REVIEWS: Elemental Coffee & Cafe Topeca

The makeshift bar... just for now!

Before my life suddenly became a whirl of activity, I paid a visit to two of the best coffee spots in Oklahoma this February: Elemental Coffee's Alley Bar (OKC, OK) and Cafe Topeca (Tulsa, OK).  I had a bit of free time in the midst of audition season to taste of the Dark Nectar of Sweetness for review purposes.

At the time of this writing, Elemental Coffee's cafe is under construction, but they wanted to still serve their coffee while the concrete dust was still flying (so to speak).  Their answer to this challenge is the Alley Bar, which is exactly as glamorous as it sounds—an alley door rolled up with a gorgeous La Marzocco stuffed inside a very "industrial" setting.  I promise that I am not picking on Elemental, because I understand they wanted to share their bounty with the rest of us... boy am I glad they do share!  NOTE: I must point out that I enjoy Elemental's beans on a regular basis, both at Crimson & Whipped Cream in Norman and in my Silvia at home, so I may be biased I am completely biased in their favor!  Sorry, no objective opinions for Elemental's roasts, but I would rather you knew my biases up front.  With that said, I will do the best that I can to represent their products as fairly as possible.

Elemental's new La Marzocco

My wife and I pulled up to the street where Elemental's Alley Bar was supposed to be and parked the car.  After walking around for a minute or so we finally spotted the chalkboard sign that pointed us to their place.  Upon arriving, Chris Holliday greeted us and I introduced myself.  Having had a previous conversation with Chris on the phone, he recognized my name and was very warm toward us.  He happened to have 2 espresso blends on hand that day: the Espresso 228 (my personal favorite) and one other that was probably the Espresso Classico.  In typical fashion, I had one shot of the 228 and one of the Classico.  My reaction to the 228 has consistently been positive.  228's berry aroma smells luscious in the cup; these fruity highlights sparkle on the tongue and pair nicely with the semi-sweet chocolate foundation they've chosen to tie the profile together.  I could see 228's full-bodied mouthfeel complimenting certain desserts (e.g. tarts or trifles), but it is wonderful when quaffed by itself. 

Classic black ACF cups holding 228

The Espresso Classico tends not to be my cup of tea (ha!), but then again I tend to steer clear of espressos that are too dark.  The Classico is pretty dark as far as espresso goes, but this fact can be a strength if you consider they intended to model the profile after Old World coffees.  The smokiness and heavy molasses-y notes add complexity to Classico's flavor profile, but I feel that this espresso is not as solid as their 228.

After a long chat with Chris and his associates, we bid them farewell, hopped back in the car, and drove to Tulsa to meet a professor for my private music lesson.  You cannot be in Tulsa without visiting a handful of places, in my humble opinion: Whole Foods Market, Nordaggio's Coffee (you rock, Tor!), ORU, and Cafe Topeca.  In fact, we dragged a friend with us to visit the joy that is Topeca—and she loved it!

Topeca's sign, prominently
displayed outside

If you have not visited Cafe Topeca before, please put it on your "bucket list" if you care anything at all for good espresso!  They now have two locations to visit, three if you count Joe Bots down the road, which is now where they hold their Thursday Night Throwdown (viz. a latte art competition) monthly.  Their original location at the Hotel Mayo located at W. 5th St. and S Cheyenne Ave., and it is the store I visit when in town.  Chip and Margarita Gaberino own this wonderful establishment and the coffee farm in El Salvador, South America.  Topeca has complete vertical control of their product, including growing, processing, roasting, and serving the coffee... or as they say more elegantly, from "Seed-to-Cup".

Topeca just got their Strada
a few days before our visit

In my experience, they usually have 2 espressos in the hoppers on any given day.  This day was no exception.  I grabbed one espresso of each kind at hand, while my wife had an americano.  On previous visits, I have had a naturally processed espresso that smelled like "Fruity Pebbles" when ground, as one of their baristas aptly described it.  Unfortunately, that particular espresso was out of season, so I was out of luck.  (If you go to Topeca and find it, do yourself a favor and get a shot of that coffee!)  Anyways, I digress.  Their Espresso blend is, interestingly, all sourced from one country (El Salvador), but consists of several varietals.  They use variations in processing and growing altitude to produce the effect of varietals sourced from other countries, thus creating complexity in the final product.

Gorgeous shot of espresso,
made for me by Margarita

Unfortunately, because of the time between my visit to Topeca in Februrary and now, I have forgotten the flavor content of their espressos.  I will need to revisit (*wink wink*) in order to resample the wares!  I can tell you that I remember being positively impacted by the complexity they created with both espressos, but that their classic blend was better balanced than the other on tap that day.  My wife's americano was rich and delicious, as I remembered from the "yummy" noises she made while drinking it.  NOTE: I'm pretty sure this americano broke my wife's sugared-down-coffee habit once and for all, which shows that great coffee can make conversions of those used to the "alternative!"

On deck, we have a coffee shop south of Norman that was recommended to me by a bagger at my local grocery store.  We are planning to mount a trip to this shop in the near future, so be looking for another review post soon.  In the meantime, I may be also posting about my experience tearing down my Rancilio Silvia, which is still in the process of being refurbished.  I look forward to meeting you again on the other side of a coffee cup soon!