Vogs Coffeeshop - A Turkish Themed Coffeeshop Out Katy Way

Man oh man, is this ever a great place.

Vogs Coffee. Damn fine Basque cheesecake.

A successful purchase of a pour over coffee unit brought me back to Katy today to pick it up at Nellis Auction. 

And I use this as an opportunity to try Vogs Coffee at 10610 Gaston Road. 

Turkish, pour over, espresso, Basque cheesecake. Coffee suppliers Mid Century, and Geva, both excellent excellent coffee roasters.

The Turkish coffee is made with an OKKA coffee maker. A water container is filled. The finely powdered coffee goes into a special chamber along with sugar to taste. And the machine makes a classic Turkish coffee.

Highly recommended.

Specialty Coffee in Houston - Great Coffee Places in Houston - Many of Which Do Their Own Roasting

Click on the map in order to enlarge it:

1. Here is the actual link to the map so that you can explore it in greater detail (With new places opening every couple of months, it is really difficult to keep this updated. But I'll try) :

Link to the Artisanal Coffee Map

Un Caffé on Milam at Elgin

 From Roastery Magazine. A review that is better than I could do myself so, here goes:

"A new roastery and coffee bar in Midtown Houston called Un Caffè is giving guests a taste of Italian-style coffee with a distinct focus on craft and performance. 

Un Caffè Founder, Roaster and Barista Soonkack Kook also embraces the Italian cultural practice of greeting each guest at the bar. 

“They can watch every [drink-making] performance,” Kook recently told Daily Coffee News. “I give them surprise drinks. I ask them how their day is going.”Kook, who initially moved to the United States from Korea for college 20 years ago, spent the past 14 months renovating a 1,900-square-foot space inside Un Caffè’s 90-year-old building. The result is a modern roastery and retail bar awash in shades of red, green and white, reflecting Kook’s reverence for the birthplace of espresso, Italy.

“Espresso is an Italian culture,” said Kook. “I get it, light roasting is the trend now, but I wanted to know Italian roasting, too. When my coffee journey began I wanted to learn trendy light roasting, but at the same time I wanted to offer dark roasting to my customers.”

A certified Q Grader and authorized Specialty Coffee Association trainer (AST), Kook is already an expert in coffee, but he credits 2016 Espresso Italiano Champion Daehoon Park with helping him develop his methods for Italian-style coffee. 

For lighter roasts, Kook said he embraces a technique known as Environmental Temperature Response Roasting (ETeRR), as developed by Joo Sunghyun, winner of the 2017 Korea Coffee Roasting Championship.

“With green beans having 12-14% moisture at the beginning, as you roast, the water in beans will evaporate,” Kook said of the technique. “The amount of the heat should be adjusted depending on how much water is left in the beans, which can be estimated by looking at the environmental ROR [rate of rise].”

At the back of the shop, Kook uses an Ikawa Pro100 sample roaster prior to loading small batches into an Arc 800 roaster or larger production batches in a Probat P12.

Those roast support classic espresso options prepared through a Slayer Steam espresso machine, or drip and cold coffees made with a Ground Control brewing system. The Einspänner, a Viennese drink consisting of espresso topped with a small amount of whipped cream, is another European import by way of Korea.

“Einspänner is a popular drink in Korea, and you don’t see the drink here,” said Kook. “Unfortunately my whipping machine broke on the second day, so I quickly changed that to an affogato, but it is coming back once I receive my brand new whipping machine.”

A one-person operation on most days, Un Caffè is not pursuing wholesale accounts, although the capacity is there. For now, Kook said he wants Un Caffè to be a friendly coffee resource for the community while he continues to develop his own skills.  

“I feel the love from the community and I want to keep this vibe,” said Kook. “I want my shop to be a place for all my present and future friends and community.”

Coffee Roasters in Houston

 (Not a complete list...there are many more):

Amaya Coffee (Catalina Coffee on Washington Avenue)

Azucar Loca (darker roasts) - Heights

Blendin Coffee Club - 8410 Highway 90A, Sugarland

Boomtown Coffee (19th Street in the Heights)

Cavo Coffee - 2617 Bissonnet

Fontana Coffee

Geva Coffee

Greenway Coffee

Java Pura Coffee - 5250 Gulfton

Katz Coffee

Little Dreamer Coffee

Lola Savannah Coffee

Luce Coffee - 3995 Richmond and new location on Ella Blvd at 34th

Pearland Coffee Roasters - 4106 Broadway, Pearland

Purefi Coffee - 27359 West Hardy Road, Spring

Red Light Coffee - 2728 Market, Galveston

Southside Espresso - 904 Westheimer

Tenfold Coffee - Heights

Vertere Coffee - 22289 Ford Road, Porter

Xela Coffee - 4409 Canal

Zelie Coffee - 937 Eldridge, Sugarland

Bagels - Golden Bagels and Coffee

Golden Bagels and Coffee is a new venue, having opened in January of 2018 on White Oak Boulevard in the Heights. The bagels are excellent and are highly recommended. Living near the Heights it has already become one of my favorite destinations, when the urge for a freshly made bagel hits me.

