cheryl’s gone, aug 21
(photo from wapo)
We’re mentioned in today’s Post food section, in a great article on the burgeoning specialty coffee scene in DC, written by Michaele Weissman.
some passages about us (and Anne gets mention!):
Labermeier, 27, who also buys beans from Counter Culture, exudes a laid-back friendliness, but her standards regarding coffee and all things culinary are unbending. She doesn’t stock artificial sweeteners, for example, and finds sugar unnecessary. “Our milk is sweet, and our coffee isn’t bitter, so give it a try without sugar,” she says.
She offers only whole milk (ed: and soy!); no skinny lattes in her cafe. She is also adamant that the biggest brewed coffee she serves is 16 ounces. She won’t serve 20-ounce coffees, for reasons that she preferred not to discuss for fear that they would make her sound “snobby.”
“A beautiful coffee ought to be savored,” she said.
…
Purism might make some customers angry, but it can pay off in the cup. Order a cappuccino at Big Bear, and the barista skillfully produces your drink using Counter Culture’s Seattle-style dark roasted Espresso La Forza, something of an anachronism now that lighter roasts to highlight different beans’ subtleties have come into vogue. But Labermeier knows her coffee, and the cappuccino is delicious. The sweet whole milk softens the smoky, bittersweet flavor of the darkly roasted espresso. A perfect froth of velvety foam tops the drink, and barista Anne Boatner, with the jiggle of a wrist, etches the dark-brown outline of a heart on top.
Labermeier’s attention to the intricacies of producing near-perfect coffee is shared by a small but growing number of chefs, including, most recently, Washington’s José Andrés.
full article after jump
