DoubleShot Menu
I think a lot of people get the wrong idea of who we are because our menu is different. I'm not trying to be a jerk, but I sometimes have to ask questions to figure out what customers are trying to order. To me, it's simple. I decided what drinks we are going to serve and I put them on the menu. When you come in, you can look up there and see what we offer, what sizes are available, and decide what you want. Of course, people are encouraged to ask questions and if someone shows interest in coffee, we are excited to tell them about it. So to me, it seems easy and obvious. If I walked into a sandwich shop, I wouldn't just walk up to the counter and say, "give me a BLT, but put an extra slice of bacon on it. And american cheese." If I don't look at the menu, I don't know if they even have a BLT. If I haven't gotten the BLT there before I don't know how much bacon they usually put on it and putting cheese on it before I even try it the way they serve it seems a little presumptuous on my part. I guess people are so used to going to nondescript, unoriginal "coffeeshops" that didn't put one bit of thought into their business and don't really care about their product, that customers think they're all the same.
So sometimes people walk in and say, "give me a macchiato." We don't make macchiatos. They're not on our menu. Espresso? Latte? Cup of coffee? We make those. But we don't make every single drink there is to make. That's not our shtick. We make a few drinks really well.
We have two sizes of hot drinks: Small and Large. 10- and 16-ounce. The small drink has two shots of espresso and the large has four. We have one size of cold drink, 16-ounce. We put four shots in iced lattes but only two shots in it if you ask for a flavored one. We serve double espressos. But not to go, only in a ceramic demitasse.
You walk in and order an iced soy latte with an "extra shot"... Sometimes we just make it the way we always make it without saying anything: ice, soy milk, four shots of espresso. Sometimes we ask for clarification such as, "how many shots did you want in it?" Obviously this is a bit of a loaded question. The answer is usually, "Uh, I don't know." Or "Uhhhhh, two?" Clearly these are people who haven't really been to the DoubleShot before. The way we make coffee is the way we think it tastes best and we hope that people will like it the way we make it. Notice I said "tastes best." We're not trying to juice you up with a bunch of caffeine, but trying to give you a pleasurable coffee-drinking experience. If people didn't go to crappy coffeeshops that put one shot in a 12-ounce latte and two in a 20-ounce, they wouldn't have to ask for an extra shot. The extra shot thing is a ploy anyway. They cheat you on espresso so you have to ask for an extra shot, which is an up-charge. It ends up costing you way more than you'll pay for a superbly-crafter drink at the DoubleShot.
Anyway, all I'm trying to say is we're trying to serve you great drinks. We put them on the menu the way we think they are the greatest. Give them a try that way. If you want, after that politely ask us to modify. We'll try to educate you and influence you to really think about the taste of the drink at that point, but keep in mind we work really hard to bring you outstanding coffees and hate to see them compromised.
Wow, that got long and involved. I was trying to explain our menu.
We don't do "shot in the dark" or "red eye" or "depth charge" or whatever you call it. It's because we've spent a lot of time creating the espresso blend and we still spend time tweaking it to taste right. Indiscriminately adding a random coffee to the mix will not make for a good drink; try an americano instead.
We don't have frozen drinks. No blender. Only iced.
I'm sure there's more stuff we don't have, but I can't think of them right now (or have never heard of them). I hope this answers your questions. Do you have questions?
posted by Brian at 8:18 AM
10 Comments:
The last time I tried to buy an espresso drink from some nameless coffee shop, I looked at the cup size, gauged my own need for caffeine, and said "with four shots please." Which, according to the guy working there, made a total of seven shots (?) at a ridiculous price. I don't get it either.
I can definitely appreciate the concept of a limited menu to emphasize quality, but I have a couple of thoughts...
1) Sandwich shops are generally flexible, especially independently-owned ones. Sure, Quizno's and McDonald's might have a rigid menu, but my local deli will make my sandwich the way I like it. Similarly, a quality chef-driven restaurant can accommodate special requests, whereas Applebee's can't.
2) 10 oz is really your smallest milk drink?
My default drink is a 5-6 oz cappuccino (double shot + microfoamed milk + ceramic cup).
Certainly asking for less milk in my drink would not be the equivalent of asking for american cheese on a BLT?
p.s. Thumbs up on no "red eye" and no blender. I completely agree.
Yes. Not trying to be a jerk, but why don't you have macchiattos (and I mean the real, Italian kind not the *$ kind). A macchiatto covers up the taste of the espresso much less than a latte does -- yet you serve those. Don't get me wrong: I totally agree with your menu philosophy, keeping it simple and pure. I would only ask that you add this one drink to your otherwise perfect menu.
What does everyone else think?
Brian, DoubleShot Coffee is hands down the best damn coffee around made by experts who possess a passion for coffee and those who enjoy the real thing.
You spoil us ... thank you.
karen
Well, a couple things.
Ryan, a 5-6 oz cap is made with one shot of espresso. Almost every coffeeshop uses double baskets for a number of reasons, so when you get that drink one shot goes in your cup and one usually goes down the drain. Unless a shop is super high-volume, any shop that does odd numbers of shots in drinks either dumps the extra or lets it sit there until they need it (yuck). Our small is 10oz and has two shots, so you do the math. Asking for less milk in your drink, you would be assuming there is only one shot of espresso. I think if you tasted it the way we made it, you would like it. If you wanted it to taste more like espresso and less like milk, you might try an americano.