Bagels are an interesting creature. There is a bit of complexity to them in that you are going to be creating a bread dough, then shaping the bread into the standard bagel shape, dipping it in a solution of baking soda or lye (similar to what one does for a pretzel), BOILING the dough, and then proceeding with the baking process. That boiling phase does some interesting things to the yeast risen dough, changing the internal structure to a dense, chewy bread.

Here is a link to an article on bagels:
Slate Magazine : A Short History on the Bagel

Coffee in Houston - Bed, Bath, and Beyond Creates a Coffee Store Within a Store With an Excellent Selection of Coffeemakers and Accessories

The Katy, Texas store and the Willowbrook store, I am told, are two of only ten current Bed, Bath and Beyonds to feature an extensive coffee section. They also house a World Market food section, as both stores are owned by the same parent company. Here are some photos of some of the coffee options including Melitta, Hario, Chemex, Breville, Keurig, and more.

Until now, your options were Sur La Table, Williams Sonoma, several of the artisanal coffee shops, and online, to name a few. True, you aren't going to find, say, a Rancilio Silva or a Rancilio Rocky or a Baratza Maestra here, but Bed, Bath has really done a great job with this section in my opinion.

Click on any photos to enlarge it for a better view.

An extra bonus: Now, I consider Keurig to be one of the worst things to happen to craft coffee. I am a Chemex and Technivorm kind of person. But, the store has two Keurig pro units and you can brew up a coffee sample in the store, have a coffee while shopping. And it isn't just one or two options. Just about every coffee made for the Keurig, which they sell, is available for tasting.



And don't forget: 20% off coupons on a regular basis in the newspaper.

Espresso Machine Review
(a review of espresso machines in 3 price ranges)

Recently, a friend asked me about burr grinders. I thought I might capture my response here, since I mentioned Bed, Bath and Beyond to her in my response:

First off, don't consider anything but a burr grinder. Now, if you do have an espresso machine and want to grind fine enough for espresso (somewhere between white flour and sand) you are going to have to spend some money to get a good one. 

But there are two options. First, forget about grinding coffee for espresso and buy the Lavazza espresso grind at Spec's on Smith Street or ask your friendly coffee vendor (Catalina, Southside, Boomtown or Greenway or other) to do an espresso grind, buy a smaller quantity and use it up before it goes stale from oxidation. Note: I am now a believer in freezing coffee.

Second, the Hario hand grinder is superb for espresso grind but not so great for medium grind. Max Gonzalez of Catalina said the ($50) Hario grinder can grind as finely as some very expensive electrical ones. I own one and used it every day in my office and on road trips. 

Now, on to burr grinder. I own a Baratza that I bought at Catalina. Baratza, on the low end pricing is about as good as you can get in the price range. But you don't have to spend that much. 

Capresso and Cuisinart make grinders that will suffice for your every day medium grind. If not shopping online, using the Bed Bath and Beyond 20% off coupon at their new coffee market venue out in Katy would be a good place to go shopping.

Coffee - Fort Bend Coffee Roasters

I highly recommend Fort Bend Coffee Roasters. Bryan and Amy Hibbard. Bryan roasts to the coffee profiles that produce sweet, balanced flavors.

On the west side of Houston and, after some crazy mis-direction from my Waze, I determined that the best way to describe the location is to say Mason Road at Highway 99.

Their Website

Excellent roasting. Excellent coffee shop. Photos follow.

Now, I'm a purist. I drink my coffee black. Single pour-overs via Hario V60, Kalita, Chemex, are my thing. But I realize that most people prefer their coffee with milk and sugar (thus, the popularity of cafe latte, cappuccino, flat white). Fort Bend has created several specialty beverages for people who want a little more than just coffee. The Shakiso Special pairs a fruitier Ethiopian Shakiso with strawberry in a cappuccino.

And now, for something completely different:

Doshi Houston - Superb Coffee and Vegetarian Food

A Houston treasure. An owner who wasn't satisifed with the kind of options he looked forward to when he went out to eat, and so, he created his own place to fill that gap.

Baristas who understand coffee. And a menu of food that you would want to eat. Perfectly spiced and seasoned. Of note: the evening menu changes each day, featuring a particular dish but done vegetarian. Pozole, three alarm chili, butter "chicken". Delicious. Highly recommended.

Panini Sandwich

Thai Style Coconut Lime Soup