Four Letter Word / Ethiopia / Agaro Kolla Bolcha / Washed Heirloom

Since it was my birthday and I was almost entirely across the city of Chicago, I decided to treat myself to another cup of coffee at Four Letter Word (see my espresso post). 4LW doesn't serve any matcha or promise pour overs, which I think is a sign of honesty. They can't do everything in a small shop focused on quality coffee. 

On the wall, they had an Ecuador natural (which I had on espresso), a washed Uganda, a washed Brazil, and this washed Ethiopia. It promised notes of tea and vanilla, or something like that. I think tea notes are nonsense anyways, and I had never had a coffee with notes of vanilla. I did not really have a choice anyway since all they had on drip was the Ethiopia. I ordered it. 

This was one of the most unique coffees I have had this year. It was very bright, very delicate, and had a very clear vanilla note, as if it was grown in a field of vanilla. It was not super sweet or silky. But it was very light and enjoyable. I think a lot of coffees claim to be light, but end up being sour and unenjoyable, or secretly heavy. This coffee was extremely well balanced, and you could really feel the variety of aromatics. 

Truly a special coffee. 4LW - 10/10.

Four Letter Word / Ecuador / Juan Peña La Papaya / Oak Barrel Anaerobic Typica Mejorado

I ran over 6 miles in order to visit Four Letter Word, which they like to say is in Avondale. Fair claim, except it is on the border of the old cool neighborhood, Logan Square. They had one of the coolest espresso machines in Chicago, from Kees Van Der Westen, either a Speedster or a Mirage, I am not sure. It was a lever machine, which does not imply good coffee, but it could potentially correlate. 

I almost never order espresso at a cafe, even if it is a reportedly "good" cafe, because I do not like espresso. Compounding this, almost every cafe does a horrible job making espresso because the baristas do not know what they are doing, introducing this off taste that hits the throat. But, I had come this far to one of the best cafes in Chicago, so I was going to take a risk and order some espresso.

I ordered what was labeled an Ecuador natural on the menu, paying no mind to the notes. It was $5, which I thought was respectable. Metric should feel embarrassed with their $5 batch brew. It took a while for them to make it, and I was surprised to find no off flavors, and a nice fruity and mildly chocolatey espresso. Thinking back to it, I think it tasted similar to how my birthday cake tasted. I thought it was great. I have the same complaints I always have about espresso, such as the fact that either the coffee disappears too fast or the coffee gets cold (remember, espresso is a fascist brewing method). But I cannot complain that it was horrible and terrible, which is a plus. 

What I did not realize at the time is that this is aged in a spent oak barrel that was used to brew rum for 20 years! I do not know if I can even drink that coffee. 4LW says the benefit is the unique "microbiota" that is leftover in the barrel, so it is not like it has alcohol in it. But I am still suspicious. 

I also took a risk ordering a natural process, and I think the flavors came out well and gently in the espresso. I'm on a roll, two non-washed coffees in just one week!

Plein Air / Drip Blend

I have been making the rounds on Chicago cafes and trying coffee in different neighborhoods. Plein Air was on my list, having starred in the Reddit list I have mentioned previously. 

If you want a “third wave” spot to drink coffee in a beautiful outside space next to a Frank Lloyd Wright building, Plein Air is the spot.

They did offer pourovers, but the barista was so incredibly busy there was no way they could have done a good job. They also had what seemed like one barista, since a lot of their business was actually in brunch food. The indoor seating was a surprise and the outdoor seating was nice. 

I thought the coffee was fine. It wasn't bad coffee, but it wasn't coffee I would return for. It certainly had no memorable attributes and at $4, it was way overpriced. 

Metric Coffee / Honduras / Alma Pineda / Honey Parainema

I was trying to go to the Passion House Coffee roastery, but their hours online are inaccurate. So I decided to get back on the Green Line. Between California and Damen there’s a really long gap and I was thinking, man, I should just stop at Damen and go get some coffee at Metric.

So I decided to get off and get some coffee. I was disappointed that I wouldn’t get to try a new roaster, but it’s OK. I also was shocked that a cup of drip coffee was $5, but it is high quality coffee, so I shouldn’t complain. But if drip is $5, how much is a pourover?

They had a Honduras on drip today. It advertised notes of grapefruit, butterscotch, and Assam tea. Grapefruit sold me. I’ve had two cups of coffee today, which is almost certainly too much, so I’ll take my “Decaffeinate” pills to truly test them. I do think the “Decaffeinate” pills work, by the way. 

This was also a honey process, which was me going out on a limb. I almost always order a washed coffee, but today I let myself go and try a honey process. This is the first non-washed single origin I have had since July.

