Amanda Gutierrez

Roasted: Southside Espresso

The newest shop in the Houston coffee scene is already proving to be a sensation among local coffee-lovers. Tucked away behind Aladdin Mediterranean Cuisine and the Japanese restaurant Uchi is Southside Espresso, a small shop that you could easily miss if you drive too quickly down Westheimer. The quaint coffee bar was opened in the fall by Sean Marshall, a well-known name in the local coffee circle. Marshall is also the owner of Fusion Roasting Company, located in south Houston. He was mentored by the one-and-only Ken Palmer, a famous Houston specialty roaster and himself the student of Alfred Peet. Peet founded Peet's Coffee & Tea and revolutionized coffee roasting with innovative techniques, such as being one of the first to use the French roast in the United States. He is also credited with teaching the founders of Starbucks essentially everything they knew.

Freeman impresses in Jackson's rambling Hobbit

"Why the halfling?" In The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, the long-awaited prequel to the Lord of the Rings saga, Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellen, Lord of the Rings) responds to the elf-queen's question with ageless wisdom: "I found it is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love. Why Bilbo Baggins? Perhaps because I am afraid, and he gives me courage." 

Roasted: Homemade Iced Coffee

Coffeehouse has got you covered with hot chocolate and pumpkin spice lattes, but when you head back to your warm and balmy room to hunker down for a long night of studying, iced coffee will keep you cool and alert for hours.

Roasted: Black Hole

Black Hole is a caffeinated force to be reckoned with. It lures in coffee lovers with its relaxing atmosphere, reasonable prices and astronomical selection of delicious coffee and tea. This original Houston phenomenon is tucked away on Graustark Street in a cozy neighborhood and only a 15-minute bike ride or five-minute drive from Rice. 

Roasted: Les Givral

Roasted: Most convenient cups of coffee

This past week kicked off a new year of friends, experiences, clubs, classes and work.  Every new student will soon learn what all veteran upperclassmen learned long ago:

Roasted: Double Trouble

Caffeine is the one substance that college students need throughout the day. Alcohol is the one substance we love to drink throughout the night. So what happens when you combine the two? Double Trouble. Located right off of the METRORail at the Houston Community College stop, Double Trouble Caffeine and Cocktails is a lounge for both coffee drinkers and alcohol drinkers. There is no need to fret if you are under 21 - you can still go in for a quick espresso drink, sit on the patio and enjoy the hip Midtown scene. This shop is quite the ?eclectic shindig.

Roasted: Heat up and grind with Java Pura

When the owner of Java Pura, Richard Colt, suggested that I take a tour of Java Pura's local roasting factory, I jumped at the opportunity to see  coffee-roasting and packaging process for the first time. Upon arriving, I realized I had expected a much larger operation than the one I found: a room containing two large machines and walls aligned with large bins of unroasted coffee beans. The aroma of fresh unhampered coffee beans wafted to my nose. The factory room was unexpectedly small, and I craned my neck looking for the door that would lead to a much larger room filled with workers pouring beans into the roasters and the machines booming and crackling as the coffee was roasted. To my surprise, that room with two machines and buckets of coffee beans is the entire Java Pura coffee-roasting factory.

Roasted: Java Pura is Rice's untapped source of quality coffee

Located conveniently on the outskirts of Rice campus is Java Pura: a delightful cafe that specializes in high-grade, affordable coffee. It sits inside of the BioScience Research Collaborative, only a short walk from the south colleges. A stroll inside the main doors and up a flight of stairs will bring you to a spacious white foyer fully illuminated by natural light streaming through the expansive glass walls and filled only with the sound of the quiet humming of an espresso machine. Java Pura's coffee bar is outfitted with top-of-the-line machines, presses, and steamers. Its shelves are stocked with carefully chosen, freshly roasted coffees from all over the world. The baristas carefully craft each cup of coffee with ease and finesse and are friendly and resourceful in helping the customer choose the perfect drink. Java Pura prides itself on not only obtaining high-quality coffee beans, but also carefully roasting each batch to emphasize the full unique flavors of those beans. As a result of such scrupulousness and high customer satisfaction, Java Pura was rated the "Best Coffee Roaster" in Houston by the Houston Press in 2011. Who knew Rice students had such exquisite coffee right in their own backyard?

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.