"We always want to add a little extra something into our experiences," Kolsto says. "And this allows us to share mediums."
"The idea was to strip away every toy," Helt says of the campfire experiment, conducted during last year's Caffeine Crawl. "We wanted to really focus on all of the variables that we manipulate to make coffee."
Fat City asked him how coffee perfectionists might begin their own quest at home.
"Every time I sit down with someone," he says as he slides a chair back from one of Flywheel's four tables, "it gets busy."
Before Freeman, 41, can sit, the door swings open, sending him behind the counter again. The customer is a regular.
"There are not too many places that I can go to get a coffee, where I can walk through the grounds that were used to make the coffee," the man jokes.
He's teasing Freeman, who has been using espresso grounds to fertilize the grass seed planted in a small, spotty patch next to the shop's parking lot.
Freeman pushes up the sleeves of his brown hoodie, revealing another pair of sleeves in ink - a reminder of his days playing bass in bands like the Shaker Hoods - and works his equipment. He retorts: "There's going to be lush green grass where I can put my picnic tables this summer."
The new location of Kansas City roaster/coffee shop/institution Oddly Correct is a bigger, prettier, better space. Multiple brewing methods for multiple coffees roasted each week and locally supplied milk.
The space at 3940 Main is open from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Fat City visited with owner Gregory Kolsto back in December to talk about his plans for Main Street and the decision to serve milk in his new shop.
Police said a man armed with a handgun and wearing dark clothing and a ski mask walked into the shop demanding money.The man ran off after getting some cash. No injuries were reported.
The Crossroads Coffeehouse opened in February 2010 in the former Coffee Girls space.
If you're passionate about all the facets of coffee preparation and drinking, this weekend's North and South Central Regional Barista Competition, presented by the Specialty Coffee Association of America and the Barista Guild, and hosted by PT's Coffee Roasting Co. of Topeka and St. Louis-based Kaldi's Coffee, will be searching for the best and most skilled barista in the North and South Central United States.
The events will be held at the Guild KC, 1621 Locust, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, January 18; from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, January 19; and from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, January 20. All the featured competitive events are free and open to the public. Coffee beverages will be offered to patrons attending the event.
The Roasterie owner is gazing through a wall of windows, looking up at the underbelly of a 1943 Douglas DC-3. O’Neill last month installed the refurbished aircraft (minus its heavy engines) at the top of the company’s West Side coffee plant. A line of 72 blue string lights trails the plane like a runway.
“It’s the spirit of inspired adventure,” he says. “Maybe I was a DC-10 pilot in another life.”
In this life — the past two decades of it, anyway — O’Neill has been a businessman, the hands-on leader of a homegrown success story. Painted on the plane’s tail is 5931, O’Neill’s Brookside house number. He and his family still live at 5931, the home where, in 1993, O’Neill started the Roasterie. (The airplane imagery has been a constant from the start, reflecting his lifelong passion for aviation.) His latest venture is the almost finished café space where he’s standing now, inside Roasterie HQ at 1204 West 27th Street. (In a few days, H&R Block is booked here for a corporate gathering.) Steel and dark wood have been trucked in daily to remake this six-year-old space.
To read the rest of the story in this week's print edition, click here.
Parisi Cafe in Union Station is offering a free cup of coffee tomorrow from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. They will also be offering a $1 off espresso drinks and medium/large coffees. A list of promotions from the national chains are after the jump.
One More Cup has a midweek mingle today from 4:30 to 6 p.m. with free samples of Toddy coffee, root beer chai, and other drinks and baked goods. Tomorrow, all 8-oz. lattes and cappuccinos are $1.95. Thursday, you should also get to Parisi Coffee early at Union Station. The shop is celebrating its one-year anniversary, and the first 200 customers get a free cupcake from Smallcakes. Homer's offers $1 scones on Thursdays and free coffee refills. And all locations of Latteland are holding happy hour from 4 to 6 p.m. with $1 shots of espresso, and small iced and hot coffee through Friday, September 21.
A complete list of specials is here. Enjoy your caffeine.
R.I.P to my nephew gone but never forgotten you was born in the same hospital…
Great neighborhood atmosphere, but the food was never consistent. I will miss it.
Btw,…
YES.
Beer-the cause AND cure of all our problems.
Methinks thou art a shithead, AND I've got your Blue Moon. Right here.
Boulevard's Saison-Brett hits store shelves and taps Tuesday
The Gaf has closed in Waldo
Giovanni's Deli goes big in the Northland
Pitch Taste of KC beats the weather, draws 700 hungry people
Big Rip Brewing Co. opens to the world Sunday
The Humdinger: Stand in line to get in, baby
S.D. Strong Distilling is likely the country's only distillery in a cave
The Pitch's Questionnaire with T2 creative director Travis Schlitter