Aldo Coffee Company

Challenge Your Palate - With a Taco

When we first started selling expensive coffee in the 'burbs, it was a big risk.  We were higher priced than anyone, we were talking about flavor notes in coffee that wasn't artificially flavored, we preached specific brewing parameters and invested in people who could enter and win barista competitions.  Very little of this made sense to people who just wanted a dose of caffeine.  It was just coffee, after all, right?

In the ensuing years, a handful of shops caught up and pushed the boundaries of what coffee can be even further.  Those people have our respect and should be appreciated, even if they're competitors.  Today there's a weekly coffee column in the P-G.  Few other cities have that.  So congratulate yourselves on making a difference by coming here for coffee or going to the others on the short list who pay attention to excellence.  You're raising the tide for all those little boats that are still stuck on the supermarket coffee sandbar.

With that said, right now nobody is taking a bigger risk in the Pittsburgh food scene than Kevin Sousa.  He's taken up residence at Yo Rita on the South Side (Carson & 11th) and has turned a "normal Pittsburgh" taco menu into a something of a degustation menu of $5 tacos.

Those who know and follow Kevin (and while not best buds, we're certainly acquainted) trust the guy implicitly to serve something that's wonderful, even if it's nothing they'd ever considered putting in their mouths before.  And he's running with that concept as if he expects Andrew Zimmern or Bourdain to show up any minute for some offal on a tortilla.

Belle, Frank, Michelle and Rich were at Yo Rita last Friday noshing on tacos filled with things like eel, pork mole and apple, huitlacoche (corn fungus), tongue and beef marrow. 

It was all delicious.

Decaf: Methylene Chloride > Water

The decaf we sell is Swiss Water Process (SWP). 

We sell beans decaffeinated using SWP largely because customers who drink decaf routinely ask for this process by name. We believe this is because the folks who market SWP have branded it so well that customers think it's both tastiest and safest.

Unfortunately neither is true.  This article does a great job of discussing the benefits/flaws of the four major decaffeination processes.

We don't drink decaf ourselves so we haven't spent a lot of time thinking about it.  But as we're all about taste and transparency, looks like it's about time we revisited our options for decaf.

The more you know...

Slow Food: The Story of Milk

This seems like it will be interesting, so sharing it here in case any of y'all want to attend.
Here's the email from Slow Food Pittsburgh (contact them, not us, to reserve a spot - see boldface type below for how):

The Surprising Story of Milk

Come and hear the real story of milk.
Or shall we say the story of REAL milk.
Meet the cows, taste various milks,
stay for organic lunch.

Your hosts: Slow Food Pittsburgh,
Eat 'n Park, East End Co-op,  Green Chef, Brunton Dairy
Reserve now:
Saturday, July 11
10 am to 2 pm.
$12 members, $15 nonmembers
( details below)

Happy 4th. Open Until 1pm Today

We could be open later if we wanted, but we'd make you drink straight espresso if we were.  Enjoy your cookout wherever you are.  Regular hours tomorrow.

Mt. Lebo First Friday Tonight, We're Open Til 9pm. Free Espresso 12n-5p!

Tonight's First Friday theme is "Positive Vibrations", featuring sounds of the Caribbean.  Main act in Clearview Commons is The Flow Band. Other acts and entertainment will be up and down Washington Road.

We'll be open until 9pm tonight.  No entertainment here, but feel free to duck in for coffee, dessert and some air conditioning.

This afternoon, as we were the recipients of a lot of coffee leftover from last week's Sprodown, we're sharing our bounty and doing something that we hope might make some converts to a more continental lifestyle - FREE ESPRESSO.

From noon to five today, during the Frank & Rich shift, we'll have three different espressos on bar.  We - will be serving FREE doubles for consumption in ceramic demitasse in the store. 

Sprodown Success

You might think that after seven hours of working your own coffee bar the last thing you'd want to do is go work somebody else's for a couple of hours - but you'd be wrong.

In fact we'd love to do it again.

Last night's "Sprodown" at Voluto drew a nice crowd.  We're going to estimate about 60 folks turned up to slurp down some of the best espressos in the US & Canada, but we missed the first half hour, so it could've been more. 

Espresso Tasting @Voluto Fri 7pm

Ever wonder what the big deal about espresso is?  Want to taste firsthand how different roasters create different flavor profiles specifically for espresso?

This Friday, beginning at 7pm, Voluto Coffee will be hosting an espresso tasting featuring 11 different blends and origins.  Several are nationally acclaimed espressos not regularly found in Pittsburgh.  Plus a couple of local favorites.

A $5 contribution is requested.  If you like espresso, this is a rare opportunity to taste some of the best close to home.  Hope to see you there.

Our Semi-Annual Reminder of Why We Don't Want to Be a Restaurant

We had 19 for our Father's Day origin brunch yesterday.  Eight at the first seating, 11 at the second.  Enough to break even if you don't count the cook's hours.  We'd hoped for a full 24 and had enough for a couple of extra walk-ins. 

The response was uniformly positive.  The folks who came were delightful to speak with.  They had all sorts of questions about the food and were interested in some of the preparations and even some of the cultural background and how the dishes related to the four coffees we were serving.  We love to see that kind of interest.

Tweet This

In case you missed it, Rich was quoted in Sunday's P-G as noting that Mt. Lebo residents are behind the times when it comes to social media technology. 

Of course that also means that 95% of our customers won't see this post.

Make Your Reservations for Father's Day Origin Brunch

UPDATE (Sat 4pm):  8 spots open - 4 for AM, 4 for PM. We're leaving 2 spots open at each seating for walk-ins.  We got our fish for the ceviche, but no passionfruit, so we'll do some other fruit thing.

We're doing two seatings, one from 10:30-noon, 2nd from 12:30-2.  Due to limited capacity of kitchen and space, we'll only be serving 12 diners at each seating. 

To make a reservation, email us or call the store, 412.563.1220.  If leaving a phone message, be sure to leave your phone number so we can confirm. 

Please do not make a reservation unless you're actually coming.  Thanks.