Boulder has another unexpected claim to fame: the best baristas outside of Fiorenze. I had been meaning to wait until I got a larger sample of the barista’s art, but here I come with photos of 12 picturesque lattes and one non-picturesque (guess which before you look).
The highest-rated and most consistent espresso spot is Joe’s. I have yet, after dozens of visits, to get an unbeautiful latte made by Joe. It is not for nothing that Joe has gotten the yearly Boulder award for best espresso. (He even sponsors barista workshops!) But Laughing Goat and Ozo aren’t bad. Bliss is inconsistent. Sometimes they have beautiful lattes, but I haven’t been there with my camera at the right time.
Soon I’ll add another dozen lattes. This is a fun project!
–rakkity
michael
Now wait a minute. First, it feels to me like you’ve all the way retired and no longer working 1/3 of the time. Secondly, the rakkity I used to know would never pay for a latte when he could make his own Nescafe from freeze dried crystals at ten cents a cup. Thirdly, now I really want to move to Boulder.
rakkity
One great thing about Boulder’s espresso houses (not including Starbucks) is that they all have free wifi. So I can bring my laptop and sip/admire/slurp a latte and get a little work done towards my mandated 12 hr/week.
True, I used to make home-brewed nescafe and other such vile concoctions, but I’m a reformed caffeineaholic: nothing but prime roasted beans from exotic lands go down my gullet these days.
Jen
Wow. I thought I was a coffee snob Starbuck’s fanatic. I wish we had those choices here. Every place around here employs 15 year olds who have never even had a cup and can’t do a latte justice.
Jen
And, by the by, what do the other patrons of these establishments think as you whip out your camera and photograph your foam?
rakkity
Nobody notices. They’re too busy imbibing the caffienated delights, tapping at their laptops, or talking to fiends, or chatting on their iPhones. Maybe I should make my picture-taking more obvious, and get them to realize how lucky they are to have photogenic coffee.