Just heard Mandarin Coffee Stand in Pasadena is getting a second location in East Pasadena. That location probably works better for me and I hope it thins out the crowds as the lines at the original always push me off. They have a really interesting selection though and I really hope they open soon and I can go without waiting in as big a line.
I don’t recall seeing anything about Wynd but maybe I missed it among the many posts in the forum. Had the chance to go several weeks ago and was impressed at the selection there too. They had Glitch stocked when I visited along with Tim Wendelboe. Lines can be long and its a smaller space. Parking can also be annoying; I parked in the narrow residential roads in the hills nearby and it was a bit of a walk back. I think they’re temporarily closed for a technical issue but definitely want to go back and try a non-Glitch coffee when I have time. The Glitch I had was a bit too… perfumey for me?
In a completely different direction, I was really impressed by the selection at Re Ca Phe in Fountain Valley. In addition to some famous names (to me) like Glitch, La Cabra, and Hydrangea, they also stocked Gout and Terraform. I think those last 2 are both Chinese roasters and might also be stocked at Mandarin.
And of course, if you’re able to make it in to Endorffeine they offer a number of interesting roasters for retail which I’m sure are great. I’d planned to grab one but forgot. I have a pic showing Drop coffee roasters, something that appears to be from a place called April Coffee Roasters, and Duck Rabbit Coffee roasters.
I’m looking forward to that second Mandarin, even though it’s farther for me, mostly because I (hopefully) won’t have to wait in a hellishly long line to grab a bag of a Chinese roaster coffee (here’s hoping they stock Slabtown some day…)
I know Mandarin works with Rabbit Hole using a Yunnan bean – very nice bean. Terraform, which Mandarin is getting, is renowned Shanghainese roaster, and by some dumb luck I didn’t make it there in April.
Spent most of the trip going to Slabtown over and over (and over) again in Shanghai – I don’t think they have any US representation.
I can’t remember the last time I made it to Mandarin on a weekday. Maybe half a year ago at like 7am? Still pretty busy.
Not sure where was appropriate but given the recent chatter about mandarin 2… https://www.instagram.com/p/DNZe7Ybph27/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==
Special coffee event at the new mandarin location in east Pasadena. Can’t copy in the event text but some cool baristas and some cool roasters.
Looks pretty neat! Hopefully it’s not too crazy but imagine it’ll be a bit of a crowd. Still contemplating whether to brave potential summer heat for it (early forecast shows 90 high… ).
Second location should be much better. Most of the appeal is that it looked like Diagon Alley. Being nosy most of the orders are for fun lattes and drinks from the college crowd
Perhaps that’s the market? I was at a Dayglow several months ago and the barista made a comment that had me thinking that the “fun” drinks paid the bills. When I visited Wynd coffee a lot of people were ordering “fun” drinks as opposed to Glitch pourovers. And when I look at Yelp reviews for coffee shops they tend to be about the special lattes, etc. I’m happy that Endorffeine exists but I suppose I shouldn’t be too surprised there aren’t many places that resemble their menu. Trendy drinks subsidizing a more serious pourover lineup?
100% that “fun” drinks pay the bills. I worked in specialty coffee throughout college and can say that the margins were so thin on classic connoisseur drinks (pour over, macchiato, 6 oz. capps). The first shop I worked in also sold acai bowls; half the day’s tickets were for these. Much better margins. With coffee, you start adding syrups &c. and the margins grow wider. Granted, this was a long time ago and I think the most I ever charged someone for a pour over was, like, $7?
Mandarin recently announced on Instagram that they’re no longer doing cream tops outside of their Vienna latte, so I think they are trying to find a balance of “fun” and serious.
Dayglow has a great pourover menu but I find that the baristas don’t dial in their beans. This makes sense since they usually have like 10+ pourovers on rotation, and I doubt the baristas dial in each of these every morning, but the few times I’ve gotten their pourover it has tasted under or over extracted. This is especially disappointing when the cup is $10+. They have a good selection of beans to buy though, and an exclusive parternship deal to sell Dak in LA, which is a really good roaster from the Netherlands.
I would check out Ondo if you haven’t already - they are a similar multi-roaster coffee shop and serve a lot of good beans on pourover.
