A new coffee shop is opening in Scottsdale this weekend, and it sounds like a winner. Steve Belt is opening the shop and it is called Echo Coffee. According to Steve, they are doing a soft opening on Friday, April 23rd with full opening this weekend. Echo Coffee’s “grand opening” will be the weekend of May 7th. This coffee shop will be serving food and also roasting their own coffee… so it sounds really great. Congratulations to them on opening. Echo Coffee 2902 N 68th St Scottsdale, AZ 85251 Phone: (480) 215-9490
Matthew Petro I’m sitting at Echo right now watching owner Steve Belt roast. Had a capp and a pour-over El Salvador single origin. Capp could have used slightly smaller bubbles in the microfoam and the espresso might need to be dialed in a little better. But this is their soft opening, so I’m certainly not complaining. Overall there’s huge potential over here. The El Salvador is very well balanced, or “round” as Steve Belt described it. No huge notes of earthiness, fruitiness or spiciness stand high above the other flavors…they’re all pretty well balanced. A great coffee for any time of day, I think. I really like the hours. They’re going to be doing 7am-10pm every day, so there’s good options for morning and nighttime visits. Some pics are available on my Twitpic feed at http://twitpic.com/photos/matthewpetro 0 Reply April 23, 2010
Brian Bummer! Right when they open, I leave town! I’m at the airport right now, but I have some time before my flight…. Can I make it over there without a car? 😉 0 Reply April 24, 2010
Wandering Justin I liked the cap a lot – on the wet side, which I prefer. No bitterness at all. I also had an espresso shot. It had a lot of sweetness, almost a berry-ish flavor. Pretty good stuff! 0 Reply April 25, 2010
Randy I stopped in this morning for an espresso…. Well, the flavor was pretty good, sweet and balanced, but i don’t know why they didn’t just pour it straight into the cup… it made me sad lol. I was going to say something but I was in a bit of a hurry. Otherwise, a pretty cool place with a lot of potential (i.e lots of high quality coffee making equipment). 0 Reply April 26, 2010
Psyd You ordered an espresso and they pulled it in something other than the demi in which they served it to you? Yeah, sad face here, too. I’m a big fan of pulling my shots into the cup I’m going to drink it from. If you’re cup won’t fit under the spouts, you probably ordered something that it won’t make a whole lot of difference in, anyway. Someone wanna ask ’em next time they’re in? 0 Reply April 26, 2010
Randy yeah, they had what looked like a really small glass measuring cup that they poured the shits into first. I realize it’s really nit picking, but if you’re just opening, you might as well start on the right foot. I mean, they did just open, they might be using the measuring cup just until they get comfortable with the machine… i’d like to give them the benefit of the doubt. 0 Reply May 1, 2010
Randy they’re like 2 blocks from my girlfriends house, so I’ll probably be stopping in at least 3 times a week. I’ll say something next time. 0 Reply May 1, 2010
Randy Hey guys, I’ve stopped into Echo coffee and know for a fact that they do pull their shots directly into the cups for in house service. Whoever did that probably hadn’t quite yet broken a bad barista habit or just overlooked it in the moment. So, to make things clear, people over at Echo deffinately pull thier shots into their cups. Can’t wait to go back. 0 Reply May 1, 2010
Randy Oh, and not to confuse people, I’m a different Randy than the guy who posted right above me, lol. 0 Reply May 1, 2010
Steve Belt, We use 2 1/2 ounce Rattleware “measuring” cups for pulling shots for the majority of drinks, since we can see through the shot glass at how the crema is forming, accurately gauge volume, and compare that with extraction time to adjust grind/dosing. Some of my baristas will pull a straight espresso into a demi, but I can confess that I rarely do personally, since I don’t pull as many shots throughout the day (over my 16 hour day I might pull 10-20), and I want to see every shot develop in the shot glass. I’m sure most of you understand we are just now 10 days old as a company. From day to day we are using beans that vary from 1 to 3 days out of the roaster, which on the 1 day side is shorter than I would like. Quite simply, demand has blown away any of my forecast expectations for the first week in business (we are operating at roughly my 90 day volume expectations). Certainly, high demand is a good problem to have, but minor “cheats’ like this are part of the sacrifice we sometimes make. That said, I’m extremely thankful for the support from the community. The reaction and feedback I’ve received is largely very positive, and far better than I expected launching Echo as a new roaster, coffee shop owner, and restaurant owner. Every single day we identify opportunities to improve, and then implement systems/processes to make those improvements as a part of my philosophy for Echo. For those of you that have been in the business for years and years, try to think back to your first week as a barista. I’d love to hear all your “I can’t believe I used to…” stories. Same goes for my fellow coffee roasters. And then my fellow restaurant owners. Anyway, thanks for your patience and support. Hopefully this gives you all a little insight into our operations. 0 Reply May 3, 2010
