Today further confirmed my impression that making friends and allies with your neighbors is crucial and pays dividends. After several days of smelling the delicious odors wafting over from next door, I finally made an effort to take Daniel Velasco up on his offer to come by for an expresso at the new location of De La Paz coffee roasters. Daniel is an incredibly dedicated coffee maker that works with a small team to roast whole sale coffee that is distributed to retailers as large as Whole Foods and as small as Mojo, a tiny cafe on Divisadero St. that epitomizes what the hipster generation of San Francisco is all about: quality, sustainable ingredients in a low-key, pretension-free atmosphere (with ample parking for your fixed gear bike). Daniel and I chatted about the coffee making process as he expertly made a cappuccino: First "pulling" a test of espresso for that particular batch of beans (roasted a few hours ago) to ensure proper toast; painstakingly measuring and weighing the ground beans for a second time (carefully ground to be consistent and the appropriate size for this particular drink); locking the beans in to be forced through the (very expensive looking) espresso machine; and expertly steaming the milk ("which many baristas over-heat to the point of burning the milk sugars and eliminating the natural sweetness"). The result was a beautifully made but simple drink, finished with the flourish of an expert--a beautiful, frothy heart.
I don't drink coffee... but this was delicious. Warm, creamy, toasty, smooth, rich, and not even a hint of that bitter after taste that is usually a sign of mediocre espresso.
Already looking forward to doing business with Daniel and De La Paz. His energy and commitment to the craft are enviable and he is a great example of someone who loves his work and does it with a passion. If we do use De La Paz for as our coffee supplier, we will certainly be going local and have the freshest beans in town-- they are literally our next door neighbors.
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