Tony's in Fairhaven

Tony's is a great place to get comfy. Maybe I just feel that way because Tea Cup and I went there on an especially icy cold day, but put me next to an old-fashioned wood stove with a hot drink and I will gladly stay for the day. Beyond the general warmth of the place, the Harris Ave. Cafe which adjoins Tony's offers a variety of down to earth comfort food for breakfast, brunch, and lunch. Tony's even has their own breakfast menu, with a few basic (but delicious) items such as home fries, waffles, toast, eggs, etc. With such delectable food and drink options Tony's tops my list of places to camp out for the day with a friend, with some school work, or with a good book from Village Books or Eclipse Used Bookstore.
Until next time,
Coffee Mug

Avenue Bread on Railroad

If you live in Bellingham you probably know Avenue bread, our local bakery. Coffee Mug and I went downtown to the Railroad Ave. store last week and it was a delight. Their cafe downtown sells their breads and other pastries as well as coffee and breakfast sandwiches. The cappuccino only come in one size: 6 oz, so if you want an american cappuccino (super sized) you must go somewhere else. Besides our table there were about four tables packed together with a large group of men who seemed to be regulars. It seems to be a good gathering place. The store was spacious and welcoming. It is a wonderful place to pick up your bread for the week and get a nice cup of coffee. 

Until next time,

Tea Cup.

P.S. If you cannot tell, my passion is tea but my addiction is cappuccinos. I like to make tea at home and get a comforting cup of coffee out. 

What is White Coffee?

White coffee is a fairly new kind of specialty coffee that can be found at a few coffee shops and drive-thru’s around town. To understand what white coffee is, a quick explanation of the roasting process is in order; coffee beans are actually a seed like the pit of a cherry. When they are freshly harvested (before roasting) they are green and very hard. The roasting process brings the coffee through a spectrum of colors from green to light yellow, to light brown, to dark brown. This process brings out the rich, somewhat bitter flavor associated with regular coffee. Also, the roasting process is essentially roasting the caffeine out of the coffee. That’s right—the darker the roast, the less caffeine you are getting. So if you are looking to get buzzed, brew yourself a big pot of light roast coffee!

White coffee is the result of very little roasting, stopping at the light yellow stage of roasting, and therefore is very caffeinated and has a light nutty or seedy flavor as opposed to the dark, rich, traditional coffee taste. The bean is still quite hard at this point and therefore requires a special grinder that is strong and sharp enough to shave the beans adequately. For this reason, white coffee will typically come pre-ground for the coffee shop as opposed to the barista grinding the beans fresh for you as is custom when pulling regular espresso shots. 

The beautiful spectrum of coffee beans. Want to see it in person? Check out Caffe Adagio in downtown Bellingham!

So if you're looking for a slightly different coffee drink, or need a little more pep in your step for the day, ask your barista if their coffee shop carries white coffee and what drinks they recommend it in; it usually tastes best in regular lattes, flavored lattes, and white mochas-- or feel free to get creative!


Have you had white coffee before? Did you like it? How would you describe the flavor? What drink do you usually order with white coffee?


Until next time,
Coffee Mug

Tea Culture

Tea the Drink that Changed the World
by Laura C. Martin

I fell in love with tea my sophomore year of high school when I read Tea the Drink that Changed the World by Laura C. Martin. I had always enjoyed tea, but after I read Martin's book I was not sure what I loved more, drinking tea or the idea of tea. Tea the Drink that Changed the World focuses on tea in early Chinese, Japanese, and Korean history. After reading the book I entered a phase of tea drinking focused on Asian black, green, and jasmine teas without milk or sugar. I loved the rich, strong flavor that stood on it's own that often reminded me of the book I had just read and it's influential role is Asian countries' history. Drinking tea made me feel as if I was part of something bigger than myself: history.

However, over the past year with the influence of an English friend, who has taught me more about English tea culture, I have started to enjoy my morning with a cup of English Breakfast tea. I start off by boiling water, steeping the tea in the teapot, pouring a bit of milk in my cup, mixing in sugar before pouring the English Breakfast into the cup. I don't know why the tea tastes better when you add the milk first, but it sure does. In this phase I love the creamy milk combined with dark caffeinated tea. Once my friend came back from England with tea spoons, a milk pourer, a tea strainer, and a few bars of chocolate flake for dipping I became officially obsessed with English tea.

Chocolate Flake

What country do you turn to for your tea culture?

Until next time,
Tea Cup!

Avellino

We were up before the sunrise this morning, all in the hopes that we could get some of Avellino's famous house-baked pastries while they were still warm from the oven. If you direct your gaze behind the counter, you will see their small, unsuspecting bakery. Avellino has their own bakery crew that comes in before open to bake fresh pastries for the day. The crew stays until early afternoon to produce a continuous stream of piping hot pastries. Ask what's fresh and expect to see steam wafting up from your pastry as you tear into it. We highly recommend the croisants!

Let's not forget the coffee-- Avellino uses high quality beans, they handtamp their espresso shots, and you can expect to see latte art in every drink that allows it! This special attention to detail makes each customer feel like their drink has been made personally for them-- with time, thought, and effort put into each individual drink. Be sure to watch your barista through every step of the coffee-making process; from the fresh grinding of the beans into the portafilter, to the hand tamping of the espresso shots, to the espresso extraction, to the steaming of the milk. This entire process is repeated again and again for each individual drink. You will appreciate your drink so much more after witnessing the entire process from espresso bean grinding to latte art pouring.

This morning's order: one latte, one cappuccino,
and two fresh-baked croisants!

One measure for a quality tea-lover's cafe is whether or not they serve their tea in mugs or tea pots. Avellino's is an individual teapot wonder - with a range of loose tea options, you do not feel like you could simply recreate the experience at home with a bag of tea. Hopefully one day when ordering tea in an American cafe, it will be standard to receive a full teapot of tea with a milk pitcher and suger dish on the side. Until then, the minimum for many cafe tea drinkers will be a cup of loose leaf tea.

Food for Thought:
Amidst our random conversation topics, one that stood out was how coffee shops stay in business even through the recession. Is it their loyal regular customers, the cafe atmosphere that drags people out of their homes for their morning cup of Joe, or is it just pure caffeine addiction that keeps the customers coming back for more?

Avellino's Website

Until next time,

Tea Cup and Coffee Mug

The Birth of Cafe Culture

While sitting in one of their many favorite Bellingham cafes, The Black Drop Coffeehouse, two roommates decided to embark on a blogging adventure. They ritualistically went to a different cafe every Thursday and thought they would document their cafe experiences. This is the birth of Cafe Culture. 

Roommate number one: pseudonym "Coffee Mug," is a local barista. She comes home everyday with the smell of coffee seeping out of her skin, and still finds time to enjoy visiting other cafes. 

Roommate number two: pseudonym "Tea Cup," is passionate about everything tea: from it's history, medicinal purposes, and different countries' tea culture. 

While each roommate has their specialty, they both enjoy a wide range of cafe drinks and cultures. Also food crazy, they will explore cafes' food and pastry options as part of the cafe experience. 

Stay tuned for updates on local and global cafe culture!