Espresso Cafe

Espresso Cafe
250 Civic Center Dr.
Columbus, Ohio 43215

Espresso Cafe is a little shop on the Riverfront in Downtown Columbus. It features not only coffee and espresso beverages but also breakfast and lunch food. The patio has very nice chairs and a great view of the river. Two computers and a printer are available for the office worker that has neither laptop nor coffee. While Damion tried to score a view of the barista's activity, he missed the action as much of the machine is obscured because of how it is situated on the counter. This did not matter much, as the product told us everything. They also offer a soda fountain and a "French vailla latte" machine like one might find at a gas station.

Espresso

Overall, a pretty terrible shot. It was served in a styrofoam cup...a 16 ounce styrofoam cup full a good third of way with espresso. It was extremely bitter. Let's review: a 5-6 ounce "double shot" in a 16 ounce STYROFOAM cup.

Positive:
They use Ohio's own Caruso's Coffee, Volare blend, for their espresso.

Negative:
Served in styrofoam cup (they have no "for here" cups whatsoever).
Thin; very watery.
Tan, dissipating crema.
Very bitter.
Beans were not ground per shot.

Shots had body like they were brewed in a French press. Which is fine (if it were brewed in a French press).
Before our drinks were started there was dried, crusty milk left on the steam wand from a previous customer's order. On that basis, it is safe to conclude that the machine is not cleaned or wiped down at all between uses.

Cappuccino

The cappuccino had some surprisingly well-steamed milk but, when coupled with the terrible espresso, it was undrinkable. The ratio was way off (it was quite heavy), not to mention the volume. There were only 16 or 20 ounce sizes available.

Positive:
Well-steamed and foamed milk.

Negative:
Incorrect ratio
Same terrible shots as above
Used 2% milk
Wrong size (again, the smallest possible option is 16 ounces).
Served with grounds on the lip of the styrofoam cup.
Tasted like a Cafe au Lait. Which is fine, if what we ordered was a Cafe au Lait.

Drip

They said they had Caruso's Awaken blend brewed but none of the signs on the self-serve airpots said anything about that. I got the last bit of what was marked as "100% Colombian" and filled the rest of the cup with "House Blend." It was flat, weak, and cool.