Serving People Serving Coffee Since 2005
Issue link: http://baristamagazine.epubxp.com/i/659497
storefront (plenty of space now, but watch how fast they grow!) on a lovely US Roaster Corp machine, and turning out single-origins available at Black & Brew and online. Hopping back in the car and fighting the Disney traffic (I'll see you next time, Epcot!), I headed northeast to Orlando, a city that actually has a lot more going for it than a cartoon mouse and his squad. For example, Lineage Coffee Roasters, with its perfect little retail outlet inside the funky and communal East End Market, a kind of shared marketplace where different local artisans ply all sorts of deliciousness, from cheese, to bread, to fresh-pressed juices, to traditional-modern Basque cuisine. Lineage is arguably the market's anchor, positioned at the rear of the building—like a reward for surviving the maze of other quality vendors without bursting at the seams (either your clothes or your wallet). A natural Ethiopian Aricha espresso paired with a brewed version of the same was exactly what I needed to recover from highway hypnosis, before heading off to my next stop. Open-format markets like the East End seem to be It in and around Orlando at the moment, and just due west of Lineage's location is another such amalgamation of like-minded foodies and craftspeople, in the Plant St. Market. As soon as you walk into the industrial-chic building, blammo! There's the beautiful smell of roasted coffee. As the roasting HQ for Axum Coffee (which also has a standalone café just up the street), the street-facing corner of the hall is a great place to watch magic happen. Head roaster Neal Faul and company can be seen working away on a refurbed Probat machine, roasting up batches for the shop and to sell as brew and espresso on a mini bar in the market, and they're known to partner with the craft brewer at the other end of the room to put their own twist on the old standby of coffee beer—two great tastes, taste great together. GAINESVILLE…AND BEYOND My last evening in Orlando, I received a frantic phone call from American Airlines, practically begging me to high-tail it home to Minnesota before an expected 33 inches of snow (aka this January's famous #snowpocalypse, Winter Storm Jonas) shut down any chance of flying off the East Coast. Knowing I'd have to cut my trip short—I'd planned to make it all the way to Jacksonville, so Jonas is no friend of mine—I quickly zipped out of Orlando without so much as a glance at the Magic Kingdom, and beelined for Gainesville, which I'd been told time and time again is "the coolest little city in the Southeast." Though I only had the time (and the caffeinated wherewithal) to make a couple of stops in town, I knew I had to make the most of it. For a peaceful pause after a long drive on my last Floridian morning, I ducked out of a miserable dripping downpour into the Christian Study Center, home of Pascal's Coffeehouse. Apparently it was the place to be, too: A line snaked through most of the café, curving around tables packed with students, laptops, books, and, of course, coffee cups. No one seemed to mind the line or the cramped quarters—friends chattered at tables or while waiting for drinks, discussing homework and theology and latte art, while student baristas calmly and deftly took orders and turned out beautiful single-origin V60 brews from Jacksonville roaster Bold Bean and Annapolis, Md.'s Ceremony Coffee Roasters. Just up the road from Pascal's, and the last stop before my snowbird stint wrapped up, was Gainesville's original bean-and- brew bar, and not all those beans are coffee: Volta Coffee, Tea & Chocolate. Owner Anthony Rue is giddy about flavor, and it shows (and tastes) in everything on offer at the multiroaster spot: a variety of single-origin espressos as well as brewed coffee (prepared in the style that best suits the cup profile); incredibly well-curated teas; single-origin chocolates and specialty chocolate beverages; and an impressive lineup of house-made food and pastry, including a quiche so fluffy I could have taken a nap on it (but I'm vegan). Short on time, I was sorry to have to limit myself to two (and a half) espressos and a sip of a cascara agua fresca—one shouldn't drive under the influence of too much caffeine, and one certainly shouldn't fly under it, either. There's so much going on in Florida—and the state is so darned huge!—that there are dozens of worthwhile and recommended spots I missed. In the past two weeks alone, in fact, I've heard of no fewer than 10 new shops or roasters gearing up to open this spring in various towns big and small—just in time for iced-coffee season. Looks like I have an excuse to start planning another trip even besides the fact that I didn't get to sing along with the music in It's a Small World—because it's definitely a pretty big world when it comes to specialty in the Sunshine State, and only getting bigger. Panther Coffee Roasters: Multiple locations in and around Miami, www.panthercoffee.com Eternity Coffee Roasters: 117 SE 2nd Ave., Miami, FL 33131; www.eternitycoffeeroasters.com Cafe Curuba: 2626 Ponce De Leon Blvd., Coral Gables, FL 33134; www.cafecuruba.com Threefold Cafe: Multiple locations around Coral Gables; www.threefoldcafe.com Per'La Specialty Roasters: www.drinkperla.com Calusa Coffee Roasters: 161 E. Commercial Blvd., Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33334; www.calusacoffeeroasters.com Buddy Brew Coffee: Multiple locations around Tampa, www.buddybrew.com Concord Coffee: 1037 S. Florida Ave., Lakeland, FL 33803; www.concordcoffeeco.com King State Coffee: www.kingstatecoffee.com Patriot Coffee Roasters: www.patriotcraftcoffee.com Black & Brew Bistro: 205 E. Main St., Lakeland, FL 33801; www.blackandbrew.com Lineage Coffee Roasters: 3201 Corrine Dr., Orlando, FL 32803; www.lineageroasting.com Axum Coffee Roasters: 146 Plant St., #110, Winter Garden, FL 34787; www.axumcoffee.com Pascal's Coffeehouse: 112 NW 16th St., Gainesville, FL 32603; www.pascalscoffee.com Volta Coffee, Tea & Chocolate: 48 SW 2nd St., Gainesville, FL 32641; www.voltacoffee.com 44 barista magazine