I’m not a coffee drinker, so when someone tells me that Starbucks coffee is disgusting, or that Tim Horton’s is addictive, I have to take their word for it. I have never tasted these things, and don’t particularly plan to.
But I can appreciate good art. Like the art you get with a carefully poured cup of latté. Apparently latté art is very popular, with all sorts of guides on how to do it.
If you just want to see the art in practice, you can head over to Caffè Art Java (837 Mount Royal Ave. E.), where through a combination of pouring and etching the baristas can create a dragon, a woman’s face, a skull, a cat, a tulip, and all sorts of other intricate patterns.
Or, like me, you can waste your day watching the YouTube videos I just linked to.
Art Java has another location downtown at the corner of University and President Kennedy. I’ve always found the service at the Plateau location a bit snooty, but the downtown one is very friendly. The space is a bit more intimate too and it’s very convenient if you’re downtown and you need a good coffee that isn’t Starbucks/Second Cup/Tim Horton’s/Van Houtte/Presse Café.
Also at Caffé Art Java—which like M. DeWolf mentions, the nicer one is on Prez Kennedy—they have a sandwich called “le grand père.” Confit of boar, duck rillettes, and caramelised apples.
It’s the most amazing thing but, with a coffee and salad, will set you back about $13, which is pretty steep for eating every day. And I would if I could.
The title captured my attention for some reason related to my photoblog
http://postcardsfromtheend.aminus3.com/image/2007-11-20.html
This shit is the shit. Omigod.
You have it the other way around… Starbucks is good and Tim Hortons, well, not so good, Al. Shame you don’t plan on tasting them though. Starbucks can be fun… when enjoyed while wearing a previously mentioned Dynamite skirt… although I’m betting dollars to donuts that you’ll have to take my word on that one too.
I don’t drink coffee, so I wouldn’t know. But one thing is for sure. I wouldn’t pay the ridiculous amounts of money they ask for coffee nor would I wait those insane lineups for a cup of Joe. It’s coffee, not a ride at La Ronde. And still, I don’t go at La Ronde because I refuse to wait in line for those rides. It’s coffee, not orgasm in a cup. If I’m in line more than 2 minutes, I’m out of there. Got life to live. Just my 2¢
Amazing how people who don’t drink coffee have an opinion about it.. Hey Dave, what’s your opinion on being pregnant? ;-)
I am a coffee snob. There, I said it. I’ve tried coffee all over the city and I’ve driven all over the city looking for good fresh coffee beans. I won’t tell you how much I have spent on espresso machinery.. It’s embarrassing.
Now having pathetically tried to establish some credibility, let me just say that Art Java makes the must espresso and Cappuccino in the city. Period. The baristas are fully trained on how to make good coffee. The machines used, Marzocco, cost more then my car. It’s the only coffee shop that actually tries to make good coffee. The other coffee shops don’t care, don’t know how and just want to sell as much crud as possible.
Espresso isn’t supposed to taste like bitter water. It’s supposed to taste good. At Art Java, it tastes very good.
Hey Dave, what’s your opinion on being pregnant?
Funny you should ask. It sucks. It almost drove me to bankruptcy. When I applied for student loans way back when the poor jackass who did the data entry entered me as pregnant and it took months to clear up the error and till then I was living on my credit cards. Took me 10 years to recover my credit. True story. So ask me again about being pregnant please. :D
I won’t tell you how much I have spent on espresso machinery.. It’s embarrassing.
Do tell :) The lengths people go to to satisfy their obsessions always impress me.
I will admit to loving a good Cappuccino, but finding the good one is hard work. My mother’s husband has a good machine and makes a mean Cappuccino, but I’m no connaisseur either.
The barista downtown makes a latte with a pattern in the shape of my wife’s ass. I am forever indebted.