Saturday, October 19, 2013

Espresso Con Panna at Caffe Vita


I woke up today thinking I might take a break from my coffee adventures, as I woke up with the distinct desire only for tea, and not feeling the least bit curious about trying more coffee.  However, as 6 PM rolled around and I found myself out at the Columbia City PCC Market searching for an elusive Harvester Apple IPA, I realized that I actually wanted coffee.  Whoa!  That is a new feeling to me.  As luck would have it, there's a Caffe Vita across the street from that store, which is another local Seattle roaster I've heard good things about, but never venture in to their Capitol Hill location because it's always swarmed with hipsters.  This location was quiet and inviting, so I decided to pop in for a quick espresso con panna.
This was my first time walking into a coffee shop where I actually had a positive expectation.  I did not have to steel myself or walk around the block giving myself a pep talk.  I just walked in and went right up to the counter.  In fact, they didn't even have what I wanted on the menu, but I felt bold and ordered it anyway, trusting that if they had whipped cream the barista would know what I was talking about.  Indeed she did.

Looks like a dessert, doesn't it?
So why did I gravitate toward this drink?  Well, the macchiato I had seemed insufficiently balanced by the tiny dab of milk, but I still don't want to commit to a long drink, so I figured the con panna would be a step up in sweetness and creaminess from the macchiato while still being "mostly espresso".

It was definitely a step up, I will say that!  Still not all together enjoyable, but I have a hunch I like Vita's espresso a little better than Stumptown's.  I'd have to try a con panna at Stumptown to give an accurate comparison, but I had a general feeling that Vita's blend is a bit more balanced and a bit more restrained, with a smoother and less acrid feel to the bitterness.  

What I did not like so much was that the whip did not blend well at all; the first sip, even after stirring with a wooden stick, was still mostly espresso, and still mostly dominated by that burnt-wood flavor.  Bitter, but not so much as to make me gag, and not as much as the macchiato.  The drink rapidly cooled, and after a few sips was mostly just whipped cream with a mild coffee flavor.  Thus the last sips (well, they were really GULPS, as you can't really sip a mostly-solid dollop of whipped cream) were actually pretty tasty, but I didn't really like how inconsistent the flavor was throughout the drink.  Also, I needed a napkin to clean myself up periodically throughout drinking it, because of how much cream got on my upper lip.

One odd thing I noticed is that even though I found the espresso flavor fairly unpleasant still, I kind of enjoyed drinking it.  This must be that "acquired taste" thing I've been hearing about.  Like, I felt kinda good about myself for being able to tolerate such an abrasive taste.  I am wondering now if my experiences with espresso will make black brewed coffee seem palatable by comparison?

I hope so, because I'm not inclined to make a habit of consuming so much dairy or dairy substitute.  I do not think even the best roaster-cafés stock high-quality organic milk from humanely-raised grass-fed cows, and I try to make a point of not consuming animal products unless they are ethically-sourced (because I'm a pretentious food-hippie that way, I'm not entirely unashamed to say).  Milk substitutes, such as rice, almond, hemp, and soy, are even more objectionable to me because of all the gnarly artificial ingredients they include, and the fact that they are usually thin and don't taste very good (especially in comparison to my homemade date-sweetened vanilla cashew milk, which I make in a VitaMix).  Hmm...I wonder if any cafés in Seattle will steam canned coconut milk?

In any case, it's really tripping me out how "normal" drinking coffee has started to feel to me after only a few days of it.  It is definitely nice to feel so uptight about it, I will say that, but it still feels weird to think of myself as "a coffee drinker" all of a sudden.

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