(downed: shotzie)
DETROIT — Stevo came down for the Tigers/Angels game (BONUS COVERAGE BELOW!!) and after a hearty food tour, starting at Hunter House, cruising through American Coney, Cupcake Station, Leo’s, the Elwood Grill and virtually every food stand at Comerica…the mind turned to a coffee kick-start.
We were in Birmingham, an upper-crust ‘burb NW of the city. There was a coffee shop that used to be open
right next to an art-house theater on the main commercial street…last time I was here, I saw that it had closed. But seeing as what a great location it was, I figured it wouldn’t be long ’til it reopened. And bingo. Some plucky entrepreneur did just that with brass! So it might be Java Cafe, or Java Exchange Cafe or Java Hutt Cafe…who cares really.
So we jumped in to test out the hand-pulled shots and see what time in was in the Great Lakes State.
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single shot
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Service: I didn’t see the actual machine being used, but it was done by hand near as I could tell. It’s a cool looking space, with a library-ish section and the usual tables and couches in other parts. The guy running the place seemed decent, but it’s hard to tell if he bought the place just to start running a cafe or if he actually cares about the drinkies. Pretty plate/cup combo. And a good looking shot, all things considered.
Long Story Short: As I continue thinking about coffee (after spending years simply enjoying the normal stuff, suffering through the bad stuff in silence and relishing the good stuff) it’s occurring to me that a good way to judge coffee around the States would be to compare it to Starbucks. Everyone knows it, everyone can get it. It’s consistent. And (I think) it’s pretty good considering that you can, indeed, get it ANYWHERE. That’s a giant step from gas station brew, no matter how you feel about the Mermaid. So, for the majority of places that aren’t even attempting to reach the highest levels…I’m just going to put it on the Five Point scale. Three = Starbies and Five = the worst of the Major Leaguers. This was a 3.5, lacking in the full-flavor and texture departments. But it had a unique bite to it, putting it a smidge atop the Buckers crew. I get the feeling they can do better, though I base that entirely on a general optimism in mankind.
Aybar, Hudson, Davis (see if you can find ‘em)
