When Peet’s Coffee decided to grow its brand beyond California a few years ago, the company selected the Washington D.C. area as well as central Virginia for expansion, including building an east coast roasting facility in Suffolk this year. So, the owners of Front Porch Coffee-house knew that Kilmarnock was fertile ground for “Peetniks” as the bean pur-veyor’s cult followers are known in their home state of California. Kilmarnock had the right geographies in the center of the Northern Neck where people have been yearning for a really great neigh-borhood coffee shop, and many already loved the brand from Northern Virginia and Richmond.
Peet’s coffee dates back 50+ years to a Dutch coffee roaster named Alfred Peet, who was the father of coffee roasting in the U.S. Alfred Peet taught his artisan craft to the original founders of Starbucks, and changed the way Americans think about coffee. Today, Peet’s Coffee & Tea offers superior quality coffees and teas in multiple forms, by sourcing the best quality coffee beans and tea leaves in the world, adhering to strict high-quality and taste standards, and controlling product quality through its unique direct store delivery and small batch roasting process. And the good news is that now Peet’s Coffee can be enjoyed at the Front Porch Coffeehouse on Main Street in Kilmarnock.
MAKING SENSE OF THE MENU OPTIONS
Coffee aficionados devoted to the art of drinking coffee and espresso have their own language of sorts. Baristas and cashiers are trained to understand how to order and prepare all the options. Latte, espresso, cappuccino – there are so many different types of coffee it becomes a language itself! This simple guide will explain the differences between some of the most popular espresso, coffee and tea based drinks. So the next time you get into line at Front Porch Coffeehouse, you’ll be prepared to order something you are sure to love.
ESPRESSO
The espresso is the foundation and the most important part to every espresso based drink. It’s a small shot of caffeine — usually about 1.1 ounces. It is both stronger and more flavorful than a regular cup of coffee. Also available in decaf. Espresso is ordered by the shot – 1, 2, or 3 shots but can also be added to any beverage as an addition – for example, you like a kick of caffeine in your brewed coffee – then add a shot of espresso.
AMERICANO
If you like the caffeine boost you get from espresso but the taste is just too strong, an Americano is the brew for you. It’s a shot of espresso with twice the amount of hot water. The term “caffè Americano” specifically is Italian for “American coffee”. There is a popular belief that the name has its origins in World War II when American soldiers would dilute espresso with hot water to approximate the coffee to which they were accustomed in the U.S.
MILK OPTIONS
Most beverages that require milk are typically prepared with 2% milk unless ordered with Skim Milk, Almond Milk, Soy Milk, Half & Half or Whole Milk. All these options are available and can be ordered as substitutes. Fancy terms such as Breve are used for substituting Half & Half in the beverage.
CAPPUCCINO Some people like their coffee drinks black. Others prefer some milk in their coffee. One of the most popular espresso drinks, a cappuccino, is made by pairing a shot of espresso with a small amount of steamed milk and a mountain of foam. It can be jazzed up with a myriad of syrup flavors such as vanilla, honey, caramel, and hazelnut.
CAFE LATTE
A café latte, or “latte” for short, is an espresso based drink with steamed milk and milk-foam added to the coffee. Lattes and cappuccinos are quite similar in their creation, both start with an espresso base, but while a cappuccino has a little milk and a lot of foam, a latte has a lot of milk and a little foam. This creamier drink doesn’t have as strong of an espresso flavor as a cappuccino. Again, you can jazz it up with syrups or sauces to make a vanilla latte, a chocolate Mocha latte, a white chocolate coconut latte, a sugar-free vanilla latte or many other options including as an iced beverage.
CAFÉ AU LAIT
A café au lait is a drink of strong drip brewed coffee, to which steamed milk is added; this contrasts with a caffè latte, which uses espresso as a base. A syrup can be added to a café au lait to add a bit of hazelnut, vanilla, or almond flavor to the beverage.
