http://www.arizona-coffee.com Great coffee comes in small doses Thu, 15 May 2008 19:00:41 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Tomas sent me this link to some really outstanding coffee art. I have to admit, some of them are really good. I'd imagine by the time they are done with some of those, the drink is cold. Also, there is a huge difference between coffee art and latte art. ... http://www.arizona-coffee.com/2008/coffee-art-2 Here are the poll results from this poll which has been on this site for a year. Obviously this poll is unscientific in nature so take it with a grain of salt. Does Wireless Internet Influence Coffee Shop Choice: 57% say yes. http://www.arizona-coffee.com/2008/poll-results-does-free-wifi-influence-choice-of-coffee-shop It's sometimes difficult to find good, real live music events at local coffee shops. I was happy to hear about a monthly music event at Drip Coffee Lounge in the newspaper recently. Every last Saturday of the month, for the last 3 months and ongoing they have events. There are 3-5 ... http://www.arizona-coffee.com/2008/music-drip-coffee-lounge I have some sad news to report today... One of our own has passed away. Bill McCauley, the owner of Red Rock Foods and Daily Buzz Coffeehouse passed away on Monday morning. You may know Bill on this web site as "AzBill." He was a regular contributor, and a sponsor. If you'd ... http://www.arizona-coffee.com/2008/rip-azbill I visited Jolta Java the other day and had a latte. I really like the atmosphere of Jolta Java, but found my latte leaving a lot to be desired. The foam just wasn't right. Hope next time it's better. Here is a 20 second video clip I took: Jolta Java 14418 N. Scottsdale ... http://www.arizona-coffee.com/2008/jolta-java A Human Bean coffee shop has recently opened in Fountain Hills. It is at Shea Boulevard and Arizona 87 (the Beeline Highway). The Arizona Republic has the rest of the story: The coffee chain has four Valley franchises with plans to expand by 25 stores in the next several years. A ... http://www.arizona-coffee.com/2008/human-bean-opens-in-fountain-hills The best way to describe Red Espresso is making tea with your espresso machine. Got that? Okay, then watch this video which shows someone making some drinks. Thanks for the tip Tomas! http://www.arizona-coffee.com/2008/tea-espresso An Arizona Coffee reader named Sean Hoy emailed me this week to let me know about his cartoons. He's just recently published a cartoon book of 90 pages of cartoons with a coffee emphasis. You can learn more about the book, his cartoons, and Sean's upcoming meetup in Scottsdale at ... http://www.arizona-coffee.com/2008/sean-hoy-cartoons This week is the 2008 United States Barista Championship (USBC). There are a couple of people attending from Arizona and we wish them safe travels and a good time. Jason Calhoon who represented Arizona at the SWRBC is going and will be competing in the barista competition. We wish him ... http://www.arizona-coffee.com/2008/usbc-may-2-5-2008 I have some sad news. The Coffee Vein in Tucson has closed. I've received this news from Matt Moran and confirmed it by looking at their MySpace page. Best wishes to the entire crew. It was great. http://www.arizona-coffee.com/2008/closed-the-coffee-vein Sometime soon I'm planning a trip over to Cartel Coffee Lab, but for those not in the loop it is a new coffee bar / coffee roaster located in Tempe. From their MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/cartelcoffeelab We're a new coffee roastery located in Tempe, Arizona. We are excited to offer our customers ... http://www.arizona-coffee.com/2008/cartel-coffee-lab A new coffee brand is coming to Tucson, and they've just opened their first location in Arizona, a drive-through. Waverly's Premium Coffee Roasters is located at 5775 E Broadway Blvd. Donna Hammond emailed me to let me know that they are planning a grand opening in May. I believe they are ... http://www.arizona-coffee.com/2008/waverlys-tucson * Daily Buzz Coffeehouse is now closed * I took a video of the Daily Buzz Coffeehouse and wanted to post it here on the site. Daily Buzz Coffeehouse 22721 S. Ellsworth Rd. Queen Creek, AZ 85242 (in the new Village Shops at Queen Creek) http://www.arizona-coffee.com/2008/daily-buzz-coffeehouse-video * Daily Buzz Coffeehouse is now closed * A few weeks ago I drove down to Queen Creek to check out the new Daily Buzz Coffeehouse. For people who live or work in that part of town, you are lucky. Their are two things you need to know: First, the coffee is ... http://www.arizona-coffee.com/2008/coffee-queen-creek Terry writes: I was at the Jamaican Blue last night and heard they are closing for good on May 1st 2008. I am looking for a place I can go to late nights - 11PM or later in the east valley/south Scottsdale area. Wanted to check out Contraband but cannot find an address. ... http://www.arizona-coffee.com/2008/closing-jamaican-blue-coffee-house Brandon from Coffee Plantation posted a comment in a recent thread and confirmed the upcoming location on Camelback Rd. & 20th St. at Town & Country shopping center. It will be opening in May, 2008. In addition, it looks like they have finally updated their web site with revised location information. Here ... http://www.arizona-coffee.com/2008/coffee-plantation-confirms-town-country-location-opening-in-may I visited SOLO Cafe on Friday afternoon with a bunch of friends. I had a chance to meet Chad, one of the owners, and had myself a latte. Here is the video I shot that