Coffee

Where’s the Great Espresso?

Summer Drinks: Greek Frappe

Espresso Perfecto at Catalina Coffee

Great Espresso at Cafe Inka

La Dolce Vita

I was young, espresso was exotic, and Dolce and Freddo was the only game in town

How Do You Take It?

Our intrepid driving diner discovers the Bright & Early Coffee stand and why Houstonians like their brew weak

Bean Town

Will Houston ever reach a caffeine overdose?

McCafe Latte at McDonald’s

Will Houston ever reach a caffeine overdose?

Panini Passion

Will Houston ever reach a caffeine overdose?

Unlikely Lunches

Il Posto and Don Bosco yield different brands of surprise

Stellar Sandwich

Il Posto and Don Bosco yield different brands of surprise

“In the Soil: Nicaragua”

Photographer Ryan Booth documents a trip to the coffee fields of Central America

Best Coffee Beans

House of Coffee Beans

Hot Plate

Schlotzky's Marketplace

Balkan Grill & Market

Try the hearty soups and stews at this fancy new Bosnian restaurant, or just hang out and drink Turkish-style coffee

Best Coffeehouse

Try the hearty soups and stews at this fancy new Bosnian restaurant, or just hang out and drink Turkish-style coffee

Best Espresso

Dolce & Freddo

Short Courtship

A whirlwind romance with The Little Havana

Rising Star Barista at the Greenway Plaza Food Court

Photos by Robb WalshDavid BuehrerThere were a couple of coffee connoisseurs sampling the espresso blends at Tuscany Coffee in the Greenway Plaza food court when I stopped by to check it out. "We come by to sample the espresso every day," they told me. And they aren't the only ones. Barista David Bue ... More >>

A Cuban Cortadita on a Dog Day Afternoon

Photo by Robb Walsh​I stopped into a Cuban restaurant called Conga and ordered a café cortadita and a glass of ice water yesterday afternoon. Conga is located on Richmond in a shopping center with a bunch of Columbian restaurants including the very popular rotisserie chicken stand called Dodo ... More >>

36th Anniversary: House of Coffee Beans

Photos by Robb Walsh​Peru Chanchamayo is a rare limited-production coffee that's on special this month during the 36th Anniversary of House of Coffee Beans, 2348 Bissonnet. The coffee comes from the sparsely populated Central Jungle of Peru and is certified organic, Fair Trade, and migratory b ... More >>

Caffeine Deficiency? Call the Coffee Ambulance

​Katz Coffee Company just bought a new "Transit" van and outfitted it with flashing safety lights and a wacky paint job. They call this high-profile delivery vehicle "the coffee ambulance." Katz custom-roasts proprietary blends for some of Houston's top restaurants, including t'afia, benjy's ... More >>

Steam Punks: Baristas Throw Down at Houston's First Latte Art Competition

Photos by Katharine ShilcuttSilence Huang points out good and bad characteristics on a calibration cup of latte.​Judging a latte art competition is deceptively difficult, as we found out on Friday night. Silence Huang, one of our fellow judges and a master barista from Taiwan, drew careful diagram ... More >>

Know Your Roast

​A very common question asked in cafes around Houston is, "What is your dark roast?" We think people are trying to ask, "What coffee has the biggest, most pronounced flavor today?" But there's some confusion here. One aspect of coffee is often overlooked but very important. There are, in ess ... More >>

City of Coffee: Houston Coffee Culture

​A very common question asked in cafes around Houston is, "What is your dark roast?" We think people are trying to ask, "What coffee has the biggest, most pronounced flavor today?" But there's some confusion here. One aspect of coffee is often overlooked but very important. There are, in ess ... More >>

City of Coffee

Is Houston about to become America's coffee capital?

Coffee Practices: Transparency

​One of the most important aspects of the movement for quality coffee is transparency. This doesn't mean your cup of joe should be clear, but that the consumer should understand as much about the product as possible. In the '90s, coffee blends hit the market with a bang. Since then, they ha ... More >>

The Best Café in Texas

​Yes, we mean the best. Brown Coffee Company off West King's Highway, San Antonio, Texas is the complete coffee experience. Part roasting facility, part training center, and part slow bar, this is a learning environment like no other in the Lone Star State. Head roaster (and head barista) Aaro ... More >>

Hand Making Coffee at Home

​With the holidays coming up and family and friends coming home and visiting, it's time to pull out your old coffee maker. Or is it? There are some great ways to coffee by hand-brewing it with different devices. The apparatus you choose can alter the way even a single-origin coffee can taste. ... More >>

Day Trip: Café Medici in Austin

​Feeling like hopping out of town? A quick trip to Austin may be in order. Café Medici is a great destination for coffee there. With two unique locations offering quality espresso made by professional baristas - in the Clarksville neighborhood (1101 West Lynn) and on the notoriously busy Univ ... More >>

Food Fight: Battle Iced Coffee

This is still my all-time favorite, when I can find it.​It's only the very beginning of May, yet it's already becoming oppressively hot by 10 a.m. each day. And although no good morning can start without a cup of coffee, the hot black stuff just doesn't appeal on days when my legs are sticking ... More >>

Local Spotlight: Katz Coffee

​WHAT: Coffee with a conscience, roasted right here in Houston. When Avi Katz graduated from the University of Houston's well regarded Hotel and Restaurant Management program, he had no idea what he wanted to do -- but he did know that he didn't want to move back to New York. So he took a job ... More >>

