It's common knowledge that supposedly Seattle has the largest per-capita concentration of coffee shops per person. However, when Janet and I visited Seattle, we expected that we would be inundated with coffee joints on every corner... sometimes two or three on the same block competing with each other.
There were a significant amount of coffee shops throughout the Seattle neighborhoods that we visited, but no more than we saw in San Francisco or New York. In fact, most of the coffee shops that we saw were either Tully's or Starbucks outposts... hardly the coffee culture that we had envisioned.
Janet and I were coming home from a party around 10pm last night, and we decided that a cup of coffee would hit the spot... and since we had spotted a new coffee shop in West Hartford Center, xando, which was purported to stay open until 1am on the weekends, we decided to pull in there for a cappuccino.
Well, color me surprised! Not only was xando open, but three other coffee shops within a block radius were still open and ding a brisk business as well! Only one non-coffee related establishment was even open (Elbow Room, a trendy restaurant/bar that serves up a mean pork sandwich)... and that wasn't even doing as brisk a business as xando seemed to be doing. Is West Hartford the new Seattle?
xando coffee and bar
The newest coffee joint on Farmington Avenue in West Hartford Center is also
the newest outpost of xando
coffee, a Connecticut-based chain of upscale coffee bars... and when
I say coffee bar, I mean coffee bar. Not only can you get coffee
and small pastries, but every xando has a full bar inside where you can get
coffee drinks and traditional alcoholic beverages. In addition to the coffee,
pastries and the bar, they also serve light snack food (like quesadillas
and the sort) and interesting looking desserts.
Though we only grabbed coffee to go, the desserts looked fantastic... the best being the s'mores platter. Like a Polynesian pu-pu platter, you get a plate with a sterno burner in the center and a Hershey's bar, graham crackers, marshmallows and bamboo skewers so you can make your own s'mores. What a fantastic idea!
The skinny on the coffee: Janet and I both noted that our coffees (she had a latte while I had a cappuccino) were fine, but a little overextracted. We would certainly come back, but given the other three java joints on the street, they're not my first choice.
Starbucks Coffee
Just like every town in the United States, West Hartford has its very own
Starbucks. Nothing exceptional here, just a mediocre cappuccino with over-steamed
milk.
The skinny on the coffee: just the place to go if you want a no-foam half-caf half-decaf skim milk hazelnut latte. Ugh.
Peter B's Coffee
The best coffee in West Hartford, and possibly the best cup of coffee in
the entire state of Connecticut. Why? Because they use Torrefazione
Italia coffee beans (my favorite coffee from San Francisco) and they
use whole milk for their cappuccinos and lattes (unless you ask for 2%, skim
or soy). It's every bit as good as the cappuccinos that IÝwould get
every afternoon with Carlos when I was still living in San Francisco.
Not only do they serve Torrefazione Italia coffee, they also serve Fresh Samantha Juices.
The skinny on the coffee: not only the best coffee in the area, but they also sell whole beans and half-gallons of drip coffee in thermal containers for people who want to bring some of the good stuff back to their office.
Michaele's Coffee
I haven't been to Michaele's Coffee for about 6 years. Back then, it was
the only coffee house in West Hartford Center, and it was located behind
the West Hartford Center strip. It was a hidden away gem that you had to
follow the signs through an alley to get to. They had live jazz in their
courtyard and outdoor seating.
However, it seems that with the competition from the other coffee shops, they decided that if they wanted to compete that they would have to move onto Farmington Ave. Michaele's seems to have a large selection of teas and light sandwiches, and is the most feminine feeling of the four coffee houses (lots of green, big couches, blond wood).
The skinny on the coffee: I haven't had the coffee there yet, but locals seem to rate their coffee as excellent. We'll stop by and sample their wares within the next few weeks.