Yeah I thought the same when I saw that mandarin announcement. Good to see they’re confident and clearly doing well enough to make such a move.
Good point on dayglow for more nuanced enjoyers. I’m a relative novice and my taste generally enjoys some sourness (love adding black vinegar to certain Chinese foods) so I likely have higher tolerance for underextraction. I’ve definitely heard the sour comment from someone else while at dayglow.
Drinking a pour over outside just seems expensive in general with rising coffee prices amidst other costs. So totally understand not agreeing to that. I definitely avoid some coffee spots I’ve tried before simply because I enjoy my imperfect amateurish attempts at pour over more.
Yes, you’re the second board member to recommend Ondo! Definitely on my list. I noticed Wynd and Ondo are practically neighbors and opted for Wynd first. But Ondo is next when I have a choice! That or kumquat haha. Whichever I can get to since everyone closes earlier by my standards.
Yeesh! The last shop I worked at, I had two different 'spros to dial in every shift and even that took me the better part of 20 minutes. Likely says more about me than anything else, but couldn’t imagine even handling four pour over beans…
I have witnessed people at the Maru DTLA leaving with five-ouncer creamy-topped things that I heard were made breve (half and half) and a little syrup. So: Whipped top. Breve. A little simple syrup/vanilla/maybe whatever. My mind reached back to my first job…
Isn’t that just a caramel macchiato?
For me this is the peak oil of “specialty coffee.” C’mon! Just go get a frappuccino at that point! The baristas there will probably make a hot one for you (it’s called a breve latte)!
Curmudging notwithstanding, I think I’m just burnt out from cafes. When there’s little to no line at Loquat or Kumquat (when does that happen?), and even when there is, they are always superbly consistent on bar and from the drip. My par is pretty low these days. Perhaps analogous to @Bagel below
I got a Moccamaster and a Loquat 1KG subscription and I’m satsified
I started with a French Press but it was getting really annoying to clean so I’ve moved on to a Hario Switch. I do lazy hybrid pourover/immersions and chip away at an ever increasing stack of coffee beans I buy during international travel or when I find interesting roasters at local coffee shops.
Its a messy version of the hybrid method attributed to Tetsu Kasuya which you kind of need a Hario Switch, Switch-like device, or something that’s able to replace the start-stop process. There’s multiple variations and even evolutions, but this video is pretty close to what I do: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68ZOXrXbVHc
Basically, starting at the same point as you would for pourover, you:
Bloom and wait (I usually do 30ish seconds)
After bloom, pour a lesser percentage of your total water like a pourover (video uses 50% but typically its a 4:6 ratio)
Once the pourover phase drains through (usually I give it a minute and change), close the switch
Add the remaining water and do an immersion (I usually do about a minute 15-30 seconds depending on how I’m feeling)
Wait for a bit then open the switch and allow to drain
Extra: I sometimes swish it around a little in my carafe-equivalent to try and get it to blend together better.
The idea is that you get the expressiveness of a pour over in phase 1 but add the body of a french press through immersion in phase 2. Combined, you theoretically might get the best of both worlds. Or get close enough.
I’m sloppy in that:
I don’t measure the water on the first pour but just eyeball around anywhere from 30-40%
I don’t use a kettle so I’m not really controlling the pour on the pourover phase. I try to go through the center because some other video of a professional said they train their baristas to just pour down the center for consistency.
I’m very sloppy with temperature control because I don’t have a full setup and just cobble together whatever I had on hand for daily usage.
Despite my laziness and unwillingness to buy more equipment at this stage, I still get what I find to be good cups of coffee for personal daily drinking (once it cools a bit). Planning to upgrade to a kettle within the next 6 months just so i have something to ease pouring and maybe do more temperature control. Thankfully, I’m not trying to run a coffee shop so I can live with the imperfections.
I also got one during the pandemic! Now I look forward to waking up every morning to make coffee using the Moccamaster! Much easier than pour over and about 90% as good.
Hah I just have a $40ish Oxo “easy” clean one. And now its just the carafe for when I use my Hario Switch.
No I hadn’t heard of calculate.coffee! Looking at it, it seems useful! But my imprecision starts with my lack of tools to allow for precision rather than knowing the method haha. I literally use this to pour my water. It’s very cumbersome for the purpose of making a pourover.
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