Coffee Shop Reviews

On June 15th, my wife and I visited Blue Bottle Coffee located on 116 N Robertson Blvd in Los Angeles (Beverly Hills). I will say right away that this was one of the best cups of coffee I’ve ever had. I ordered a traditional drip coffee and the barista told me that they use their in-house Bella Donovan blend.

The coffee shop and coffee menu was minimalistic and clean, which I loved.

But I haven’t told you the best part yet. To my surprise, they do a pour-over for every single drip coffee. They use their in-house pour-over devices and line them up four in a row.

I was really impressed with their operation and I had a feeling that my coffee was going to be delicious. This was a big shift from what I experienced at Alfred Coffee on Melrose Place, which served over-heated, weak coffee.

The barista was working hard and the pour-over didn’t take long at all. The reason I make this point is because of the pour-over experience at Starbucks. If you go to Starbucks in the evening and want a decaf coffee, they’ll have to brew it using the pour-over method. It usually takes a super long time to get your coffee because the barista forget it about. This was NOT the case at Blue Bottle Coffee. At this location, their pour-over station is fully displayed and visible to the customer.

So, after only a couple minutes, I received my coffee. The coffee was served in a compostable cup and had a compostable lid as well, which I thought was awesome!

As you can tell, this experience was off to a good start, but I came for the coffee. Let’s just say I wasn’t disappointed.

I first tested the coffee’s aroma. The aroma was fruity and smooth. After enjoying this amazing smell, I took the first sip straight black (no cream or sugar). It had a fruity flavor, was incredibly smooth, AND it was a heavy dark roast. The coffee was so good that I was tempted to drink it black. This is rare because I NEVER drink black coffee, but it was honestly that flavorful and smooth. I then decided to add some cream and raw sugar. The coffee was so good that I just in the cafe with my wife and sipped on it. She was getting super annoyed because I couldn’t stop talking about how good it was. She also didn’t like how I was savoring it and taking super long.

With that said, I have to give this Blue Bottle Coffee location a big 5/5 stars. It really was one of the best cups of coffee I’ve ever had (outside my homemade coffee). I highly recommend you check it this location in Beverly Hills on Robertson Blvd.

On June 15, 2018 we visited Alfred Coffee on Melrose Place. This coffee shop is in a great location and the has a laid back vibe. The decor is also pretty cool:

You can sit inside or outside, but the inside has limited seating.

I decided to try their drip coffee because this is usually my gauge for testing coffee shops.

And to my suprise, unlike Blue Bottle Coffee, the coffee was already pre-brewed and was inside a thermal coffee carafe. This is usually a bad sign because the coffee is usually too hot, can taste burned, and you have no idea how long it’s been sitting in the carafe.

With that said, my wife order an iced caramel latte with coconut milk.

Their coffee prices were comparable to Starbucks and weren’t as absurd as some other coffee shop in Los Angeles. Here’s the menu:

As soon as I received my drip coffee, I could tell that it was scalding hot. I lifted off the lid to smell the aroma of the coffee. It didn’t have a strong aroma, but it had a slight, fruity aroma.

I then tried the coffee black. Right away I could tell it was a medium roast and the flavor was weak. I could also tell that the coffee-to-water ratio was off because the body of the coffee was very watery.

That being said, I still wanted to desperately enjoy their coffee because people rave about it.

So, I poured some cream in and two raw sugars. I then had to wait because the coffee was way beyond the appropriate temperature.

In the meantime, my wife and I tried her iced caramel latte with coconut milk. It was extremely sweet and had almost no coffee flavor at all. In fact, wifey said “it tastes like a marshmallow.” That’s a perfect way to describe it. It tasted almost like they forgot to include the shot of espresso.

After chatting about Kimmie’s drink, I decided to give my drip coffee another chance (now that it’s not boiling hot). I will say that it tasted better with cream and sugar, but I still couldn’t get over the water-to-coffee ratio.

Watered-down coffee is a big no-no for me.

Also, the aftertaste of their drip coffee was pretty rough too.

Overall, the vibe and location of Alfred Coffee was great. However, the coffee was a big letdown (given how much hype I’ve heard).

I enjoyed the coffee at Carrera Cafe and Blue Bottle Coffee much more.

I think if Alfred’s adopted a pour over method (like Blue Bottle Coffee) and eliminated the thermal coffee carafe, it would be much tastier coffee. I should mention that Alfred’s uses their own in-house, so that is a big influence as well.

At the end of the day, the quality of the coffee is what matters the most (not the brewing method).

I’m going to give Alfred 3/5 stars because of the quality of the coffee.

Have you been to Alfred Coffee or want to try it? Leave your comments and questions below.