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Crooked Tree Coffee House: Visited

I was in Dallas recently, and drove by The Pearl Cup, which was closing (we were in the area at a quarter to 9pm.. seems quite early to be closing for that area, but it’s what time they close). So, On a bit further to Crooked Tree Coffee House.

There were bags of Oak Cliff Coffee hanging around on the shelf, along with some coffee from their other supplier,Buy Well.

Apologies for the “pocket pc”-quality picture. There is a latte in each cup. The milk was frothed well. I have had better, and I have had worse, but overall, the foam was good.

They are pulling shots on a Rancillio 2 group with a Super Jolly-sized solitary grinder.

The espresso was dosed (less than full), “jiggled”, and tamped, with no post-dose distribution. While the latte wasn’t bitter in the overextracted sense, it was neither sour, and it was difficult to place the coffee. In fact, it didn’t taste very much like coffee at all. It tasted like a tall cup of frothed milk. Not offensive, but also not what I was hoping for in a caffe latte. I did notice a tinge of “earthiness”, which implies a Sumatran coffee to me, although I don’t want to say anything definitive without knowing for sure.

The art on the walls was from a Dallas-born photographer living in Brooklyn, NY.  The photography was a great accent, and was quite good. The walls and decor are easy on the eyes, but the seating arrangement left much to be desired. For how much space there is available, it seemed that not many people could fit comfortably in the space due to this arrangement. Furthermore, the chairs that were available were downright uncomfortable. I felt much too cozy to our neighbors at the other table, while at the same time trying to figure out a way to sit comfortably in the chairs that we had found vacant. (the only two at the time)

I wanted to try the brewed coffee to give Oak Cliff Coffee a whirl, but I didn’t want to hang around due to the lack of comfort, and it was later at night (so it was one or the other, and I thought it to be more fair to try the skills of the shop being visited).

Worth dropping by if you’re near the area, but don’t plan on spending too much time there, and you may ask for an extra shot in your latte (or just stick with a cup of brewed coffee instead).

"Pay What You Think Is Fair": Duncan Coffee Company

We received an email from Mills Duncan of the Duncan Coffee Company with this interesting idea.

Times are tough especially for coffee houses. I would like to help out by offering a program to all interested coffee shops to “Pay what you think is fair” for our Farm to Market Fair trade coffees.  Perhaps any interested party could e mail me and suggest a price they might want to pay and I will get as close as I can (restraints of our accounting system)  ex if someone wants to pay  $4.00 a pound and the lowest setting was 4.25 we would go with the 4.25.  COD or credit until they establish credit.

This was such an interesting and ethical (of sorts) approach, that we had to pass it along.

DuncanCoffee.com

The Pearl Cup Grand Opening: Dallas

Sorry, I’m a bit late on this one, folks.

Here’s the latest:

Opening Bell Coffee: Dallas, TX

I received an email over the weekend letting us know about Opening Bell Coffee from Pascale.  He writes,

Hi guys! Love your website and would like to be listed as a coffee retailer in Texas. We are actually celebrating our 6th year in business on March 15 We have 2 locations in Dallas, TX! Thanks so much, Pascale

So, this is the first time I’ve heard of this place, but apparently they were voted Best Liquid Assets(2005), Best Coffee House(2006), and Best Atmosphere(2006) by the Dallas Observer, and Best Coffee House(2007) by D Magazine.

The Dallas Observer website has a description that reads:

Formerly Standard and Pours. What started as a yuppie coffee haunt in 2003 has turned into a pretty happening live music spot for acoustic bands and singer-songwriter types. Adding beer and wine didn’t hurt. New are DJs on Wednesday nights.

The description reminds me of what Ruta Maya was trying to do in San Antonio before they closed (I never did visit the original Austin location, so I can’t comment on that).

The have directions to their location, which you can find on their Website.

Opening Bell Coffee has been added to our List of Retailers.

Opening Bell Coffee (Southside)

1409 S. Lamar Suite #012 (Basement #012)
Free Parking on Belleview Street entrance
Dallas, Texas 75215
Phone 214.565.0383

Opening Bell Coffee (Mosaic)

300 North Akard #300
Dallas, Tx  75201
Phone 214-665-BELL (2355)

Jobs: Looking for Barista Job in San Antonio (Hayley Massie)

I received an email from Hayley who is looking for work as a barista in San Antonio.

Her cantact info is listed below, as well as her resume in .pdf format.

Hayley Massie
314.882.2682
checkeredgrrl@aol.com
680 E Basse Rd #338
San Antonio, TX 78209

Hayley Massie Resume (pdf)

This has been added to the List of People in the Jobs section.

