My First Espresso! - Steam

Soooo tiny. Awwww.

And strong.

Coffee Shop:
Steam Espresso Bar
http://www.steamespressobar.com
1801 S Pearl St
Denver, CO 80210

Date Visited:
Tuesday, April 27, 2016
About 1:00 p.m. - 3:45 p.m.

Purchased:
Espresso: $2.75

I decided it was time to try a straight espresso, which I had never done in my life.  I wanted a basis for comparison, and I had thought the latte from Steam had a nice coffee taste in it so I decided it was a good place for an espresso trial.

Like I said, this was my first espresso ever, so it was pretty exciting.  When I ordered it I asked them if there was anything special I should do while drinking it.  The barista said not really, and he didn't know why but it was served with a tiny spoon, so I could stir it and things.  We agreed that it seemed like a classy espresso pastime.

Anyway, for background, espresso is brewed by forcing pressurized hot water through finely ground coffee beans.  It is the base for espresso drinks like lattes, macchiatos, etc.  I generally drink lattes, which is the largest amount of stuff mixed with espresso.  A cortado, which I decided I really wanted to try from Black Black Coffee, is half espresso.  So my jump to straight espresso was a pretty big jump.  But I was ready for the adventure!

It was so adorable in its little tiny cup, and taking up such a small amount of the little tiny cup!
And that is usually what is mixed into my entire latte!

I stirred it with the spoon, which disrupted the crema on the top.  The crema is a thin film on top that is a result of the espresso brewing process.  (See, I am so fancy now.)  The drink underneath was a bit darker and the whole thing was very pretty.  I tried taking small drinks with the spoon and sipping out of the cup.  It was all very classy.

It was super strong.  As expected.  It was straight espresso.

It was tiny and mighty!

I had to take the tiniest sips.  But I thought that the intense amount of flavor was pretty fun.  The aftertaste lingered an exceptionally long time, which added another phase to the adventure.  It also help make such a tiny drink into a full drink experience.

The flavor was a bit different than what I would consider typical "coffee" taste, so it seemed a bit different than just concentrated coffee.  I have had a few Americanos in my life, which is espresso mixed with hot water - kind of regular coffee styled espresso, but those were in my far-less-educated coffee days so I will be interested to try a few Americanos again and see if they taste different to me than regular coffee.

In the case of this espresso, I thought that sourness was a huge part of the strong taste.  I drank a bit too much in one sip and my face puckered a bit!  Part of that was just the overall strength, but it was quite sour.

Overall, I thought that drinking an espresso was fun.  I would guess that it was a pretty good espresso, but think I will also try a few more to compare.  It's not something that I would be craving to drink again, but I can see being in the mood occasionally.  It wasn't particularly the taste that I liked, but the adventure of it.  It was fun!  I also feel more coffee-classy now.  It will be fun to see how much difference there is in such a strong taste between different espressos.

When I was originally talking to the barista, he suggested that if I wanted to make it special I could get a macchiato  - which is an espresso topped with a small amount of milk foam.  It was either the same price as an espresso or maybe 25 cents more.  He said they could do it with almond milk.  I asked if there was an extra charge and he didn't directly answer me (and didn't say how much), but indicated yes.  I think I was supposed to assume it was the same 75 cents extra as for a latte.  It's like a teaspoon of almond milk.  I was SO over this, and was leaning toward a plain espresso anyway, so I didn't cause any drama and just ordered an espresso.  But this is even MORE ridiculous when you consider that this is a shop that let me pour as much almond milk as I wanted in my cold brew coffee for no charge.  I get that they are steaming/foaming the milk...that is a service they provide that I will pay a little for...but it's no different for a different milk, especially for SUCH a tiny amount.  It is a completely arbitrary charge.  It just a charge that that coffee shops can get away with so they do it...I really dislike this attitude.  I am going to continue forming opinions about this...