Psyd Steve, thanks for the insight. Yeah, my pro ‘spro days are a bit behind me, and no, I wouldn’t want to share my ‘I can’t believe I useta’ in public! Espresso changes as it gets handled, be it the spouts to the cup, naked to the cup, poured from cup to cup, or even stirred. Similar to holding a white wine by the bulb instead of the stem, or letting the wine ‘gurgle’ out of the bottle, most folks just won’t be able to tell the difference. Others will, or will pretend to be able to. It’s a respect thing. If you’re product is perceived to be special enough to receive that kind of special treatment, it will be valued more. And for the aficionado that can taste it, it will not only be appreciated, but trumpeted to all his aficionado (and his not aficionado) friends. Pulling the shots into a clear beaker is akin to pouring a glass of wine into a test tube and floating a specific gravity bulb into it before serving it. Some might appreciate the close eye on quality, others will just see it as someone using their beverage for experimentation and data gathering. Yep, you’ve guessed it by now. A lot of us are quirky and particular basta… er, aficionados. Especially for an espresso, and hopefully for anything that you’ll want to pour art onto, it’s just nice to pull it into the porcelain that it will be served in. Pulling the occasional shot to see where and how the shots are pulling is admirable, but eventually, using those as benchmarks, the baristi will be able to recognise a proper pull in porcelain or ceramic. They’ll be able to identify deviations just as well in an opaque cup as in a transparent one. OK, just so you can see it from the wierdo/OCD side of the coin! ; > Look, you’re garnering great attention after just opening, something tell me you’ll do great without worrying too much about the finicky few. I added this so you know why the question came up. 0 Reply May 4, 2010
Susan Have to agree with Psyd on this one, at a point the barista should be able to tell if the shot is good just by gauging how it looks while being pulled and by the finished product in the porcelain cup. 0 Reply May 5, 2010
Steve Belt, Psyd and Susan- Honestly, thanks for the feedback. I have one over-arching goal with Echo Coffee: be the best. I know I’m not the best today, so the only way to get there, is to solicit feedback and then implement changes. So again…thanks! 0 Reply May 6, 2010
Victor Congratulations on opening Echo Coffee, Steve. I’m sure you’ll get any small kinks worked out in short order. Will definitely make it a point to stop by soon! 0 Reply May 7, 2010
Jason Congrats on the open Steve! I’m gonna have to come by sometime. To be the “best” is gonna be tuff a lot of competition up there. 0 Reply May 7, 2010
Steve Belt, @Jason, I completely agree. There are a bunch of amazingly good shops in Scottsdale, the Phoenix area, and throughout Arizona. The bar is indeed set high. 0 Reply May 8, 2010
Todd Sorry I didn’t make it down this weekend Steve. I had a little medical issue that prevented me from doing much of anything. I will get there as soon as I can. 0 Reply May 10, 2010
Brian Clemens Congrats Steve and crew! Was great coming by on Friday and Saturday to bring some barista loving by. Can’t wait to try lunch sometime. 0 Reply May 10, 2010
Steve Stopped by last week…..great atmosphere, great location and Steve….we wish you the best! Here’s the only bit of advice I would give going forward. I noticed your barista pulled the shot and fitted it into the group head and let it sit there for 20+ seconds…then pulled the shot for about 33 seconds. As I’m sure you already know, this burns the spro and pulling long shots with blond after about 22 to 25 seconds depending on the blend. Again, just an observation and we really enjoyed talking with you, you have a great operation!!! 0 Reply May 17, 2010
Chris A: I love the conversation between ‘competitors’ about how to pull the best espresso. It can only lead to a better quality of coffee available in Arizona. B: I love that Steve is accepting all of this criticism in this manner. It’s all too easy to get defensive, and feel like the entire coffee community is coming down on you. Steve, I think that we all just want to see you, not just succeed, but excel in this endeavour. We’ll hand you all the advice that we can to help you along the way, you cherry pick what you think you need. Kudos to everyone for acting like people on the internet. Where else could you find community and consideration like this on the internet, right?* *and kudos to Chris for building and maintaining the venue. 0 Reply May 17, 2010
