Arizona Coffee

My cappuccino from Cartel Coffee Lab (Scottsdale location).

A great drink for a Saturday! I’ve also ordered a chai on ice to-go. Here is a photo of my cappuccino from Press Coffee today. I usually get the 6 oz.

Press Coffee this week announced a new feature at their Scottsdale Quarter location: Toddy from a tap! Yes, it’s one of the more interesting things I have ever seen at a coffee shop. So, naturally I ordered an iced toddy.

In their announcement about the toddy tap, they revealed that it is the first of its kind in Arizona. Cool idea, and excellent implementation!

Yesterday’s cappuccino from Press Coffee.

At Whole Foods in Scottsdale you can get this Kona blend for $30. Oh, and speaking of Whole Foods… they have a sign on every single isle proclaiming the number of products that are local. I’m sorry to say that not a single coffee bean was from a local roaster. Sad.

No, I didn’t get it. But, now that I’m thinking about it do you have a favorite Kona Blend? Who roasts a good Kona blend locally?

Spotted this new cup design and shirt design at Cartel.

It’s an old trick up in the northwest, but now Arizona has it’s own bikini-clad baristas at Barista Cafe. You won’t find me there, but I’ve had enough people ask me about it to warrant a post. For better coffee, wander down the street a little to any number of excellent coffee houses.

Whenever a coffee shop has a ‘house drink’ or a ‘drink of the month’ I just have to try it. So when I saw “The John Wayne” on the chalkboard at Village Coffee this morning I asked about it. They said it was two shots of espresso, vanilla, and cream.

Why not? Simply stated, the vanilla was a little bit strong, and there was a lot of it (you can see it at the bottom of the cup). The layers are: Vanilla on the bottom, cream in the middle, and espresso on the top. However, for a sweet drink with a punch, it was really good!

Village Coffee Roastery
8120 N. Hayden Rd.
Suite E104
Scottsdale, AZ 85258
Phone: (480) 905-0881
Twitter: @VillageCoffee

I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t expect much when it comes to coffee at restaurants. For one, they don’t make coffee their primary business and frankly, people don’t always care.

But I do, and some times when you find a gem that does a great breakfast + coffee / espresso, you go back.

All that to say, Butterfield’s Pancake House (in Scottsdale on Shea Blvd east of Scottsdale Rd. at 74th St.) isn’t that place. This photo is of my cappuccino from a recent visit. It was bland, and the foam was the kind of bubbly that you would rather see on top of a lemon meringue pie.

Saw this recently, I think it was at Echo.

From a recent trip to old town Scottsdale.

This, my friends, is a small cappuccino ‘for here’ from Coffee Plantation (the location on Shea Blvd). I stopped in yesterday afternoon for a game of chess, as I like to do occasionally (good group there), and had this.

Had this exceptional cappuccino yesterday at Echo Coffee. Very tasty, and I like how they give you a little cookie if you order ‘for here.’

Echo Coffee
2902 North 68th St.
Suite 135
Scottsdale, AZ 85251
Phone: (480) 422-4081
Twitter: @EchoCoffeeAZ

I took my family down to the Old Town Farmers Market (@OTFM) on Saturday and got to see the new Mulch Coffee in action. They are serving different types of coffee from roasters they pick and choose. It is a cool concept, and I don’t know of any other shops that plan to serve coffee from multiple roasters. On Saturday, they were serving Water Avenue Coffee, as well as some Intelligentsia.

I took some other photos, which are in a gallery. They’ll be there every Saturday through the winter, so if you are in Scottsdale be sure to give it a taste! When we were there, they were offering the choice of a pourover, or a toddy.

On a recent morning, I ventured with my family to Orange Table in Scottsdale for breakfast. Here was my cappuccino. I should note, the store is now under new management (happened that same day, I believe).

Orange Table
7373 Scottsdale Mall
Suite 6
Scottsdale, AZ 85251
Phone: (480) 424-6819