Announcement to all...

Ashley and I are married!!!

We want to thank most importantly our parents, John and Mary Kelsey and Scott and Jamie Robinson, for their wonderful support and understanding of our love. Also to all of the well-wishers, thank you from the bottom of our hearts. We are so excited to begin our lives together and are blessed that we have a community like Mason to call home.

OK enough with the sappy love stuff...haha.

Ash and I arrived late Sunday night (3.1.09) in Chicago, IL via Jackson on Amtrak. Check out the fares here -->(JXN to CHI) they are super cheap depending on the day and really whips the butt of driving as far as ease and cost.

I am still not sure whether it is perfect as far as the environmental cost vs automobile travel. I found a good article on Slate.com that will make you think. -->(Trains vs. Planes vs. Automobiles)

We checked into the Hotel Sax after a short taxi ride from Union Station around 11pm CST. We were pretty worn out from all of the weekends festvities and travel and ordered a great Chicago Style pizza to our room from Ranalli's. It really hit the spot!

After sleeping the morning away we were determined to indulge in two of our favorite things; coffee and chocolate. Our first stop was to be Intelligentsia Coffee and Tea.
Lets just say we took a slight detour, but eventually we were greeted like weary travelers at the revolving doors of this wonderful independent (indie) shop. We stepped up and were a little unsure of how to order because they had two registers, one was unmanned and on one the other one credit cards weren't working (We at the stores know that all too well) . Another barista quickly stepped up to the other register and processed through the customers ahead of us. Most were getting brewed coffee. This didn't suprise me however because at our supplier Small World Coffee, which is also in a larger city (Princeton, NJ) sells something like 10 - 1 brewed coffee vs espresso based drinks. Also they brew all of thier coffee, by-the-cup on a Clover. It is funny to put that link up because it is to starbucks.com, yet Intelligentsia had been experimenting with the Clover long before starbucks bought the company in thier continued attempt to overcome the shortcomings in coffee roasting and espresso preparation.

Ok enough with the talk, I will let you see for yourselves.






Ash ordered a cortado, what we would make in the cafe is a double ristretto into a 3-oz cup making it into basically a "half-cap" . They served this drink in a small "rocks" glass. Very nice touch.

See the nice tulip Latte Art

Ash said that she loved the creamy texture of the perfectly steamed milk. A great treat!

I ordered a double espresso, which was made to perfection on their Synessso Machine. I want one of these one day.

They use Black Cat Espresso This is a great full city roast with what I am sure was some Brazilian beans as the finish was light and fruity. Some caramel on the front but I was taken a back by the perfect balance of nuts and fruit that I like to taste in an espresso blend.

Chris has experimented with Black Cat in our cafe with really great results. We do however prefer the Small World House for it's ability to make really great big milk drinks. Not to say we won't bring in some new stuff from time to time. Contact Chris if you have any questions or requests.