Crooked Tree Coffee House Now Serving Oak Cliff Coffee

Since late January, Crooked Tree Coffee House in Dallas has begun serving coffee roasted by Oak Cliff Coffee Roasters.

As taken from the Oak Cliff Coffee Blog:

Beginning next week, The Crooked Tree Coffeehouse in Uptown will be serving fresh roasted coffee from Oak Cliff Coffee Roasters.  The Crooked Tree opened last summer and it is run by two ladies (Sarah and Kristyn) who are passionate about coffee and people.

They were using a roaster on Colorado whose name I cannot recal.  (and they may still be using them as well)

Congrats to Oak Cliff Coffee Roasters for the new account!  (and for going full time!)

The Pearl Cup: Dallas, TX

(Website)

As taken from a Facebook message:

NOW OPEN!!!

Business Hours:

Monday – Thursday 6:30am – 9pm
Friday 6:30am – 11pm
Saturday 7am – 11pm
Sunday 9am – 3pm

Come check us out!

The Pearl Cup
1900 N. Henderson Ave
(On the corner of Henderson Ave and McMillan Ave)

The Pearl Cup is running coffee from Coffee Eiland (no website.. get on that, Clay!) in Dallas, along with Mazzer grinders and a La Marzocco Linea.  Allegedly, they are offering single origin espresso.  At least, that’s what I’ve heard.
The setup (La Marzocco + Mazzer + Coffee Eiland) REALLY reminds me of Gachet Coffee Lounge downtown near the House of Blues.  I was not impressed with the coffee at Gachet, but I’m guessing inconsistency is the fault that plagues us all (including Gachet), as what is to blame.  It wasn’t bad, but I felt it could have been better.

But, this is a whole new beast, headed by a band of three friends bent on bringing better coffee to Dallas. (or so it seems)

They have a website, which can be found at http://thepearlcup.com, and a page on Facebook. (link on their website)

The Pearl Cup has been added to our List of Retailers.

The Pearl Cup

1900 N. Henderson Ave
Dallas, TX 75206

(On the corner of Henderson Ave and McMillan Ave)

Houston Coffee Retailer Doubles Clientele with Twitter

Who knew?

I stumbled across this piece via arizona-coffee.com

Source: Mr. Tweet

When J.R. Cohen, Operations Manager for CoffeeGroundz (@coffeegroundz) Cafe in Houston, Texas first heard about Twitter from one of his customers, he was puzzled but intrigued. Today, he credits Twitter with almost doubling his clientele and with opening his eyes to a whole new way to build Community.

…Shortly after joining Twitter, Cohen started following members of the local Houston Twitterati and in no time had amassed over 1000 followers. Cohen is a naturally charismatic, giving, and friendly guy – traits that make him a natural on a network like Twitter….

…On October 31st, 2008 Sean Stoner (@maslowbeer) was hungry. As a regular customer at CoffeeGroundz he sent the following Twitter to Cohen:

Cohen quickly replied and Sean went through the drive-thru at CoffeeGroundz to pick up his burrito.

This simple exchange got a lot of coverage on Twitter and was hailed as potentially the first time that Twitter had ever been used to place a To-Go Order. more…

I’m not really sure what to think about this.  It’s not direct, but it seems like its saying that a guy increased his business by turning his specialty coffee retailer into a fast food joint, though that’s from an article written by someone who doesn’t work in the business. That having been said, I could be wrong!

Have any of you Houston readers been there?

How many readers are on Twitter?

Buon Giorono Coffee: Grapevine, TX

I received an email yesterday asking to have Buon Giorno Coffee to our list of roasters and retailers.

David writes,

Hi,

I am the owner of a successful Coffee House and In store roasting operation in Grapevine, TX, I would like to be included on the site.  I have been roasting for 5 years altogether and have a growing loyal customer base for my in store roasted coffee beans.

David Clarke

To be honest, I thought it was already added!  Whoops!

I have not yet visited Buon Giorno, but I have heard good things. The drink descriptions on their Menu seem promising!

As you can see, they roast in-house.  They have live music on the weekends, and offer Free WiFi.

Buon Giorno has been added to our list of Roasters, and our list of Retailers.

Buon Giorno Coffee
2350 Hall-Johnson Road, Suite 100
Grapevine, Texas 76051
817-421-7300

Free Americanos at Kick Butt Coffee (Austin, TX)

To celebrate the inauguration of Barack Obama, Kick Butt Coffee will give out free Americano coffees.  To take advantage of the promotion, which will run till the end of the month (January 31st), you need only to enter Kick Butt Coffee and say, “Yes we can!” to a barista (bartender). You will be able to walk away with a free Americano coffee.

-as seen in a kick butt coffee email notice

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