffeeSnobDavis
2009-12-26 14:16:14 This might be blasphemy, but what do you rate McDonald's coffee (the one at North Davis tastes weaker compared to most locations I've been to)? I've always liked coffee from McDonald's better than the stuff served at Starbucks. —hankim
It isn't blasphemy, but it isn't saying much. Better than Starbucks = Not ENTIRELY nasty coffee. If you enjoy McDonald's coffee, be happy. Do you really want me to rate them? —CoffeeSnobDavis
I guess curiosity did kill the cat. —hankim
2010-01-06 14:41:21 Was surprised, yet not surprised by how low the scored on here were. On a whim I checked out your espressomap and was happy to find Barefoot Coffee (My family live near there) on your list, so I'm going to try Old Soul in Sacramento on Thursday. —AlvinTsao
I did not create that espressomap, but I do agree that almost all the cafes on there serve good to great coffee. I grew up in San Jose, but discovered Barefoot after I moved out :(. Let me know what you think of Old Soul, I've never tried it personally and have heard conflicting reviews. —CoffeeSnobDavis
2010-01-30 11:48:10 Hey, I've seen you pop into IRC a couple times. Stick around to chat — we're friendly. —JabberWokky
2010-02-22 22:11:52 the website is a nice touch (both practically and aesthetically) and i hope people find it a useful resource. i still haven't found myself near any cafes in sac but have managed to find drinkable espresso in my hometown, and i'll likely be moving to la soon where i can get real espresso. i wish you luck in davis, maybe more good baristas will swing into town in the future. —MiranPark
just dropping a line: an espresso machine setup is one of the best investments i have ever made. if you have the time and/or the interest (and the finances i suppose, though there's an assumed $$$ exchange with the bad espresso you're no longer purchasing at cafes) i highly recommend it. even my first shot was about 10x better than anything i've had in davis, though i do admit there is something about having a good espresso shot in the ambiance of a cafe, and it's unfortunate that that can't be had here. ==MiranPark
2010-07-27 21:04:05 haha that was *literally* my first shot ever pulled (don't worry, it didn't taste quite as good as it looked; i don't have magic barista superpowers). funny you mention the m4, i just got my hands on an old mazzer super jolly today. my espresso machine is fairly low end too (starbucks barista a.k.a. saeco via venezia) but again, better than anything in davis. maybe you should do some coffee consulting for local cafes, it'd do so much good for this town :/. —MiranPark
thought i'd share my first attempt at a pour from today...some kind of awful rosetta/heart hybrid attempt, when i realized i actually had microfoam. it took some coaxing but i got some velvet smoothness (on soymilk, heresy, i know, more for art than for drinking) out of this machine and hopefully the ones to come will be better. it's unfortunate that i have so little time left here or i would have tried to be a barista locally part time, if only to play with some underworked espresso machines.
edit more :( Daubert
Comments:
You must be logged in to comment on this page. Please log in.