Location: 1545 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz, 95060 Welcome back friends! This week we will be looking at Lulu Carpenter's which is the flagship store in downtown Santa Cruz across the street from Verve. Lulu's is one of the oldest shops to re-open in 1992 after the earthquake in 1989 and encompasses everything that is the Santa Cruz community. I actually first found this place because of the crowds on the weekends and the old brick building it is housed in. Let's go see why they have such loyal customers and what makes them so successful in the coffee battleground that is Santa Cruz. Lulu's is a community based coffee chain that always works with local businesses and farms. All the coffee is grown and roasted in Santa Cruz or its neighboring cities. This type of mentality is very Santa Cruz where people encourage shopping at local and small businesses. In all the cafes they have throughout the county (totaling 3), they showcase local artists, musicians, or raise awareness to community events. Every Friday night, they actually have live music playing in their cafe on Pacific which was what drew me to this place. Throughout the numerous farmer's markets popping up throughout the week, Lulu's have pop up shops in the market showcasing their coffee while connecting with the community they work so hard for. They also grab some of the vegetables, flowers, and such from these markets to bring back to their cafes. As you can tell, Lulu's is very community driven and one of the many reasons why they have a loyal fan base. Apart from their company mission, Lulu's likes to be simple and have lots of character in their downtown store. Lulu Carpenter's is housed in an old brick building built in 1865 where Lulu Carpenter owned a millinery (women's hat store) and a dress shop at this exact location. Today, it is the flagship store and the only location to have a full kitchen. This location serves breakfast and lunch Monday - Friday and brunch during the weekend. Since it's a full kitchen, they offer stuff like omelettes, breakfast burritos, sausages, etc. Along with full sized entrees, they also offer pastries that they freshly bake in-house every morning. The decor of the store showcases exposed brick and hardwood floors that adds to its character. There is a small patio out front and a small courtyard in the back that has a living wall. On nice days, it is very difficult to find seats at this establishment, but worth sitting in just to enjoy company if you are able to find one. The drinks they offer are also of high quality and have their own story to tell. As mentioned earlier, their coffee is local and fresh which you can taste in their drinks. I unfortunately don't have any pictures because this was during the period where I was just getting into the third wave movement and focused more on learning. I did have quite a good amount of drinks from them or their other cafes which include capps, iced teas, iced coffee, pour overs, and freshly squeezed lemonade. Since this is a coffee blog, I will discuss the coffee drinks I had. First up is their cappuccino. Some of you might wonder why I always review the cappuccinos at new places I try or their iced coffees/ cold brew. I choose these drinks because some places can use gimmicks to lure their customers in such as Philz and their mint mojito iced coffee, but you can only hide so much in your cappuccino or iced coffee. These are the drinks where a person will know if the barista and establishment know about what they are doing. Lulu's definitely know what they are doing as they too have a solid capp. The milk is aerated perfectly and doesn't leave too much bubbles (the "foam" pops and doesn't leave the frothy layer in tact). The smoothness from their espresso is also delicious and they don't burn it. Their iced coffees are pretty good as well, but they don't really keep up with the cold brew that most establishments in the area do so well. Now their pour overs are what makes them shine. It seems to me that Santa Cruz coffee shops specialize in pour overs and drawing out the characteristics of the beans they offer. Lulu's does an excellent job of creating a delicious cup of coffee in anyway you want it brewed. They offer conventional pour overs, or you can get it brewed through a chemex. One of their locations (which is closed now unfortunately) offered your coffee to be brewed through a siphon. Some of you might wonder what is the difference between all the different techniques. The answer is that different brewing techniques changes the way the coffee is tasted. Next time you visit a coffee shop, I challenge you to try a plain drip coffee (brewed through a machine) and a pour over. You should be able to taste that pour overs tend to be smoother and a bit tastier than your regular drip coffee. Lulu's pour overs are exceptional and really bring out the best of their beans. Atmosphere and Decor: 10/10 Coffee: 8/10 Recommend: Pour Over Thanks for reading again guys and I hope you all are enjoying these posts. Next week we will continue on looking into the coffee culture in Santa Cruz. See you guys next week!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
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 ._.
Archives
March 2017
Categories |