Aldo Coffee Company

Sprodown Success

You might think that after seven hours of working your own coffee bar the last thing you'd want to do is go work somebody else's for a couple of hours - but you'd be wrong.

In fact we'd love to do it again.

Last night's "Sprodown" at Voluto drew a nice crowd.  We're going to estimate about 60 folks turned up to slurp down some of the best espressos in the US & Canada, but we missed the first half hour, so it could've been more. 

Espresso Tasting @Voluto Fri 7pm

Ever wonder what the big deal about espresso is?  Want to taste firsthand how different roasters create different flavor profiles specifically for espresso?

This Friday, beginning at 7pm, Voluto Coffee will be hosting an espresso tasting featuring 11 different blends and origins.  Several are nationally acclaimed espressos not regularly found in Pittsburgh.  Plus a couple of local favorites.

A $5 contribution is requested.  If you like espresso, this is a rare opportunity to taste some of the best close to home.  Hope to see you there.

Our Semi-Annual Reminder of Why We Don't Want to Be a Restaurant

We had 19 for our Father's Day origin brunch yesterday.  Eight at the first seating, 11 at the second.  Enough to break even if you don't count the cook's hours.  We'd hoped for a full 24 and had enough for a couple of extra walk-ins. 

The response was uniformly positive.  The folks who came were delightful to speak with.  They had all sorts of questions about the food and were interested in some of the preparations and even some of the cultural background and how the dishes related to the four coffees we were serving.  We love to see that kind of interest.

Tweet This

In case you missed it, Rich was quoted in Sunday's P-G as noting that Mt. Lebo residents are behind the times when it comes to social media technology. 

Of course that also means that 95% of our customers won't see this post.

Make Your Reservations for Father's Day Origin Brunch

UPDATE (Sat 4pm):  8 spots open - 4 for AM, 4 for PM. We're leaving 2 spots open at each seating for walk-ins.  We got our fish for the ceviche, but no passionfruit, so we'll do some other fruit thing.

We're doing two seatings, one from 10:30-noon, 2nd from 12:30-2.  Due to limited capacity of kitchen and space, we'll only be serving 12 diners at each seating. 

To make a reservation, email us or call the store, 412.563.1220.  If leaving a phone message, be sure to leave your phone number so we can confirm. 

Please do not make a reservation unless you're actually coming.  Thanks.

Pittsburgh Could Use More of This

 Sunday afternoon in Garfield.  A parking lot.  Great food by Kevin Sousa. Reggae. Outside. Bring your own beer and chairs.  250 people to share it with.

Our friend Steve, visiting from Austin, said it was very "Austin-ish".

Oh My God

They won.  Who would of thought?

PITTSBURGH PENGUINS STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS 2009!!!

Lunch Wars

You might think from the title that this post is about capturing market share among Washington Road lunchgoers.  Or a price battle between restaurants and coffeehouses.  Or almost anything else than what it really is.

It's a war between Rich and Melanie.

Best City in the World

Well, that would be Vancouver, according to the Economist, which only ranked Pittsburgh #29 most livable - highest of all cities in the USA.  Healthcare and cultural amenities are weighted higher than job opportunities and good Chinese food.

Still we're doing our part to raise Pittsburgh's Google ranking, so we're saying Best City in the World anyway.

The goal is to get Pittsburgh "above the fold" on the first page of Google results for the phrase "Best City in the World" in time for the G-20 meeting here in September.

Seems a better way to make an impression with G-20 leaders is to ensure they don't have to fly through Philadelphia to get here like the rest of us.

Who Says Mt. Lebanon Won't Buy $50/lb Coffee?

This past weekend we passed a threshold.  For the first time ever, we didn't lose money from offering a superpremium coffee (Brazil Fazenda Kaquend). 

This Cup of Excellence coffee retailed for $36.95 for 3/4 lb.  And we sold out (all except for a few ounces that we'll be brewing at home, thank you).

We mention this because this is the fourth year we've taken a risk and purchased a very expensive coffee.  After our first three tries (twice with Esmeralda, once with Brazil Santa Ines) turned into significant charitable contributions you'd think we would just give up on the idea of selling $50/lb coffee.

Maybe it took four years for the concept that a coffee could be worth that much to gain hold.  Maybe it was simply a cup that was more to your liking than the previous three superpremiums we tried.  Maybe you were just being nice to us ;-)