Flyover Flavor: March 2017

VB Chocolate Bar

Roaster: Espresso from Sweet Bloom Coffee Roaster, based in Colorado. For pour overs, they offer beans from roasters from all over the country.

Opened: 2012

Drinks Menu: Small, traditional espresso menu with only a few drinks, including latte and Americano. There are a couple espresso choices to choose from.

Food Menu: A few pastries and a large lunch/dinner menu.

Espresso Machine: Simonelli manual machine

Brew Options: Kyoto dripper for iced coffee, V60 pour overs, and traditional drip coffee.

Location: Cottleville, MO

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Specialty Drinks: Cascara tea made with dried coffee cherries. While Starbucks has shot cascara into the mainstream vocabulary, its cascara latte in no way resembles the fruity, sweet tea it takes its name from. I was looking for a place where I could try the real deal and VB is the only one in St Louis I’ve found (so far, at least). You can get it hot or iced.

Review:

Located in the historic downtown of Cottleville, Missouri, VB Chocolate Bar is a hidden gem in the St. Louis coffee world. It delivers a wealth of caffeine options, including hot tea and drinking chocolate in addition to coffee. They make their own ice cream and chocolate, offer a lengthy food menu, and have a full bar if you’re looking for something harder than coffee.

While they don’t offer many flavors or creative espresso drinks, the diversity comes in with the coffee bean menu for pour overs and espresso. They offer a house espresso and guest espressos from Sweet Bloom. For something sweeter and more decadent, you can get drinking chocolate (kick it up a notch by adding espresso shots) or affogato made with homemade ice cream and espresso.

The space itself embodies the eclectic vibe and comfortable seating that you want in a coffee shop. It’s located in a refurbished ranch-style house with multiple rooms furnished with aged tables and mismatched chairs. In front of the counter where you order, you'll find shelves with rows of VB chocolate bars inviting you to indulge. There’s also a variety of seating to choose from with a long wooden table, a few two- and four-top tables, and cushy arm chairs. From here, you take a couple steps down into a full bar with an impressive spread of liquor bottles and tightly packed tables filling the majority of the space.

While the space is comfortable and inviting, what’s really noteworthy about VB is the caliber of coffee. I’ve encountered two baristas on my visits and both impressed me with their friendly manner, service, and barista skill. They knew the menu well and could answer my questions. They poured excellent drinks and even brought the drink to my table when it was ready. In addition to being well prepared, the Sweet Bloom espresso always offers an interesting fruity flavor that’s not too acidic.

If you make the trek to Cottleville, which is about 45 minutes from St. Louis, I highly recommend making a stop at VB. Whether you prefer tea, coffee, or chocolate, this shop offers an enjoyable caffeine fix.

5:11 PM
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Hartford Coffee Company Profile

hartford

Roasting style: Medium to dark roast

Drinks Menu: Decent variety. You’ll find the usually espresso drinks and many flavored syrups.

Food Menu: Sandwiches, salads, and breakfast items. I recommend the frittata!

Espresso Machine: Automatic Franke

Brew Options: Drip and espresso. Hartford keeps it simple, skipping the handbrew options.

Location: Tower Grove South

Rating: 3 out of 5 (Extra points for the food)

Specialty Drinks: Flavored coffee. I'm not touting this as a positive offering, but it is fairly unusual to find a local company that roasts flavored beans. I've heard good things about the Highland Grog beans, but I haven't tried them myself. As a coffee lover, it's hard for me not to look down on flavored coffees because they're typically made with mediocre beans and artificial, sweet flavors.

Review:

While I enjoy Hartford Coffee Company, I don’t go there for the coffee. This shop roasts its own beans and brags about the air roaster it uses to get the beans just right, but because of the way the coffee is prepared, it’s impossible to taste that quality – if it’s there.

Hartford uses an automatic Franke espresso machine. While it’s possible to make decent foam and pour latte art with a Franke (believe me, I’ve done it), that’s rarely done. The point of an automatic machine is to remove the reliance on barista skill. This machine has a built-in hopper and grinder and can be programmed to grind, dose, and pull the shots with the push of a button. Similarly, the wand is programmed so all the barista needs to do is pour the right amount of milk, aerate for a couple seconds, then set the pitcher on the tray and wait for the machine to cut off on its own. The result of all this is mediocre-at-best coffee. The drinks are hurt even more by the fact that there is only one shot of espresso in a 12-ounce size, which means you’re really getting hot milk with a faint smack of coffee.

The drip coffee is also watered down. I’m not sure what ratio of coffee to water they use, but the result is a brew that looks more like tea than coffee. Pro tip: order an Americano because then you at least get 2 shots for a 12 ounce.

Now, I say I still enjoy Hartford because the food menu and the atmosphere of the shop make up for the lacking coffee. This shop is located on the corner of Hartford and Roger just a couple blocks South of Tower Grove Park. It is a true neighborhood spot. When you walk in, you almost always see students studying over textbooks and/or laptops, families chattering, and groups of people catching up. Everyone looks comfortable, like this café is an extension of their homes. The shop even encourages people to park it for hours with a garage that was adapted into a silent study space and a sizeable play area for kids.

This friendly, comfy neighborhood vibe makes this a wonderful place to grab brunch or get some work done. Plus, the coffee is inexpensive – less than $2 for a small Americano. While I think the quality is compromised to make that price point possible, I’m more willing to buy that Americano when I know I’m not paying what I would at Sump or Comet Coffee.

The true draw for me is the frittata. This breakfast item (get it with a bagel on the side and sausage!) is cheesy and fresh and the right size to fill you up. It is one of my favorite brunch options. The bagel and lox is also a good pick. For something smaller, they also serve pastries, cheesecake, and salads.

Overall, I think this is a great shop. Just don’t expect the full third wave coffee experience of hand brewed coffee and $5 cortados. It’s not fancy, but the comfortable, down-to-earth atmosphere makes up for the subpar coffee.

6:41 PM
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