mouth() << coffee;
Home Setup
- Espresso machine: Gaggia Classic Pro
- Grinder: 1ZPresso JX-Pro, Eureka Mignon Specialita
- Basket: IMS Precision
I will mod my espresso machine at some point to have a PID.
I mostly make espresso drinks, but also own a Phin coffee brewer, a V60, and an Origami dripper.
Also, I have a gallery here.
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.
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- 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.
To visit, also in no particular order.
- Big Dog Coffee (South Side)
- Constellation Coffee
- Creative Coffee
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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.
- * Kawa Coffee (Bolivie-Manco Kapak):
- * 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.
To try:
- City of Saints
- Verve
- Atlas
- Corvus
- Kitty Town Coffee
- Dark Horse Coffee Roasters
Coffee Mugs
I like Loveramics latte cups a lot.