Rating a Coffee House

Recently Zagat released their report on "the hottest coffee shops around the country." Anytime there is a list, I understand it's subjective. In determining the ratings for these establishments, Zagat uses the following formula, "The reviews in this guide are based on public opinion surveys. The ratings reflect the average scores given by the survey participants, who voted on each establishment." The coffee houses are rated on Food, Decor and Service. The highest score you can get in each category is 30 points. Of course....my question is why aren't they basing the ratings on coffee?

Seven lucky cities got to have their coffee houses judged. Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. were all picked. No offense to those cities listed, but may I ask why Seattle and Portland were left off the list?

As I was reading the booklet, I paid close attention to the Chicago listings. Since I used to live there, I was eager to see what the folks at Zagat thought.

The first place listed is Cafecito. It is a Cuban themed establishment, and the grading was as follows: Food - 23, Decor- 11, Service 18. The reviews weigh heavily on the food, but the coffee is described as  "out of this world." I have to say that doesn't seem like a great score. And it tells me nothing about the coffee really.

Zagat gives Intelligentsia and Julius Meinl nice ratings, but nothing jumps out to me about what the coffee is like. Uncommon Grounds gets the best rating of the Chicago establishments; however, not once is the coffee mentioned.

To be honest I didn't read the other cities. I felt a bit disgusted with what I had already read. If you are reviewing coffee houses, by golly, review the coffee. Yes, I think decor plays a role. If you want to talk about food, that's ok. I want to know what the coffee is like, and how the service is.

If you want to read something which really details coffee establishments, and can answer your true coffee questions I suggest reading "Left Coast Roast" by Hanna Neuschwander. She gives excellent detail of the coffees these places roast and/or serve.

Zagat also provides a list of the "Eight Destination Coffee Meccas"

Seattle
Vienna
Rome
Oslo
Sao Paulo
Addis Ababa
Kailua-Kona
Melbourne

I was happy to see I had visited half of the cities in my lifetime. I can say Seattle, Vienna, Roma and Kona all have wonderful coffee houses. Again I might ask - where is Portland?

As I said reviews are subjective, but in the end, if you can't review the coffee, then what's the point of reviewing the establishment?

Charlie