Location: 8509 Melrose Ave, West Hollywood, CA 90069 Hey guys and welcome to my first blog post! I've decided to make all my coffee related posts on Wednesdays and my anime ones on Saturdays (wow two posts a week!) Anyways onto talking about coffee (○^ω^)_旦~~♪ First up is Alfred Coffee located in West Hollywood. There are various locations scattered all around LA proper, Hollywood, and Studio City. So the location we went to was an expansion store cleverly named {In the Alley} because, well, it's located in an alley! As you can see, it's a pretty small store and no one really was here because it had been raining the past couple of days, but this place definitely looks like a great spot for hanging out with friends and catching up on a sunny day.
Now onto the coffee review! My girlfriend ordered a Cortado (left) and mine was a Gibraltar (right). I ended up tasting both and have to admit that it's a little less than stellar. It isn't amazing as most make it out to be, but it is still pretty good coffee. The prices are a little on the steeper side, but I would chalk it up to the decor and the atmosphere the stores create which is definitely a big selling point. A Cortado is basically espresso shots lightly diluted with equal parts of warm milk to cut done the acidity of the shots (hence the name similar to the Spanish verb "cortar"- to cut). Knowing this, I was surprised that they put that much milk in it which basically made it more or less a stronger version of a latte. A Gibraltar, so I've heard, is something that the baristas at Blue Bottle Coffee in San Francisco created. It's supposed to be a drink that is quickly prepared and equally quick to drink as the milk isn't too hot. Alfred Coffee held onto that mentality as the drink was promptly prepared and I was able to drink it immediately. I knew that this drink was supposed to taste somewhere in the sweet spot between a Cappuccino and a latte which, judging by the milk ratio, was correct. However, the strength of the espresso shot fell short and was diluted enough for me not to enjoy as much as I wanted to. After finishing up our drinks, we found out the original location was about a block from the alley location and decided to make the trek there to see the difference. There was definitely a lot more people at this location either conversing, studying, or working on their computers. I wasn't able to get pictures of the interior but it was cozier than the alley store and also much bigger. This location had a fridge for you to buy fresh coconuts for that juicy coconut water. Willing to give this place a second try to live up to its hype, I ordered their highly rated cold brew. Alas, I was disappointed again in the strength of the coffee and was much too diluted to taste the notes of the coffee they used. It would be much cheaper and more satisfying to buy the bottled Stumptown Cold Brew that they sell in their fridge. All in all, the reviews of this coffee chain is over-hyped for me and would not recommend it if you want to go there for "good" coffee. These two locations, however, is a good meetup spot for you and your friends or for a date because of the atmosphere the stores have. Just make sure you don't bring coffee snobs who always critique every coffee drink otherwise you'll get an earful. Anyways this is just my review and you guys shouldn't take it as gospel. You should definitely go out there and check out their stores to judge their drinks yourselves! Thank you for reading my first blog post!
Atmosphere and Decor: 9/10 Coffee: 7/10 Recommend: Nitro Cold Brew
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Coffee SenpaiJust an Otaku who also loves his coffee. Grab some coffee and watch anime with me ٩(θ‿θ)۶ Blog is currently on hold. Sorry for the inconvenience ._.
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