CARAMEL MACCHIATO
Caramel Macchiato is a lot like a cafe latte, since both have same two ingredients: milk and espresso. A Caramel Macchiato is made from a lot of hot milk at the bottom and a small amount of espresso added on top and caramel sauce and vanilla syrup are added to sweeten the beverage. No additional sweeteners are needed for this beverage!
JAVIVA
Javiva is a trademarked brand of Peet’s for a line of frozen coffee beverages. It consists of espresso or coffee and other base ingredient (e.g., mocha, vanilla, or caramel), blended with ice and other various ingredient mixes, and typically topped with whipped cream and caramel or chocolate swirl. It can be made coffee-free as well which is similar to a frozen milk shake. It can also be made in a light version lower in calories as well as in an earl grey or chai or matcha tea version.
COLD BREW
While cold brew is, well, cold coffee, it’s not just regular iced coffee. It is coffee that’s brewed with room temperature or cold water over a 12 to 24-hour brew time. Because it’s made with cold water, it’s generally a bit mellower, full bodied, and a little less acidity than regular iced coffee. Once the coffee is steeped, the very strong coffee concentrate is reduced with water in small batches for ultimate freshness and served with ice.
For a New Orleans-style cold brew, Front Porch Coffeehouse offers a Cold Brew Black Tie which is made with chicory for a kick of spice and sweetened condensed milk or dulce de leche with a splash of half-and-half. And for summer, coconut syrup makes a refreshing summer iced coffee beverage.
DARK, MEDIUM VERSUS LIGHT COFFEE ROASTS
So, which roast do you assume has more caffeine punch? Answer: Light Roast. The more you roast the coffee, the less caffeine. So, if you want more kick, order a Lighter Roast Coffee of the Day.
THE MATCHA AND CHAI CULTURE – WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE TEA WORLD
When it comes to coffee, fifty-seven percent of Americans over age 18 drink coffee on a given day, and a quarter of adults say they are addicted to the beverage. On any given day, more than one half of the American population drinks tea. On a regional basis, the South and Northeast have the greatest concentration of tea drinkers….80% is iced tea. Tea is nearly 5,000 years old when it was discovered in 2737 BC by the Chinese Emperor Shen-Nung. If coffee is not your “cup of tea,” Front Porch Coffeehouse offers a wide variety of hot & iced specialty teas including Chai & Matcha Green as well as ice teas infused with mango or raspberry. All of Front Porch Coffeehouse teas are from Mighty Leaf Tea, a subsidiary of Peet’s. Mighty Leaf Tea makes artisanal teas and creative blends in a compostable mesh pouch. With a proprietary handcrafted manufacturing process and distinctive packaging, Mighty Leaf Tea offers among a range of blends several organic varieties.
In many languages, CHAI is the word for tea. In the U.S., it is a spicy blend of black teas and chai spices… cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, cloves and peppercorns. CHAI tea is most popular now as a Latte which includes the steamed milk like an espresso Latte. And for the Espresso drinker, you can also order a Dirty Chai Latte which includes a shot of espresso (or two) which makes for an interesting robust mixture of coffee and tea with milk.
Matcha Green Tea gained popularity for a sustained energy boost, loads of antioxidants, and thanks to an amino acid called L-Theanine, an increased metabolism, and a caffeine hit without the jittery after-effect. All this means is that there’s a Matcha movement happening particularly with the millennial generation.
So, what is special about this green tea? Matcha is a finely ground powder made from green tea leaves which is traditionally hand-picked and stone-ground into a dust. This process preserves both the color and nutritional qualities of the tea which is then mixed into a hot or iced Latte at Front Porch Coffeehouse. Matcha also is complimented with a splash of peppermint for an interesting beverage experience and can also be combined with Honey for a gentle spa-like beverage experience.
Front Porch Coffeehouse is located at 139 S. Main Street in Kilmarnock and is open Monday – Saturday from 6:30 am to 6:00 pm and late evenings beginning Memorial Day Weekend through Labor Day.