mouth() << coffee;

Home Setup

• Espresso machine: Gaggia Classic Pro
• Grinder: 1ZPresso JX-Pro, Eureka Mignon Specialita
• Basket: IMS Precision

Coffee Shoppe Reviews (Pittsburgh, PA)

In no particular order, based only on 12oz lattes.

• Coffee Tree Roasters (Shadyside): 7/10
• Cafe Carnegie: 1/10
• Round Table Coffee (Shadyside): 4/10
• Jitters Cafe (Shadyside): 7/10
• Arriviste Coffee (Shadyside): 6/10
• Centred Coffee & Wellness (Shadyside): 5/10
• Georgie's Corner Cafe (Shadyside): 8/10
• KLVN Coffee Lab (Larimer): 7/10 - extreme hits and extreme misses.
• James Cafe (Strip): 6/10
• Commonplace Coffee (Squirrel Hill): 6/10
• Redhawk Coffee (Oakland): 5/10
• The Vault Coffeehouse (Pitcairn): 6/10
• Divvy Coffee & Buns (Oakland): 3/10
• De Fer Coffee & Tea (Carnegie Mellon University): 3/10 (Was previously 8/10, quality has massively declined)
• Curbside Coffee (Blawnox): 4/10
• Mechanic Coffee Company (Verona): 5/10 - sour, underextracted.
• Mechanic Coffee Company (Shadyside): 4/10 - watery.
• Local Provisions Cafe (Fox Chapel) : 0/10 - specialty prices for Jura coffee. Not a real coffeeshop.
• Kaibur Coffee (Polish Hill): 6/10 - Tastes like peanut oil?
• Delanie's Coffee (Southside): 8/10 - Serves traditional beans, sells modern beans.
• Espresso a Mano (Lawrenceville): 7/10
• Hilltop Coffee (Arlington / Southside Slopes): 6/10 - Traditional bitterness.
• LV Coffee Project (East Liberty): 6/10 - Rotates their beans regularly, was very acidic when I visited.
• Heat Check (Shadyside): 5/10 - inconsistent, oftentimes tastes both under- and over-extracted.

• Big Dog Coffee (South Side)
• Constellation Coffee
• Creative Coffee

Coffee Roasters / Beans

Personal preferences: don't like acidic beans, prefer a medium-light roast. Tested for espressos (and lattes/cappuccinos). For milk drinks, tested with Fairlife whole milk. (*) Indicates review for a single blend/bean. Also in no particular order:

• Del's Coffee: 8/10 - Generally good.
• Blue Bottle: 5/10 - Hit or miss, but the Hayes Blend is consistently non-offensive.
• Intelligentsia: 5/10 - Generally okay all around.
• KLVN: 6/10 - Hit or miss. Highline and Continual Flame are pretty good, but I do not like Alta Imabara or Luces at all.
• De Fer Coffee & Tea: 7/10 - Nice decaf, others seem consistently nice.
• * Honor Coffee (out of business, Crown No.1 Blend): 9/10 - Impressive light roast with toasty notes. Not sure if roasted in-house.
• Coffee Tree Roasters: 7/10 - consistent roasts, mostly non-offensive.
• Ritual Coffee: 6/10 - It's alright, nothing special.
• * East Crema Coffee (Blue House): 6/10 - Pleasant.
• * Fabrica Coffee Roasters (Kerinci): 7/10 - Pleasant. Would like to try more of their roasts.
• * Syra Coffee (Santa Fe): 6/10 - Tasting notes not very distinct, but pleasant.
• Tanat (Kawa) Coffee (Bolivie-Manco Kapak, ...): 8/10 - Tried 3-4 different beans in total, all pleasant. Emphasis on fruity notes, makes for good filter and espresso.
• * Fève Coffee (Essentiel Ethiopie Cooperative Haru): ?/10 - Don't know how to rate drip coffee.
• * Victrola (Triborough): 4/10 - Tastes burnt.
• * Mechanic Coffee Company (Modulator): 3/10 - Unpleasant sort of acidity. Hard to dial in.
• * Alta:
• Sightglass: 8/10 - Owl's Howl is consistently pleasant, toasty. Winter Solstice odd but nice.
• Coffee & Water Lab (?): 6/10 - Nothing really stands out.
• *Tartine (Filter 02): 7/10 - Pretty consistent and well-behaving, a bit of brightness.
• *Onyx (Mexico Finca Las Chicharras): 10/10 - Distinct berry notes, low acidity, medium-light roast.
• *Onyx (Monarch): 7/10 - Had this served in cafe. Very traditional taste, non-offensive.
• *Onyx (Peru Roberto Roncal de la Cruz): 7/10 - Milk-chocolate-y.
• *Mothership coffee (Ethiopia Worka Sakaro): 8/10 - Easy to extract with blueberry notes, although not as distinct as the Onyx Mexican Fina.
• *LAMILL Coffee (Keramo): 7/10 - Slightly fruity, mostly crowd-pleasing but a bit of acidity.
• *Bean N Bean (Decaf Medium Roast): 6/10 - Roasted darker than I'd prefer, a little nutty but the notes don't really shine when brewed.
• *ILSE (Paxtle - Lot 1): 7/10 - Pleasant light-ish roast. A bit lacking in clarity but leans sweet.
• *Code Black (Raro Natural): 6/10 - Nothing really stands out.
• *Home Coffee Roasters (Sunset Blend): 8/10 - Took a while to dial in, but the caramel note is punchy once you get it right! Also really reminds me of the sweetness of goji berries. Lovely affordable blend!
• *SW Coffee Roasters (Rainbow EA Decaf): 10/10 - Best decaf I've had, better than majority of non-decafs even. Well rounded profile in this light roast.
• Moongoat Coffee: 6/10 - Nothing stood out, but was pleasant enough to drink. Would have liked more uniqueness in this coffee at this price.
• Ceremony Coffee Roasters: 7/10 - Not particularly remarkable, but pleasant to drink in general. Tried Mass Appeal and Destroyer.
• L'Arbre a Cafe: 10/10 - Simply exceptional. Mellow but distinct flavors, not too funky. When filter brewed, the mouthfeel of the Illuminacion bean (which is very pricey at about $70/4.5oz...) is smooth and velvety.
• La Cabra: 7/10 - Hit or miss, though not nearly as much variance in roast as KLVN.
• Kona Coffee Purveyors: 7/10 - Offers several roasts of 100% Kona Coffee. I think Kona is simply not my preferred flavor profile, but none of their coffees were unpleasant, either.

• City of Saints
• Verve
• Atlas
• Corvus
• Kitty Town Coffee
• Dark Horse Coffee Roasters

Coffee Mugs

I am currently in search of good latte cups! I used to exclusively buy Loveramics cups, however when trying to buy cups at their physical store, I faced clear discrimination. The employee refused to even make eye contact with me, much less even greet me, even though I waited several minutes in the near-empty shop to purchase a cup. Other people (merely passing by the shop!) were greeted and welcomed, and I was the only person ignored. The whole experience was mind-boggling. As a result, I am no longer supporting Loveramics.