This is a weird time of year. Here in Berkeley it's a gorgeous day, sunny, though chilly. The magnolias are already blooming. It's not spring yet, not even winter. The looming New Year makes a guy think about transitions, the passage of time, new stuff—the usual. The numeral 2005 sounds new—shiny and pristine, just out of the box, wheareas 2004 sounds (already), old, scratched, a little battered, like my camera cellphone (which I bought in 2004). This blog is one of the transitions for the new year. I've started it This is a weird time of year. Here in Berkeley it's a gorgeous day, sunny, though chilly. The magnolias are already blooming. It's not spring yet, not even winter. The looming New Year makes a guy think about transitions, the passage of time, new stuff—the usual. The numeral 2005 sounds new—shiny and pristine, just out of the box, wheareas 2004 sounds (already), old, scratched, a little battered, like my camera cellphone (which I bought in 2004). This blog is one This is a weird time of year. Here in Berkeley it's a gorgeous day, sunny, though chilly. The magnolias are already blooming. It's not spring yet, not even winter. The looming New Year makes a guy think about transitions, the passage of time, new stuff—the usual. The numeral 2005 sounds new—shiny and pristine, just out of the box, wheareas 2004 sounds (already), old, scratched, a little battered, like my camera This is a weird time of year. Here in Berkeley it's a gorgeous day, sunny, though chilly. The magnolias are already blooming. It's not spring yet, not even winter. The looming New Year makes a guy think about transitions, the passage of time, new stuff—the usual. The numeral 2005 sounds new—shiny and pristine, just out of the box, wheareas 2004

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Espresso (2): No Business like Joe Business

4:33 PM Wednesday, July 6, 2005

[North American Espresso, Part 2]

(This is the second part of the series entitled A Decent Espresso in North America?) I wanted to write this series because I found that in many places I could get a decent espresso if I took steps to ask for it properly, and I'd like to find out if readers could get the same results. I am not in the coffeehouse business and I would happily defer to the hard-earned experience of readers who are, and who would care to leave comments or email me.

In Part one I reported my observation that North American coffeehouse patrons like to linger at length after a minimal coffee purchase. To that, I will add my opinion that they love milk and they prefer large quantities to small. (Certainly that applies to dairy-rich Wisconsin and Texas-sized Texas respectively as well as to my home state of California; I cannot vouch for such places as Alabama or Oklahoma, but I suspect it's not much different.)

These national charcteristics, if true, lead directly to the phenomenon of the latte, a beverage named after the Italian word for milk, and derived from the Italian espresso with milk caffelatte.

On their way to work, millions of Americans stop for a latte in a paper cup made with a variety of milk products including nonfat and soy milk. A latte "to go" is taken in the car to work or elsewhere, and the high volume of morning lattes, which are sold for double to triple the price of an espresso, might ensure financial survival for a coffeehouse which otherwise can't make costs with espressos and lingering patrons. As for the patrons themselves, they give the appearance of caring much more about the milk than about the coffee that's poured into it.

There are certain elite coffeehouses, especially in urban coastal cities, which cater to coffee aficionados and automatically serve a great espresso. (I'm sitting at a Berkeley Peet's as I write this.) But there are other coffeehouses which are capable of serving a drinkable or even excellent espresso, provided that a patron goes to the trouble of being specific about what he or she wants. As I have learned, this process may not be more difficult than ordering a latte with soy milk and half-decaffeinated espresso, which a North American barista is likely to expect, at least on the West Coast. In Part 3, I will recommend four steps a patron can take to attempt to get a good espresso in such places.

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