Topeca Coffee — Restaurant in Tulsa

if you are a lover of straight espresso, like i am, and you find yourself in tulsa, like i just did, (and i live in southern california where there is plenty of good espresso), all is not lost. topeca to the rescue. this one is the main location in a cute old, coffeehouse-style. this should be enough for the casual coffee drinker. to come in for a try.

to the nuts and bolts that espresso geeks want to read: this location has a la marzoco strada, with pressure gauges screwed into the top of each group head, and paddles to vary the pressure during extraction. IOW, it is fully set up to cater to leading edge, third-wave espresso, if the barista in charge leans that way. the grinder is a compak k10, with a doser. the shot that was pulled for me was good and proper, though the barista was a little indifferent. she flapped the doser paddle a few times, went straight to the tamp, with little if any distribution, threw the portafilter into the group and hit the button (or paddle). a little slap-dash, but the shot was way, waay, waaay better than you could expect out of a straight shot from a place like *$$. although admittedly, it has been a long time since i've tried a shot of espresso there.

part two of this review is of topeca coffee's second location. about 10 minutes after i had the shot at the main location, i found this one. i can't find it on their web site, but i found it wandering around downtown tulsa. it is on 4th street, a little past main, in the northeasterly direction, and set back from the street a little bit, on the bottom floor of an office building... so, not the most obvious location. BUT the barista, Micah, was a whole different animal from the girl at the first place. i ordered a shot from him. only he:

-cleared the doser of stale grinds before dosing my shot. -pulled a shot and tasted it himself, because he hadn't pulled a straight shot for drinking in a couple of hours, (it is a VERY slow sunday morning here in downtown tulsa. it's basically dead around here.) -then pulled a shot for me, a little more volume than his "test" shot

-there was also a scale between the machine and the grinder, convenient for double checking dosing. micah says he checks his dosing several times per shift to make sure he's consistently getting near 20g

truthfully, it was not much better to my clumsy tongue than the more carelessly prepared shot, but it still made the whole process much more enjoyable, to watch a true pro at work.

short of weighing every dose AND extraction, there is not much more i would have expected from a good barista.

so, if you're a real espresso lover and you find yourself in tulsa, don't despair. you will be fine getting your fix from topeca... particularly if you get micah as your barista, at the smaller location on 4th,...

4.4 - The coffee gets five stars easily. A small but pleasing space in the impressive Philcade building. If I lived or worked nearby one of their locations this is where I would go if not every day, regularly. Diligently crafted!

Their history is interesting. The website details how the creator of this company moved to El Salvador with his coffee expertise and then went to the slopes of the Santa Ana volcano to raise a family that for generations has grown coffee. In 2001, they opened two roasting facilities, one on their own home town farm and one in Tulsa, OK. Topeca became one of the first farms to retail coffee shops in the world.

Experiencing this first hand while staying in the Art Deco district, asking for a macchiato, staff asked me if I liked espresso. Yes. I was then shown the small traditional espresso cup I would get my macchiato in if I ordered this here. Surprising, coming from the Northeast where Dunkin' can give customers a large macchiato that is over 8 ounces. Nevertheless, for java purists anything with espresso is served this way.

He suggested I get a 12 oz. toasted caramel latte. Good advice. Absolutely one of the best cups of any kind of coffee I've ever had to date. Dreamy. Memorable. Tough to replace. I did say on my way out coffee of this kind was going to be hard to find, even though even in CT we have a winner like GIV coffee in Canton. (see review) My partner had a Cappuccino.

State laws apparently allow wine to be sold in these shops, as well. Interesting to see. Topeca also sells tea, appliances, accessories and brand bags of...

The cashier demonstrated no particular interest in me as a new customer. I had to speak first...I got a short hello, then he went immediately into "what can I get you". I ordered the Lavender scone and a Chai Tea. He took my money, I tipped but didn't get even a mumbling of a thank you. He then pushed a cold bagged scone across the counter without offering to heat it. After heating the scone, he placed the scone on the counter, no silver/plastic-wear, instead on bringing it to the empty sitting area where I was seated. I picked my scone up and waited for what I now assumed would be a chai tea pick up. The Barista handed me the chai tea, which was delicious. After asking him for a fork, he pointed across the bar saying our utensils are in that area. As soon as I sat down, there was silence behind the bar, the Barista and cashier were on their respective phones. I sat and ate my scone and drank my coffee with no further interaction. No "how's everything, thanks for coming in". I am a coffee enthusiast who appreciates good coffee, good atmosphere, and service. This was not it. I live downtown, there are several shops to choose from, I will try one of those next time, with no plans to return to Topeca Coffee. I emptied my containers and readied myself to leave, expecting a "Thanks for coming in". Nothing....definitely NOT returning. Sad because it was the best chai...