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A Coffee Education in Columbus Ohioby Ryan Jacobs Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4 A Great Town to Get an Education Columbus, Ohio is home to The Ohio State University as well as many excellent coffee shops. Whether you want to learn about chemistry or coffee, you can do both here and at the same time! Prior to moving to Columbus to attend The Ohio State University, I considered myself a connoisseur of coffee. I would scoff at my father's pot of Folger's while I brewed "hazelnut" coffee for myself. I had much to learn. Caffe Fino Caffe Fino resides in The Ohio Union, which is part of the OSU campus. It was here that I had my first espresso based drink -- a Caffe' Latte. I was very impressed by the rich flavor that came through the steamed milk. At the time, Armando Escobar was running the shop. Soon after that latte, I graduated to drinking straight espresso, also a first at this shop. I am forever grateful that my first espresso was here because I still believe that theirs is consistently one of the best espressos I have ever had. I can only imagine what my attitude toward espresso would be if I had tasted a poorly made one my first time around. I may have been forever scarred, swearing off the drink forever.
Fortunately, I took a sip and found it to be very good. In fact, at the time, I remember thinking that the pungent aroma and bitter taste combined with the creamy texture was intriguing. It wasn't scalding hot -- it was just right. I never imagined that a coffee beverage could have such body without adding sugar or cream. I didn't realize it until much later, but their demitasse cups were very important to the quality of the espresso. They use the same cups used to serve cappuccino, which I would normally consider too large. However, they do a great job of keeping them heated on the espresso machine. By drinking the espresso from these wide mouthed cups, your nose is stuck inside as you taste the espresso, which allows you to inhale the aroma as you taste it. This enhances the whole expreience. For four years, Caffe Fino was there for me when I needed it most. Before and after classes, before and after exams. Needless to say, I spent a lot of time there. Staufs Coffee Roasters To me, finding Stauf's coffee was like finding the Holy Grail of coffee. I came to Stauf's shortly after having my first latte at Caffe Fino. Here, with their wide varieties of coffees from around the world, I learned that there was more to coffee than Colombia and Juan Valdez. When I walked in, I was immediately drawn to the new aromas that came from the large drum roasters and bins of coffee. As I examined each bin, I noticed the different size of beans, the different colors, textures and roasts. At the time, darkly roasted coffees were new to me and smelled exotic and tasted the same. My first half pound of coffee was Baba Budan blend, named after the hero who smuggled coffee seeds strapped to his belly out of Ethiopia. I was virtually obsessed with oily coffee for about six weeks.
I then began ordering the lighter roasts and was amazed at the differences in flavor I was discovering. What Stauf's excels at is roasting. They treat each coffee carefully and roast it to just the right level. I soon tried blending their different beans to create customized blends and experienced moderate success. Stauf's was opened in 1988 by Tom Griesemer. Griesemer, originally from Davis, California, teaches a class routinely for the Creative Activities Program at their Grandview location. These classes are one night only, but they are informative and fun.
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