Chris Bean

I had a preliminary visit to this cafe a few days ago with a friend. I ordered a cappuccino and he had a double espresso. Today I’m having the drip coffee…so that gives me enough experience with their drinks and cafe to give them my unofficial crit. 

Coffee Shop #4: Coffee Emporium–Downtown Cincinnati Location

I really had not planned on visiting this location so early in the process since I reviewed their Hyde Park location as my first stop. But I recently found myself downtown with a friend looking for a good cup of coffee so we stopped here.

As I walked into the cafe, the first thing that caught my attention was the roasterie to the left. It’s always good to find locally roasted coffee. Unfortunately, the atmosphere was tainted with too many flavored coffees on display as you make your way to the bar area. I’m NOT a fan of flavoring the bean. Feel free to add something to your coffee after you brew it…but flavoring coffee is like painting a bright gaudy color over the top of some beautiful piece of hand-made natural wood furniture. Now you know how I really feel! 

Having said that, C.E. does a nice job of roasting their coffee and offering a variety of options. I could choose from Ravens Blend (a dark roast), Guatemalan, Solstice, & a Vanilla flavored decaf some’in-some’in.

Drip Coffee score: 4 out of 5 stars

The cafe itself is spacious and decked out with a nice assortment of tables, couches, soft chairs, etc. Musical ambience is very appropriate but not overpowering. The girl at the register was quite personable while the barista was that perfect combination of intense, aloof, and confident.

There’s a great “third place” vibe and I hear there are some terrific musical events which occasionally provide an even greater allure. And although I usually don’t pay much attention to the food/menu…I will be back to try the Reuben…one of my favorite sandwiches ever. And the chocolate chip cookie is well worth the buck-fifty too.

Hospitality Score: 4.5 out of 5 stars

On to the espresso! I could tell by the equipment (a 3-group La Marzoco and a pair of Mazzer grinders) and by watching the barista dose into the portafilter that this would be a quality experience of espresso. Sure enough, it was perfectly extracted shot of espresso with a beautiful crema. I was so excited to taste it that I forgot to take a picture to share with you. My ONLY complaint with this espresso is that it was a little dark and smoky for my taste. I like a little better balance of sweetness and acidity than this particular roast offered.

Espresso Score:  4.5 out of 5 stars

Where most cafes fail, this one excelled. The cappuccino was a perfect 8oz blend of espresso and beautifully steamed/aerated milk. Using my favorite bovine lactation…Snowville Creamery…certainly added to the richness and sweetness of the capp. And not only were all the components there, the drink was aesthetically perfect with a nice heart-shaped foam cap spanning the entire surface of the porcelain cup with a dark outline of the crema surrounding it. Although the “perfect cappuccino” is a very elusive find, I have no choice but to score this beverage as pretty much there.

Capp Score: 5 out of 5 stars.

Overall Score: 18 out of a possible 20

So not only is this cafe worth a visit, it’s probably worth driving downtown from the surrounding villages and burbs of Cincinnati…which is exactly what I did.

As I was sitting in a campus ministry training seminar today with my CCO peers, we were discussing ways in which theology should inform our understanding and application of the Gospel.

Faith & Repentance are the mechanisms by which we grow. Our guest speaker, David Kim from Gotham Fellowship in New York City (out of Redeemer Presbyterian Church w/ Tim Keller) pointed out that sanctification is the process by which we become more like Christ.

For some reason, images of Tony Horton and flashbacks of P90X workouts popped into my head. Tony calls it “muscle confusion.” That’s why those P90X workouts have so much variety and a 90-day rotation system. To make a muscle grow, you must force it to encounter resistance and in every-increasing doses. In addition to that, varying your routine keeps the muscle from becoming comfortable with a particular movement which results in a plateau.

This can certainly happen within the context of our sanctification and spiritual growth. Unless we are continually coming to a place of faith & repentance, the stream of our spiritual life becomes stagnant. Stagnant water stinks. There’s no flow…direction…energy.

Just a couple of evenings ago, I set aside some time for prayer and repentance. Over the past few months, for a variety of reasons, my sense of God’s presence and my own willingness to engage the Scriptures and prayer had become quite weak. This very lesson was being spoken to me by the Spirit and thankfully I responded (this time). The extent to which that time of prayer on Sunday evening restored my soul and transformed my mind continues to surprise me. In describing the experience to a friend, I likened it to the feeling of responding to God at a Thursday night youth camp service…when you walk away from a time of prayer and repentance feeling about 50 lbs lighter!

In order to continue a trajectory of spiritual growth…we must continually engage our faith muscles and do the heavy lifting of repentance.

The Redtree Cafe. Oakley seems to be on my way to several destinations so I’ve passed by this cafe many times. Recently, I’ve been meeting with some friends here on a regular basis to do some collaborating in ministry. The owner, Wendy, has created a nice combination of cafe and gallery. Seems like her passion has been to create a place for local artists to exhibit, connect, and thrive while enjoying the warm third-place vibe of a cafe. I think she has done a great job of developing that environment.

I’ve recently met, Justin, one of the baristas who is also part of a new Christian faith community here in Oakley. You can find more about them at www.legendchurch.com.

The Redtree gets their coffee from Seven Hills here in Cinninnati. I’m not a big fan of Seven Hills because everything I’ve had of theirs in shops seems very similar. The cup of French Sumatra I just had was much more acidic than I would expect of a “dark” Indonesian bean. They also do tons of flavored coffees which, as a purist, doesn’t pair well with my coffee tasting sensibilities. Again, I’m not saying it’s bad  coffee…it’s just not great.

Drip Coffee Score: 3 out of 5 stars

As I’ve already said, the physical space of the cafe along with the hospitality has been one of the big draws for me so far. The music, the art, the cafe design, cleanliness, and barista hospitality all contribute to one of the best ‘third place’ experiences I’ve had in Cincinnati.

Cafe/Third Place Score: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Although I have visited this cafe several times already, I have yet to order a simple espresso. So Justin pulled a quick double shot…which was indeed quick. There was not a hint of crema anywhere to be found, so that was disappointing. The presentation was good but that’s about all I can say. The shot was underextracted and had that sharp alkaline flavor…like I just tested a 9 volt battery with my tongue. 

Espresso Score: 2 out of 5 stars

Justin and I chatted for a bit before the cappuccino and he is definitely aware that there’s a “miss” in terms of the quality they are getting out of their 2-group Nuova Simonelli and Mazzer grinder. The equipment is certainly capable of producing some great shots/drinks…but there is a gap in training perhaps and I would guess that the espresso culture is just not as important within the cafe as it should be. The cappuccino would have come in a 12 oz version if I had not asked for a smaller for-here option. The shot pulled overly fast again and there was relatively no crema. The milk was steamed into a bubbly concoction that never had a chance for matching the texture of the non-existent crema.

Cappuccino Score: 2.5 out of 5 stars

Overall Score: 12 out of 20 stars

So the final cafe score is much lower than I would have hoped. Actually, the 12-star mark is where I had planned to cut off in terms of being worth a visit. I’m still going to say that this cafe is worth a trip to Oakley. I love the people, art, and vibe here…and if you’re mainly after drip coffee or some other beverage which doesn’t require the same amount of skill and craft as the cappuccino, then it’s a great coffee destination.