I drink a LOT of coffee. I mean a LOT of coffee. I start in the morning and end at night. Often there will be an empty coffee cup on my night stand in the morning. (I can drink espresso and fall asleep 10 minutes later...true fact.) I think this comes from my days of being a cop and working the night shift. I always told the local "stop and rob" proprietors to leave that last two inches at the bottom of the coffee pot for me to drink at 3:00 a.m. These were the days before Starbucks was even thought of. Coffee was relegated to "stop and robs" and coffee shops.
The coffee landscape has changed a great deal since that time. However, my love of coffee has not. I am much like Dennis Leary, I want "coffee flavored coffee." I don't regularly do lattes, frappes, crappes, whatever they are called. I do not do cream sugar or anything that will dilute the taste of the coffee. I drink black coffee. OK, I do throw in the occasional latte but never flavored, but my preference is for black coffee.
I also want to state that I DO NOT LIKE STARBUCKS. I try not to get political or biased in anything I post or write. However, I do have to state here that there are certain business practices that Starbucks engages in that I do not believe in at all. If I am traveling at night, I will drive by the Starbucks and get coffee from a stop and rob. I will not get into detail here what those practices are as I am here to talk coffee, however, if you want to know what my gripes are I will be happy to sit down with you over a cup of coffee and discuss this with you.
My feeling is the god of coffee in the Fresno area is Leo at Cafe Corazon. I regularly Tweet and Facebook about Leo. The reason: his stuff is great. Cafe Corazon is a local roaster. All the coffee sold there is roasted on site. In fact you can see the bags of green coffee beans sitting in the store. Leo is a coffee connoisseur and has great roasting skills. You can tell Leo what kind of taste you are looking for in a coffee and he will direct you to one of his fresh roasted varieties. He always hits the nail on the head, and I have gotten to the point where I just tell him to fix me up with a pound of whatever he thinks is good. Cafe Corazon sells coffee beans as well as cups of coffee prepared in an assortment of methods. He can explain each of these to you and the advantages of each. This place is truly a gift to Fresno and has been to me, a true coffee lover. However, do not expect the latte and frappuccino machines there. Cafe Corazon does coffee.
Like I stated above, I love good coffee, but also like the occasional Latte.' If I am going to sit down and enjoy a latte', I go to the Revue in the Tower district. If you have never been to this place, you need to go. This place is wonderful. When you walk in it appears to be a small coffee cafe, however, if you venture to the back of the cafe, there are large seating areas as well as a large event room. I have had many latte's and even desserts at the Revue. It is lively, but you can find an out of the way corner where you can work if you wish. Their latte's as well as other coffee drinks are delicious and they have great food as well.
If I am on the road Dutch Brothers is my place of choice. There are only two locations in Fresno, West and Bullard, and Ashlan and Willow. They do not have inside seating, in fact they are little drive through kiosks. However, their coffee is roasted by the company. The barristas are fun, lively, friendly, and usually have music blaring from the kiosks. It is the perfect place to get a cup of Joe for the road.
Again, you will not see me at the Starbucks, (sorry Starbucks fans). I know that there are other good places for coffee in the Fresno area, however, these are my favorites, and I rarely stray from these. They are all on Twitter and Facebook and can be followed there. If you have favorites, let me know and I will check them out. However, remember though, I am really looking for "coffee flavored coffee."
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