9th Street Coffee & Tea

We are huge coffee snobs and happened to walk into this place by coincidence. Not only we were surprised by the variety of coffee but also by the knowledge of their people. You can certainly buy some of the best coffee beans in the world from this place. Moreover, they are roasters and roast no more than 1 pound of coffee at a time. Which is great, since coffee stays fresh. No one should keep roasted coffee for over 1 week, and they are the only roasters that actually follow this rule. They offer custom roasts as well as their standard selections. You can also have a cup of coffee right there (which is strongly recommended), however you will not find an espresso machine - since all they offer is a good pour over coffee. I've purchases Ethiopia Geisha ($40 per a little less than a pound), which was more than I would want to spend on a coffee. But few years ago, this coffee was around $300 per pound - so $40 was nothing in comparison. Be careful, since their packaging is not vacuum sealed, and once you get home - you absolutely must move the beans to the sealed storage. I ran this coffee through my espresso machine and was very impressed by a sophisticated and complex flavor. I usually use Ethiopia Yirgachefe and I had a chance to compare the two cup to cup. Yirgachefe is always acidic and has a blueberry aftertaste. Whereas Geisha just hits you with extremely rich, almost bloody flowery taste, that changes as you are swallowing the coffee. I would strongly recommend to try it yourself at least once. I am definitely getting my next coffee from these guys!