Espresso On The Go

​If you're lucky, you work at one of those offices with a fancy coffee machine that brews individual little coffee pods for you -- or tea pods! -- and the toughest decision you make every morning is whether or not you'll chose the chai tea latte or the mocha macchiato from the attractively dis ... More >>

Why Your Barista Hates You

Don't piss her off.​Last week, we explained why you might be getting sorry service when you dine out: treating the hostess like a subhuman creature, whether as a sewer-dwelling mutant with no education or as a hot piece of ass there purely for your carnal desires. This week, we interviewed se ... More >>

A New Home for Java Junkies in the West Side

​Tuscany Italian Bakery and Coffee (11150 Westheimer) has only been open for about a week. The little coffee shop at the corner of Wilcrest and Westheimer hasn't even had its grand opening celebration yet. But stopping in there yesterday for a reviving midafternoon latte, it seemed as if it ha ... More >>

Why Your Customers Hate You, Baristas

She's thinking about punching you in the chest, straight through your stupid apron.​Last week, I interviewed three of my barista friends -- two of whom remained anonymous -- about behaviors that make them want to throttle the next person in line at their java joint. Of course, as many commente ... More >>

Coffee by the Cup at Bohemeo's: As Fresh As It Gets

Photos by Troy FieldsEnjoy your coffee on Bohemeo's tranquil patio (when it's not raining, that is...)​While I'm currently hooked on Bohemeo's mochachino -- a frozen concoction of espresso, chocolate, cream and ice that far surpasses a Frappucino in quality and taste -- during the summer month ... More >>

10 Pumpkin Dishes to Try in Houston: #5: Pumpkin Spice Latte at Diedrich "Dirk's" Coffee

​I adore pumpkin. It's orange (my favorite color), healthful (fiber! Vitamin A!), and associated with two lovely, food-centric holidays (Halloween and Thanksgiving). Starting around October, I always find myself on the hunt for pumpkin-flavored foods, and this autumn is no exception. So, betwe ... More >>

The Top 5 Reasons Why Keurig Will One Day Rule the World

​I rank the invention of the Keurig somewhere between electricity and the Internet. Don't agree? With coffee being the second largest traded commodity on the planet, I can certainly justify why Keurig will one day rule the world. For those of you in the dark, the Keurig is a single-cup coffee ... More >>

A Cajeta Latte at Antidote

​As I'm sure is the case with most of this city's caffeine-addled coffee addicts, I am a creature of habit. I frequent the same coffee shop, and I order the same thing. It's not without cause, as I've found what I believe to be the perfect coffee creation in the Cortado served at Catalina Coff ... More >>

First Look at Black Hole Cafe

​Does Montrose need another Inversion? The folks behind Black Hole Cafe (4504 Graustark, 713-528-0653) apparently think so. And since they're also the folks behind popular establishments Poison Girl and Antidote -- the former in Montrose, the latter in the Heights -- the new Black Hole Cafe wi ... More >>

The Top 10 Coffee Houses in Houston

Photo by Gary R. WiseGreenway Coffee, one of Houston's leading coffee houses.​Last week's First Look at Black Hole Cafe prompted some interesting discussions in the comments section, namely a lively debate about the merits of weighing a just-opened coffee house against other, more established ... More >>

Off the Wall: CRAVE-ing Coffee

​Last week, Katharine Shilcutt ranked the top 10 coffee shops in town. Suggestions and opinions varied in the comments section, but one in particular caught my eye. Coffee Bean Junkie wrote, "I would also add Crave Cupcakes. I go there often just for the pour-over-style, rich-tasting coffee ... More >>

Where to Get Your Caffeine Fix

The Top Ten Coffeehouses in Houston

Top 5 Coffee Hacks

Photo by Josh Liba​As a kid, I could never understand the appeal of coffee. But that might have been because my grandparents were always brewing up tar-thick pots of Folgers, the plastic tub of "coffee crystals" stored in the freezer where they absorbed other scents and smells. Or because my f ... More >>

Comments of the Day: Bloggers Edition

​Today's most interesting comments were actually by Eating Our Words bloggers, and they were on a Where Are We Eating? post. I know. Weird. Anyway, Christine Ha's comment concerned the frustrating service she received at Catalina Coffee, while Nick Hall wrote in with a heartwarming tale about ... More >>

Top 5 Songs About Coffee To Celebrate National Coffee Day!

nataliedee.comI need about a kiddie pool of coffee straight to my dome every morning. ​National Coffee Day is September 29. Most of us can't function without our morning cup, whether it's black, loaded with sugar and cream, or one of those $10 fancy-pants 20-ouncejobs. It's part of our mornin ... More >>

What Kind of Coffee Do You Unwittingly Resemble?

You look like...a grande mocha, no sugar, no whip, extra dry, half skim, half whole milk with caramel. Sugar-free caramel. Jerk.​This weekend, I stopped into Inversion for a caffeine infusion in my preferred format: a cortado, which is a shot of espresso cut with an equal amount of steamed mil ... More >>

Comment of the Day: A Reader Both Normal and Healthy

​Here on Eating Our Words, the commenters absolutely make the blog, and our Comment of the Day honors the best of the bunch. Every day, we read you guys and pick the commenter, or commenters, who made us laugh, cry, salivate over something delicious, or think about things in a new way. In re ... More >>

The Rest of the Best: Houston's Top 10 Coffeehouses

Photo by Kevin O'MaraA reminder of what our No. 3 pick used to look like.​For the next 20 weeks, we'll be rounding up the runners-up to our 2011 Best of Houston® winners. In many categories, picking each year's winner is no easy task. We'll be spotlighting 20 of those categories, in which the ... More >>