Matt, we've never done macchiatos and there are a couple reasons I decided in the beginning (and continue to make that decision). First, you can't steam the amount of milk one needs to make a macchiato, so for the sake of waste it's not a good menu item. Second, the macchiato either needs to be made with a single espresso or made in a slightly larger cup than our demitasse. See above for single shots. And we don't really need more cups (see under counter).
I'm not a milk drinker. I don't like milk. I've never liked milk. And for the past several years I haven't been able to drink milk because of intolerance to whey protein. So some of you will say I just don't understand how good the milk makes the coffee. But I contend that adding milk to coffee makes the coffee taste a lot more like milk. And makes it really difficult to tell one coffee from another. There's a big movement in the specialty industry to stop using blends. People are using single-origin coffees for espresso, highlighting the flavors and characteristics of one particular farm in an espresso. I can appreciate that. But for some reason there doesn't seem to be an equivalent movement to stop putting milk in coffee. Talk about hiding the farmer- milk hides the farmer as much as blends do. A lot of people put a little bit of half-and-half in their coffee. They say something like, "It takes the edge off." I didn't know it was so edgy. We try to influence people to drink the coffees black, because that way they can REALLY tell the difference between an Ethiopia Sidamo and a Costa Rica Tarrazu. No offense, but I feel the same way about macchiatos. Just a dash of milk in my espresso, please. Espresso is delicious. Want to stretch it? Have an americano. In my opinion it's a lot easier to taste the actual flavors, characteristics, flaws, how good the shot was pulled, etc in an americano than an espresso. But that's just me.
I know we're not perfect. We do things a certain way. It'll be ok. I have reasons for doing things the way I do. And the whole business is built on my decision-making to this point. I may change my mind in the future, and I'm always willing to listen to other opinions. So thanks for commenting.
I'm still listening...
Hi Brian,
Thanks for responding. I'm not assuming a single shot at all. I simply prefer a double cappuccino with a 2:1 milk ratio. The 10 oz latte and the single shot cappuccino you mention are a 4:1 ratio.
Just as you prefer no milk, I prefer less milk.
I contend that there is a middle ground between 0:1 milk ratio (straight double) and 4:1 milk ratio (10 oz double shot latte).
Your 10 oz latte is probably the right choice for most latte drinkers. It will blow the doors off a "tall latte" from Starbucks and introduce new customers to quality coffee.
I get the feeling you would like to see more of your customers ordering straight shots. Is it possible that offering a shorter milk drink might move some of them in that direction?
A double shot served straight simply doesn't agree with me first thing in the morning. On the other hand, 3 oz or less of properly steamed milk provides a backdrop to appreciate a great double shot of espresso. Believe me, I can still taste origin flavors, roast profile, and barista technique as long as the quantity of steamed milk is small.
I agree with you that the americano is a great drink and a way to appreciate the flavors of the espresso in a less-concentrated way. However, it's an entirely different experience than a macchiato or a double cappuccino.
I'm not advocating that you add the macchiato and cappuccino to your menu. In fact, Starbucks has so confused those terms for most people that it could be problematic. (How many people would be staring blankly at their macchiato, asking where the caramel syrup is?)
But if I ever make it up to Tulsa and ask for your 10 oz latte with half the milk, please understand that it's not an insult to your drink recipe, but a compliment to your espresso.
Brian, I just have one little question; Why aren't your blogs on your menu?
I'm just glad when I go to Doubleshot I don't have to hear the following phrases:
"It's a great day at the Doubleshot, what can I start for ya!"
"Would you like to upsize that and add something to eat for only $1 more?" No thanks, I'll pass on the side of hydrogenated oil.
Really,though, the lack of pandering at DS has subtly, sometines not so subtly, made me appreciate the diversity and quality of the coffee and helped to educate me more. We're still allowed a fair amount of leeway in our own preferences, but DS knows more and decides for us where to draw the line when it goes so far as to change the VERY NATURE of the product. Sure at a deli you can add more or less bacon or get fat free ranch if that's what you like. There's no science to that. But, for example at DS I used to ask for skim milk in my latte. When they stopped carrying it, it was explained to me how the properties of it didn't lend itself to the steaming, etc. and just didn't result in a quality enough latte to serve. OK, I get that, the nature of the product is affected, they know better so I'm not in a position to dictate. I'll get a better drink and trim the few extra calories elsewhere. You wouldn't ask a deli to use a different kind of yeast when they say the bread won't rise, or you wouldn't suggest to a great chef how you'd like them to reduce a sauce. That's their expertise and is the equivalent to the difference between gourmet and fast food.
I agree with Christian. Well said.
When you wrap your hands around a cup of DoubleShot, you are embracing its origins, its history, the struggles of the growers, all the detail and care Brian and his staff share about the very beans that went into that espresso. It's art. DoubleShot is in a class all its own and I am proud that it's right here in T-town.
Who's going to trade that for a headset sales pitch at a drive-thru with paper cups?
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