The grapefruit is obvious at first sip and the flavor also lingers. Grapefruit is probably the most basic of the third wave notes, since it just denotes a bitter acidity, which is just the flavor of coffee. But this one had a tiny bit of juiciness to it, which is admirable. I think tea notes are a cop out and I have never been able to differentiate them. The butterscotch came out as the coffee cooled. It was very tasty and I remember the coffee fondly. I always feel like the best sign of a good coffee is if you remember it positively, no matter how the experience was when the cup was in your hand. This one passed the test.

I really like Metric, because they serve quality coffee, but also because they have nice aesthetics. I am always tempted by their merch, especially the hats, hoodies, and mugs, and I would have bought one by now if not for the fact that their new cafe in Avondale serves alcohol. I’m glad that Milli by Metric has a different name to differentiate the brand, but they still serve alcohol, or at least are planning to, and to me that is a disappointment. I understand that programming a cafe at night in the United States usually means "just serve alcohol," but that does not mean that I have to like or support it. At least it is better than Cairo Coffee, which turns into a nightclub. And because of this disappointing aspect, Metric's status in my mind falls every time I remember it.

Prequel Coffee / Costa Rica

Prequel is a second/third wave cafe with great aesthetics and a lot of cool merch. However, that does not guarantee good coffee. I came here because I thought they were a multiroaster, but in reality, they actually just serve Four Letter Word's Brazil and Abracadabra's Dark Times. I do not know if 4LW always sells a Brazil, but regardless, Prequel was serving their own roast when I went. The barista stated it was a Costa Rican, but seemed nervous to say that. She also neglected to mention that it was a medium roast. It was fine, but to me, certainly not worth the $4 I paid for it.

Gaslight Coffee Roasters / Costa Rica / Los Santos Hacienda La Minita / Washed Caturra & Catuai

I want to try more cafes in Chicago, so I decided to work from a cafe for a few hours since I did not have any meetings. I have been trying to "decaffeinate" my body, so I ordered only an 8oz cup. I wanted to drink this Ethiopian roast they had, since it had a farmer with a Muslim name. However, they do not offer pourovers (good), and only brew coffee in drip machine and keep it in a fancy thermos. They use this Ground Control machine, which went out of business. My cup was $3. 

The good: this was very tasty, drinkable coffee. If I did not know that drinking a lot more coffee would make me physically uncomfortable, I would have drank a lot more of it, and have been very happy. With notes of "fudge, apricot, and walnut" it was sweet, smooth, and lightly acidic. 

I quite enjoyed the coffee, and I would certainly return to Gaslight. I think they sell good coffee and the shop was reminiscent of Hyperion. They put roast dates on their bags, do not care to tell you if it is a "light roast" and they roast in a small room in the back of the shop.

The bad: Gaslight is in an old building and it is kind of cold. That means your cup of coffee cools down, which means you have to drink it fast, which means you are shortly out of coffee. Also, working at a cafe is difficult, so I do not think I will be working at cafes very often, at least not to do my work, maybe I will do other kinds of work at a cafe. 

SEY Coffee / Ethiopia / Sidama Elora / Washed Ethiopian Landrace

My brother shared a principle modeled after a friend of ours which says to not worry about spending money on things, since the experiences are more valuable than those dollars sitting in your pocket. I also spent a couple days agonizing over the thought of buying a fancy brewer, such as the Caedo Hoop or the NextLevel Pulsar or some other cool new brewer. However, one redditor pointed out that the best brewer is the V60, since it is so simple, and you should improve your coffee. My grinder is already pretty good, so I decided to take all this advice and spend $30 on a bag of uber-specialty coffee. So I went to Dayglow in hopes of buying some fancy coffee. 

On their shelf, they had coffee from a range of roasters, but honestly, nothing that seemed super appealing to me. So I decided to go for an origin and brand that I respect, so a SEY Ethiopia seemed right. They also had the honey process version of this coffee, but I went for the washed. In hindsight, I may have enjoyed that one since a SEY honey process probably would not be horrible. 

This coffee was a very light roast, and I had some issues with it as I started to brew it. 

In the cup we find excellent density and structure, peach rings, lemonade, and tea.

I also did not know what I was tasting for. I think the tea here was rather light, and lemonade meant acidity. Peach rings also came out, but in less of a jelly, sour way, and more of a plastic, gummy way with a scent of peach. I have no idea what "density and structure" means in coffee, so I am happy to understand that. 

The coffee also tasted good on AeroPress, and I wish I had brewed it a few more times on AeroPress as well.

Overall, this was an interesting foray into the uber-specialty world, but the coffee was not notably memorable except for its extreme lightness. I didn't think the acidity was particularly unique or prominent, despie it being good coffee.