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Besides Intelligentsia, this café is perhaps the only other notable area espresso bar/coffee roastery with high standards. The location is bustling with customers - mostly avid readers with left-leaning politics located at their many small indoor tables. Mustard yellow walls displaying black & white photos. Their coffee roasting is performed on site. Their baristas are trained well on their three-group La Marzocco. And while they are keenly aware of the value of serving espresso in a porcelain cup instead of paper, they seem to continually ask, "For here?" Even at that, you still have to choose your own saucer at the counter. And the Metropolis-logo Vertex cups, often outnumbered by their bland CAC cups from China, underscore their low attention towards aesthetics. They preheat the cups and produce a short shot of espresso - with a medium-dark brown crema. It is a very good espresso - with a honey-like sweetness balanced with smokiness and an herbal pungency.
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