day. SOLO Cafe 107 E. Baseline Road A-4 Tempe AZ 85283 Phone: (480) 838-SOLO (7656) http://www.arizona-coffee.com/2008/solo-cafe-video John wrote to let me know about Cornerstone Coffee House in El Mirage (right next door to Surprise). They have a nice looking interior, live music, and free wifi. Cornerstone Coffee House 13915 N. Dysart Road El Mirage, AZ 85335 Phone: (623) 933-1118 http://www.arizona-coffee.com/2008/cornerstone-coffee-house-el-mirage Who has the best monthly "subscription" style coffee service? Thinking of a setup where you get coffee from a different roast in your mailbox every month. http://www.arizona-coffee.com/2008/coffee-monthly Brian Shaler staged a protest at a local donut shop today. It was a blast (I went, but I'm not in the photo). More photos are on Flickr. If you're confused, you should be as there wasn't much reason to hold a protest. It was a lot of fun though, ... http://www.arizona-coffee.com/2008/donuts-ftw I was invited to visit SOLO Cafe by the owners. Two gentlemen by the name of AndrewLiam Kelsey and Chad Bare. SOLO Cafe is brand new. Having only opened at the beginning of this year. They have a considerably nice shop and I was very impressed by the quality of ... http://www.arizona-coffee.com/2008/a-visit-to-solo-cafe-in-tempe Check out this womans reaction after tasting a macchiato she didn't enjoy. http://www.arizona-coffee.com/2008/reaction On Wednesday, there is an informal donut meetup at Wishill's Donut House. Starts at 11 am for a little more than 1 hour. The event will probably be fun because it's sort of a joke protest of the fact that Flickr now allows videos. http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/474099/ This caused me to wonder about good ... http://www.arizona-coffee.com/2008/places-to-get-donuts-in-phoenix Next on the Tempe Coffee Shop Circuit was Bunna Coffee. Bunna has been open just shy of 2 years now and I'm afraid to say this is my first visit. The coffee shop is in a cozy little strip mall on the NW corner of Elliot & Rural. Bunna serves ... http://www.arizona-coffee.com/2008/a-visit-to-bunna-coffee Which coffee shops have the best breakfasts? I hear that Fair Trade Cafe has a Sunday brunch that is quite good. Daily Buzz in Queen Creek just launched breakfast bagel sandwiches. And besides that, 100% of all coffee shops have plain bagels, muffins, and donuts. But that gets old, fast. Have you ... http://www.arizona-coffee.com/2008/best-breakfasts I recently made a circuit of a few coffee shops in Tempe and Steve's Espresso was my first stop of the day. I visited Steve's Espresso on a Saturday in February before the weather had warmed up. One of the neat things about Steve's Espresso is that they use a ... http://www.arizona-coffee.com/2008/a-visit-to-steves-espresso Dylan Jung found Arizona Coffee by way of CoffeeGeek.com and wrote to let us know about Zelo Cosi Cafe in Sedona, AZ. Thanks Dylan! Zelo Cosi Cafe 671 Hwy 179, Hillside Sedona Sedona, AZ 86336 Phone: (928) 204-0051 http://www.arizona-coffee.com/2008/zelo-cosi-cafe-in-sedona As I mentioned, I made a trip out to Next Coffee Company on Saturday and took some photos and tried some of the food. The place is huge. Over 3,200 sq ft according to Josh Morris (an Arizona Coffee reader and one of the people who work at Next Coffee ... http://www.arizona-coffee.com/2008/a-visit-to-next-coffee-company Yesterday I visited a new coffee shop in Glendale called Next Coffee Company (I don't think they have a web site). They're having a grand opening celebration on April 17th. There were at least 40 people there when I visited yesterday (they opened two weeks ago). Next Coffee Company 19420 N. 59th ... http://www.arizona-coffee.com/2008/next-coffee-bar-in-glendale Ran across this graphic over on the Brotherhood of the Bean blog. Thought I'd share since they have a location here in Arizona, with another opening in Scottsdale this year. The Bad Ass Coffee Company of Surprise 15643 N. Reems Road Suite 100 Surprise AZ 85374 (One block north of Greenway Road on Reems Road) Owners: ... http://www.arizona-coffee.com/2008/the-story-of-bad-ass-coffee Ron Cortez just sent me this announcement of an upcoming event at Royal Coffee Bar. Royal Coffee Bar 209 W Jackson St Phoenix, AZ 85003 Phone: (602) 374-8044 http://www.arizona-coffee.com/2008/art-event-at-royal-coffee-bar Arizona Coffee Reader and fan HB just sent me this photo of his car with the new Arizona Coffee bumper sticker. Way to go HB! http://www.arizona-coffee.com/2008/yeah Dave Smith writes: Chris, Fantastic site. Jay Thompson put me onto your site. I've written a series of reviews for coffee shops in Oro Valley. I indicate free WIFI where available. Here is the link to the Oro Valley Coffee category. Feel free to use any information in these posts to ... http://www.arizona-coffee.com/2008/oro-valley-coffee-shops Burnt. Over roasted. Those are a few of the words that come to mind when people talk about the coffee at Starbucks. Those words also sound like a campfire ritual! When I was a kid I liked to put marshmellows in the fire and catch them on fire. Then I'd blow them ... http://www.arizona-coffee.com/2008/the-pikes-place-roast-thing Over the weekend I received a bunch of emails from people enjoying coffee. One of them was from Sam DeVore who told me about a coffee shop in Tucson I didn't know about. It's called Le Buzz Caffe (cool name!). Here's what Sam writes: One of my favorite coffee haunts in Tucson ... http://www.arizona-coffee.com/2008/le-buzz-caffe-in-tucson