Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Coffee Heaven

It's official: I've fallen in love with New Orleans.  I've been here for a week now and I'm about to fly back to London.  What a fabulous city.... great food, an amazing atmosphere and uber-friendly people -  even more so than in the rest of the USA (It's a southern thing, I've been told ).

The local food is pretty good too - although probably a with bit too much deep-frying and carbohydrates  than my healthy self can handle.  Anyway - the reason why all of a sudden I thought I should post here again is that I've just had the best coffee - iced latte.  Ever.

I was on my way to a shop on Magazine road when all of a sudden I saw  this really cool coffee  place - all dark wooden panelling and straw chairs inside, but all in a minimal stark fashion. The two barrista's were, well, kinda grunge college kids - tattooed to the hilt -  and both wearing straw hats (hats are popular here - you see them everywhere).   I ordered an iced latte - two shots - and when I had the first sip I knew I was onto something.  Another sip then took me back straight to that time, about 12 years ago, when I had a cup of freshly brewed coffee in Kuching, Borneo (coffee freshly roasted, freshly ground, still warm in the bag).  It was like being catapulted into a much, much better world.  If only all coffee could taste like this.

My curiousity about this extraodinary flavour immediately made me google the name of the place and it appears to be a small chain with about 3 or 4 shops across New Orleans.  They have a small coffee roaster who only uses arabica beans and roasts them in small batches.  And it had very good reviews - the best coffee in America, apparently.  I'd be the last one to disagree.  I almost couldn't let go of the cup: my heart broke when it went empty and I had to chuck it in the bin.

The name of the place is Rue de la Course.  Try it if you get a chance.  Because all coffee should taste like this.