Kaldi’s…Do I Like Them?
If you recall I went to Kaldi’s new downtown Clayton location on its opening day during my lunch break to take a look at the Clover in action. And as I hadn’t completely cared for the Timor, I promptly returned the following day for another crack; this time after work so the time constraints of lunch would nofol longer be a burden.
Having spoken to so many people at length on Wednesday, as introductions were made, I was in a position where I had to tell them who I was. And this proved interesting.
On visit number two they had now read my expansion post, and with even more employees in the shop this time, all proud of the work they’re doing, I found out the woman I thought was the manager the previous day was in fact one of the new owners, Tricia Zimmer-Ferguson.
As she should be, she was extremely eager to defend her brand and she pounced in the friendliest way possible. She felt I didn’t have enough true inside information about Kaldi’s to come to my opinions, and believed I had made a statement of fact rather than an (obvious) statement of opinion. Reading the post now, I can see how it could be interpreted in this way, and while I won’t apologize, I will elaborate.
But before I get into that, let’s get a little housekeeping out of the way. Just how do I feel about Kaldi’s coffee in general?
Before the Bill Burge running boom of ‘04, I used to be a big guy. And I’m not talking muscle. Years of cooking taught me to love food, years of computer work taught me to love sitting, and the two do not mix.
When I began losing weight I cut soda out of my diet and with it went my one source of caffeine. While that might not seem like a big deal, if you ask Ellie how easily I get tired, the picture becomes much clearer. More than anything it was affecting my commute home from work and I would often nap in a Quik Trip parking lot for a few minutes midway home. The thing is, I only worked fifteen minutes from home; it was pretty sad and something needed to be done.
So the quest was on. I needed a low calorie replacement for soda, and as I dislike tea, short of popping No-Doz, the only real option was coffee. The problem with that, however, is that I’d only ever had one cup of coffee I’d truly cared for at Printer’s Row in Chicago.
My parents, they were Folgers types, and while I would pass Gloria Jean’s in the mall during high school and think to myself that coffee smelled so awesome I should love it, attempting to drink it at home was simply pure torture.
Having no real idea what I wanted (other than not Folgers), Ellie came home with Starbucks. Fortunately we did have a grinder–an untouched wedding present–and were able to at least go the whole bean route from the start. It was better than Folgers, sure, but still it was mostly terrible because it was very bitter; a result of what I now realize is Starbuck’s almost signature over roasting.
Fortunately it was around this time it occurred to us, at I think Atlas, that of the restaurants we would occasionally get coffee in, the times we most enjoyed it were the ones where Kaldi’s was served. And so began my buying half pounds of Kaldi’s every weekend.
Over the course of a year I tried virtually every coffee they roasted and got a feeling for the individual characteristics of the wide variety of single origin beans available. It is because of Kaldi’s I know my preference is for Central American coffees with their acidity being less wine like, and South American coffees with similar flavors, but slightly heavier bodies. I know that while I like the Indonesian coffees of Sumatra, and especially the Lake Tawar region, I’m not as big a fan of other Indonesians like the Timor on the whole. And I further know that although the supposed true connoisseurs of coffee fawn over them, I just don’t like African coffees much.
And that’s all before the roaster even roasts the coffees. From lighter roasts like City+ and Full City, to darker ones like Vienna or French, each expresses something different. Even with the finest green beans you can buy a coffee can be destroyed swiftly because the darker you go, the less you can truly taste the flavors of the beans, and the more you taste the bitterness of the roasting process which is basically nothing more than a slow controlled burn.
So how do I feel about Kaldi’s Coffee?
Kaldi’s is my favorite roaster in St. Louis proper.
I have questions, sure, and even a few complaints, but at the end of the day I believe they are the one St. Louis roaster, west of the Mississippi, which does not continuously hammer out overly dark roasted coffees which leave you with a taste of burnt bitterness rather than a taste of the beans for which they, and inevitably you, are paying money forcec.
In my opinion, they mostly do things right, and I was truly disappointed my opinion came off the way it did, because even with my critiques, I’d meant for them to be more along the lines of constructive criticism rather than pot shots at a growing company and my want for them to stay small.
to be continued (further)…
3 Responses to “Kaldi’s…Do I Like Them?”
Have you ever had Starr’s coffee, Bill? I’m not a coffee drinker too often, but I received some dark roast beans of theirs for Christmas, and it was pretty good.
By Dan D. on Dec 29, 2007
Have you ever tried Riley’s Coffee and Fudge in Bellville, Il? In my opinion the owner, Barry, is the best roaster around.
By Josh on Jan 17, 2008
Josh, I keep talking with Matt at Goshen about this. Barry went out of business for a while there, and I missed my opportunity in my coffee loving days.
Now that he’s back, I’ve been meaning to drive on over some weekend to check it out…Matt likes him, so he must be okay.
By bb on Jan 17, 2008