caffe d'bolla — Restaurant in Salt Lake City

tl;dr: Don't go here.

I was really disappointed by this. I make a point of getting Siphon coffee any time it's available because I have always had really bold, vibrant cups from siphon. Similarly, I have only paid $40+ for a coffee one time before, and it was the best coffee I've ever had in my life (it was wild civet coffee in Vietnam - it's expensive because someone had to chase a wild cat down to harvest it). And honestly, I'm not usually put off by pretentiousness, if you see a bit, there's often something there to back it up.

I was in town for a conference, and I had seen this place online and wanted to go. It wasn't open before the conference (it has very odd hours for a coffee shop, not opening until 10 AM), so I ran over a bit after lunch to grab coffee between sessions. Similar to many of the other reviews here, when I walk in the door I'm not acknowledged by the owner at all, but rather I'm motioned in by the sole customer there who noticed that I was standing there unsure what to do. I sit down, and after a couple minutes of listening to the owner and the guy drinking his coffee chat, I'm finally asked what I would like and handed the siphon menu.

NOTE: When I looked at the siphon menu I saw the prices ranged from $30 to $50. I assumed that these were prices for bags of coffee - I was incorrect, and failed to clarify before buying, that's on me.

I scan the tasting notes and gravitate toward the top of the list, seeing a mix of citrus, sweet fruity notes, and some chocolate-oriented notes to round it out. Sounds like a great cup.

The owner brews the coffee, I enjoy watching him brew, asking questions about the technique, and he's knowledgeable, noting interesting tidbits like how siphon brewing is a brewing method where the beans are not in boiling water (due to the air gap from the heating element), while also being a brew without temperature falloff (because it's being actively heated during the brew process). He finishes brewing, pours the cup for me, and tells me to not drink for 9 minutes to let the brew cool first so the flavors can open up. Again, I've bought in (I've already realized I'm going to be here a while and decided to go for the ride), and I'm trusting someone who's this detail-oriented to provide me a great experience.

When I finally take my first sip, the coffee is acrid. The primary flavor that I got off of it was burnt popcorn. The owner asks about the tasting notes, indicating interest in how I'm experiencing it, and I note that I was surprised that it tasted more bitter than I expected. He then told me that coffee is never bitter, and that I drank it to soon. Specifically, he said that he would recommend people don't drink their coffee for 15 minutes, but that that doesn't generally fly. I should note here, that the room we're in was cool, the cup has an extremely wide top, and it was barely warm by the time I had tried it. He insisted that the moment it came down to body temperature the flavors would really show up.

I drank the coffee slowly over the next 15 minutes as it transitioned from barely warm to tepid. The burnt flavor reduced a little, and some other notes of lime, peach, and chocolate started to show up a little, but overall this was just a bad cup of coffee. It wasn't helped that as he talked about what he does and interacting with other people in industry, he couldn't help but be negative toward everyone: deriding the roasting and tasting practices elsewhere in the industry; commenting that if you pull a siphon in a certain way you're just bad and shouldn't make coffee; bragging that's he's the 3rd or 4th best coffeemaker in the country, etc. This is before he started trying to convince me to buy bitcoin.

If you're going to provide lackluster service, brag, put down the rest of the industry, price your coffee at 6x a premium cup, and literally tell customers how to drink their coffee, you have to back that up with results. This would've been a...

Very fun and unique coffee experience! Likewise the best boba I have ever had. They use a smaller pearl that is surprisingly more pleasing in the mouth and the base tea flavors are really delicate yet still come through.

As for the coffee, I would say that getting coffee here is similar to listening to an album on vinyl, it is really about immersing yourself in the experience and taking it all in.

I am by any account a coffee novice and the owner met me where I was at and talked through the process and their personal philosophy on the coffee.

Coffee is such an interesting thing, there are so many flavor compounds that get extracted in such a short time and our sense of taste is so complex that we are able to pick up very low quantities of these flavors. Seemingly insignificant variances can result is quite drastically different outcomes. It is really fun to enjoy something made by someone who really takes pride in and understands their craft and strives for more.

If you want a coffee experience I think this might kind of be the only place in the city to go. That being said I have only been there couple of times and look forward to more visits!

For what it is worth this is the only coffee shop I have been to in SLC that has consistently great espresso. I have had good espresso at other places but never consistently, and if you have ever tried to make your own you are likely aware of how challenging it can be to control everything that goes into the process to get nice espresso time...

There are few establishments for which I write reviews, and even fewer still that deserve an unqualified 5 stars. Caffe D'bolla is one of the very few 5 star establishments I've ever been to, and represents a true gem in Salt Lake City.

Caffe D'Bolla probably isn't for everybody. If your coffee drink sounds something like 'Triple, Venti, Half Sweet, Non-Fat, Caramel Macchiato', then it probably isn't really a coffee drink, and you should probably be ordering from a 17 year old high school senior at Star Butts. If, however, you like coffee - that is, traditional espresso drinks and specialty siphon coffee that is flawlessly executed and unparalleled in quality, then d'Bolla is the place to go. D'Bolla has a constantly rotating menu of single-origin siphon coffees ($$$, but you truly get what you pay for), and a regular rotation of different espressos on tap - all fresh, all delicious.

D'Bolla also serves wonderful loose-leaf tea, traditional bubble teas (which are amazing!) and great home-made baked goods - their baked goods, yet again, taste like something made from a recipe and not by a factory, so if you're used to the 900 calorie lemon cake from the aforementioned Star Butts, you might be disappointed.

Finally, d'bolla's beans are exceptionally good. I can't brew 'em like John does, but with my meager coffee making ability, my morning coffee tastes far better than anything I could buy elsewhere.

Botton line: d'bolla is...