Caribou Coffee

1800 M St NW,

Washington, DC

After racking up a miserable 0/2 start in the coffee department for Washington DC in 2009, you’d think it was time for some better luck. I’ve generally resisted reviewing big-chain coffee joints because, like the wandering star, they all seem pretty same-ish to me and not in a good way. I last walked into a Caribou Coffee store in 2003 while visiting the US on vacation. I liked the then-novelty factor of what seemed like sitting in a log cabin living room in the middle of the woods by a roaring fireplace. However I was unimpressed with the barista’s effort and I remember it vividly; a sour espresso shot with milk that was so hot I actually scalded my mouth. So on this visit, I can’t say I was completely surprised when I was greeted not by a shiny espresso machine, but by a couple of fully-automated Franke machines that wouldn’t look out of place in a home kitchen. Yes, it seems Caribou management have taken the quality control factor on their baristas to a logical extreme, and removed the act of grinding, tamping and pulling a shot altogether. Now they have a hopper feeding directly into an automated chamber which, in a quick press of a button produces a rapid cup of espresso-based whatever before you manage to cross from the register to the waiting area.

As always I ordered an espresso and a caffe latte. Straight to the heart of the matter – My espresso was roughly 4 ounces of highly acidic, watery coffee, with a really, really unpleasant aftertaste. The latte was fairly similar, just with a so-so effort of milk texture on top. If this is quality control, I’m a monkey’s uncle. After taking my first and last sip, I heard a woman behind me loudly proclaim: “This is my first espresso ever”. I thought to myself: “…and probably your last”.

No beans.

Coffee: Caribou Blend