Indie Coffee Roasters — Restaurant in Carmel

I've been here to the Carmel, Main Street location one time, but will be back. My one experience is in regards to the small drip sample I had (excellent), plus an awesome pour over that is the best I know of in the area (more details below). I ordered the large sized pour over. It came out as pictured. The plated presentation is a level above almost all the other coffee shops I've been too.

I mainly go to coffee shops for the coffee - drip and pour over. I figure that if a shop can produce a pour over correctly, they're likely going to have the other aspects done well also. A proper drip comes down to things like the correct water temp, clean lines and machinery, and good coffee (freshly roasted). Indie does this well from what I can tell. I have no doubt Indie Coffee Roasters makes awesome espresso-based concoctions considering the equipment I saw and the attention to detail the staff seemed to give.

I've roasted my own coffee for about 20 years, tried all kinds of roast profiles and brewing methods. My preferred coffee is going to be something with high acidity (think citrus/fruity kick) and strong natural aroma with some funk, heavy mouthfeel, and lingering aftertaste. For me, a high-grown, lightly roasted African origin is going to be very tempting. I was happy to find one here, kind of a rarity.

Here's the thing...if a roaster/coffee shop can produce a potent light roast that makes it through brewing in such a way that it permeates your palate and opens your eyes in amazement, you've got a place that is doing coffee well. A light roast done well is quite special. All that flavor is kept in the bean rather than having it roasted out with a harsh dark roast. So not only was Indie able to select a uniquely powerful coffee to roast, but they were able to brew it in such a way that the aroma & flavor profile could be experienced fully. Nice job!

There were three different pour over options on the menu, with at least two being a naturally processed (anaerobic) coffee. I went with the Ethiopian Gera Estate. This was an excellent example of a Harrar, with the aroma and taste presenting strongly with blueberry. The natural processing also added a unique funkiness (that’s a good thing) that made for an excellent tasting experience. The fact that Indie Coffee Roasters embraces the subtle oddities of anaerobic/naturally processed coffees as part of their public menu is also remarkable.

Give this place a try if you want to experience coffee, not just...

I had a terrible experience inside this coffee shop today, and I am extremely disappointed. My family and I are new to the neighborhood, and we were excited to be within walking distance of a local coffee establishment! My husband has had great experiences the couple of times that he has been here, and he raved about the time that he took our dog inside redently. Unfortunately, that was not my experience. I brought my dog inside to get a couple of drinks to-go after walking in the rain to get there, but the second that I stepped inside, one of the workers darted over to me and said that I needed to take my dog outside and "there's a sign." I was shocked because my husband had said that he took our dog inside just the week prior. I stood there, I'm sure looking extremely confused, and headed outside to look for the sign that he said existed that stated no dogs are allowed. I stood outside for a few minutes and did not see it written anywhere that dogs aren't allowed (their business sign, front door, and flower bed had no visible sign stating this). Never mind the fact that their logo is the silhouette of a dog and they have paw prints on their cups.. Since I had already walked over there, I tied up my dog outside and went inside to get my drinks to-go. The encounter with the lady at the cash register was even more awkward.. I apologized for bringing my dog inside initially and stated that I was confused and must have been misinformed. She then said, "It would be our luck that the health department would walk in and see. We only allow dogs to come inside to get drinks quickly to-go." That was my plan all along, so I'm not sure what the problem was. It could be that my dog is a pitbull and maybe was being discriminated against. I guess I'll never know for sure, but it's very unfortunate that the one local coffee shop in the Arts and Design District is so misleading with their pet policy. Also, the barista that made my drink filled it too full to the point where I couldn't put a to-go lid on it without spilling it on their counter. Also, why would they not put a lid on it for their customers that are taking drinks on the go? Very disappointing customer service all around from the moment I walked in until the moment I left. I'm only giving two stars on the review because my husband has had good experiences...

This is probably the closest to a good coffee shop one can find in Carmel, so relative to its competition, sure, four or five stars. But so many of the glowing reviews here gloss over the two big flaws that keep this from being an absolutely, as opposed to relatively, good place for coffee.

Expensive. Prices are, if not extortionate, at least rather steep. Perhaps I haven't kept up with inflation, but I think one ought to be able to find something to order with the change in one's pocket. A small coffee starts at 2.74, I think, and prices go up from there. Here's an idea: charge 1.25 for a small cup or an espresso - as a loss leader - to make the place a worthwhile visit for people who aren't ready to drop 4+ on a cappuccino. One imagines this change would increase visits from price-sensitive customers without decreasing margins from price-insensitive regular customers.

Poor interior layout. The bones of the building are (surprisingly, this being Carmel) pretty good. The renovation of the porch space and the choice of windows was good. But the current table and seating arrangement is entirely unsuitable - the interior is a large space, filled with too few tables that are too big and too widely spaced (one senses an analogy with Carmel in general - no sense of human proportion!). In practice, this means that one person working on a laptop can effectively occupy the entire east porch or the south picture window - the shop can be nearly empty and yet there be no good place to sit. There's also an awkward entryway hall - one sees the counter as one enters, but has to walk the entire depth of the building to reach it - it's like greeting someone from too far away, so that there's an uncomfortable gap between saying hi and being close enough to speak. One could make a start at addressing both these issues by, for example, filling the west side of the entry hall with a row of small two-person cafe tables, thus narrowing it to a usable, human size. Replace the current six (eight?) person table at the south window with a (small!) four-top pushed all the way east, then two more twos to fill the alcove. And so on.

Obviously not everybody is sensitive to these things, so perhaps you'll enjoy it all the same. But, for the most part: can't recommend....