Roasted: Catalina Coffee
Ranked the 2011 Houston Press "Best Coffee Shop," Catalina Coffee certainly has a reputation to uphold. It is very easy to miss the small building, located on the otherwise industrial corridor of Washington Avenue. However, devout Catalina customers arrive there without a hitch, quickly park in the hidden gravel lot in the back of the shop and enter into a ?different world.
The inside of the shop is reminiscent of a lodge or a European cafe, with antiquated brick walls and paneled windows that let in just enough light to fill the small space. Lining the walls is a gallery of framed photos taken by local photographers that are for sale to the general public. The customers that trickle in and out of the creaky, wooden doors seem to be families, businessmen and couples. While the hustle and bustle through the small shop makes it an unfit place to sit and read a book or write a paper, Catalina provides a very homey and relaxing environment to sit and have a conversation over drinks.
Catalina is more than just a coffee shop. Along with having the familiar coffee bar, Catalina is stocked with loose-leaf tea, pastries and sandwiches. Catalina also offers a few products that are not typically sold at local coffee shops, including slow-drip coffee machines, mills, teapots, French presses, V60 pour-over cups and teakettles. All of the fancy appliances sold there are the same ones that the baristas use at the bar.
For the more particular customers, Catalina sells whole-bean bags of all of the coffees the baristas use at the bar, which consist of a variety of Organic Fair Trade beans. The Amaya Roasting Company roasts all the beans locally and the freshly packaged beans brought from the factory the previous day are available ?for purchase.
The service was surprisingly prompt, considering there were only two baristas attending to such a large volume of customers. Upon receiving my cappuccino, I noticed the foam was carefully steamed to form a multi-leaf flowered plant.
The espresso, Catalina's Brasil Blend, had a very prominent smoky flavor with subtly sweeter tones of chocolate. The flavor was intense, heavy and a bit overpowering. I then tried the French-pressed coffee, since it is rarely offered at the shops I frequent. The French-pressed Peru Amazonas coffee is mild and smooth, with hints of citrus and a bit on the acidic side. It might have tasted acidic taste because I took my time in drinking it. For future reference, the trick to enjoying French press: drink it quickly.
Catalina is a bit of a drive from Rice University, but it is worthwhile to stop in and try a cortado, a personalized pour-over coffee or a masterfully crafted cappuccino.
Amanda Gutierrez is a Hanszen College junior. Roasted is a column that examines the coffee culture in and ?around Houston.
More from The Rice Thresher
Rice community, experts lend support to Kerrville after deadly floods
In the early hours of the morning on July 4, flood waters rapidly rose the Guadalupe River to 30 feet above its normal height. One of the few gauges on the river failed. Young girls sleeping in the cabins of Camp Mystic on the banks of the river had no phones to receive the flood warnings.
Tea Nook to close after 9 years of business
Rice’s student run boba tea shop will likely shutter its doors after managers were informed that they could no longer operate out of Sammy's Cafe in the Rice Student Center.
Summer indie staples serenade House of Blues on Peach Pit and Briston Maroney’s “Long Hair, Long Life” tour.
A crowd gathered at House of Blues Houston on June 18 to hear the upbeat bedroom pop that got many of them through high school. Titled the “Long Hair, Long Life” tour (see the band members), this collaboration between Peach Pit and Briston Maroney felt like a time capsule to 2017: a setlist teeming with both original songs and music from their latest albums, “Magpie” and “JIMMY”, and an unspoken dress code of cargo shorts, graphic T-Shirts and backward caps.
Please note All comments are eligible for publication by The Rice Thresher.