21st Street Coffee and Tea» 21st Street Coffee and Tea

On Crema

Luke — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 12:14:06 +0000

I’m a “shot stirrer”- been one for a couple of years. The bottom third of a just poured shot of espresso is the by far the sweetest, while the crema on top can taste a little harsh sometimes. I like to give my shots a good stir before I drink them so every sip has the same balance of flavors. Some espresso blends really benefit from stirring, the effect of which is comparable to adding a packet of sugar to the coffee. If you haven’t tried stirring your shot, you should.

Former World Barista Champ and blogger extraordinaire James Hoffman (with cues from The Coffee Collective) takes it a step further- ditch the crema altogether. Why would you do that? Watch the video…

Keep in mind, however, that this information is meant to help you enjoy espresso more and doesn’t mean that you should pursue the elimination of all variables that produce crema. Crema is a valuable indication of freshness and that the shot is dialed in properly… it just doesn’t always taste that great. You can’t taste latte art either, but it tells you the milk was textured properly…

Open July 4th

Luke — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 23:15:22 +0000

We’ll be open Saturday July 4th from 8am-5pm*, our normal hours. The asterisk is that if the Strip District turns into a ghost town before 5pm we may close up early. For the record I think it will be quite busy, so while some of our neighbors will be closed we’ll be doin’ our thang.

Green Coffee at the Intelli Roasting Works in Chicago >>==> Flecha Roja, Direct Trade Costa Rica

We have several great new coffees to try, including our Direct Trade Guatemala (Itzamna) and Costa Rica (Flecha Roja). Our complete menu can be found here. Keep in mind that at any time we may not have all of the coffees on this list as we try to keep them within 10 days from the roast date (and it is tough to keep up with printing a new menu every couple of days!).

Happy Independence Day- see you in the Strip!

Holiday Hours

Luke — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 14:24:53 +0000

The Frick Building location will be closed on Friday, July 3rd, and will reopen on Monday morning at 7am.
The Strip District location is open normal hours Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. See you there.

Twitter

Luke — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 12:44:24 +0000

We use our Twitter account for quick (sometimes not very well thought out) posts covering anything from menu updates to something odd that happened in our shop. Twitter limits the messages to 140 characters, unlike Wordpress (this blog), which will let me type run on sentence after run on sentence without any consequences whatsoever. We don’t always have time for a full blog post, so we use our twitter account to get things out there quickly and concisely. While we don’t have thousands of followers, we have seen a response to what we’ve been uh, “tweeting”. Yes I wrote “tweeting”.

Anyway, there is an article in today’s PG looking into businesses that use social networking tools such as Twitter and Facebook. You can read it here.

It’s a great day for hockey (and coffee)

Luke — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 23:01:19 +0000

one for me and one for stanley

Originally uploaded by 21st Street Coffee and Tea

Cup Discount if you bring Stanley to the Strip

Luke — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 03:14:37 +0000

Sid the Champ

WOOOOOOOO! Bring the Cup to the Strip District and we’ll pour latte art in it! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

First Crack Addicts

Luke — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 13:26:23 +0000

The Roasters of Intelligentsia Chicago from Intelligentsia Coffee on Vimeo.

In Season(er), Direct(er) Trade

Luke — Fri, 29 May 2009 21:47:33 +0000

Click on the image for the full story of La Tortuga, Honduras

Some very exciting news. I’m sure Intelligentsia will be providing more details, but I found this so interesting I wanted to share it.

Intelligentsia is now importing their own coffee.

We received our first shipment of Direct Trade Honduras (La Tortuga) this last week of May. Every year this coffee is a favorite among all of our customers. Last year, this coffee wasn’t in our hands until the first week of July. The harvest took place at the same time (coffee is typically harvested only once per year), but because Intelligentsia financed and imported the coffee themselves they were able to get it into our hands SIX FULL WEEKS earlier than last season. This coffee was still being harvested in March… and now you can drink it. Chances are if you’re drinking any other Honduras… it’s probably from LAST YEAR. Think about that.

Well we know it’s “Direct Trade“, and “In Season“, so what exactly does this news mean?

For coffee drinkers- this means the coffee will taste even fresher and more vibrant than ever before. The super short time from harvest to cup combined with many quality improvements made at farm level guarantee that this will be the best edition of “the turtle” to date. Intelli’s financing of the transaction means an even more direct and transparent financial relationship with the producers (farmers) than ever before. Doing their own importing gives Intelli greater control over the logistics of getting the coffee from origin to the roasting works in Chicago. Farmers are happy, coffee lovers are happy, and everything tastes as close as it could to the cupping table in Honduras.

This is akin to the difference between purchasing your farm direct strawberries at the local farmer’s market versus getting them from the grocery store. Fresher coffee tastes better. Intelli is not the kind of company that coins a term like “Direct Trade” and gets complacent- they continue to refine and define the truly highest end of the specialty coffee market, and we’re so proud to serve the fruits of their labor.

Home Brewing Class

Luke — Wed, 27 May 2009 13:51:47 +0000

Only a couple days left to sign up for our home brewing class taking place this Sunday 5/31 in the Strip. We’re going to cup some great coffees, then brew them up on the Chemex. All participants get a bag of fresh roasted beans, 10% off home brewing gear, and priceless knowledge. Space is limited and our classes tend to fill up fast, so head over to the online store to grab your spot.

Go Pens/Drink Better Coffee

Memorial Day

Luke — Sat, 23 May 2009 18:23:49 +0000

Memorial Day Hours- Monday 5/25

Strip District: OPEN 8am - 1pm

Frick Building: CLOSED

God bless the USA