Vigilante Coffee Company - Micro-roaster in Trinidad, DC

[Tweaked]

I've seen several mentions of Vigilante Coffee Company in the papers/online recently. Anyone tried the goods? <Paging Mr. Darkstar>

Several area restaurants are serving, with a concentration of H Street/Atlas District joints. They will also be featured during this month's Hogo pop-up

[darkstar965]

I've seen several mentions of Vigilante Coffee Company in the papers/online recently. Anyone tried the goods? <Paging Mr. Darkstar>

Several area restaurants are serving, with a concentration of H Street/Atlas District joints. They will also be featured during this month's Hogo pop-up

Ha! Have tried Vigilante a few times. One of the first was at Maple as described in a post here (the post got messed up by invision with html tags but it's in there).

Shortly after I'd posted that, DCist posted a more comprehensive view here. Are these media types using dr.com for leads?

They're running a pseudo-pop-up cafe in east Dupont in Mr. Yogato on Friday and Saturday mornings. Haven't yet been there and that's going to be the best place to really taste and form a view since they have total bean to cup control there (versus the roulette that is restaurant coffee).

Bottom line, I can't yet really comment on Vigilante. I've had it at least 3 times but not at their cafe. The first experience with the espresso at Maple wasn't good but that doesn't mean anything in forming a view. Grape + Bean has one smal local roaster but I think it's Winchester based and not Vigilante.

Vigilante aside, there are a very fast-growing number of roasters and shops. That's a good and wonderful thing and I'd wish nothing but huge success for any of them.

That said, I'm not sure about the business strategy of going into roasting versus retailing for someone without real connections and advantages over competition; someone who just loves coffee and the coffee culture. Roasting well is hard. It's actually very hard. it requires much more up-front investment in equipment, training and travel than does starting a great coffee shop. Roasting is also becoming a much more crowded sector than coffee shop retailing so tougher to break out versus just opening a shop in an underserved neighborhood of which there are still many.

I'm more coming to believe that shops who also roast are more often less good than ICHs that don't. Joel at Qualia is one of the few exceptions to this in our area. There's a lot of not so great, acidic, burnt, and just bad-technique roasting going on across America now. Most great coffee comes from roasting companies who aren't as much retailers imho. Not all. Most.

All said, I will be sure to give Vigilante a fair shot and report back. Come to think of it, think I still owe some thoughts on Grape + Bean's coffee program after I riled up Porcupine. Will try to get back to that soon too. Thanks for the new topic, Tweaked. Cool to see some coffee topics pop up that I didn't start.

[DaRiv18]

I hit up one of their pop-ups at the Biergarten Haus on H Street NE the other week, ordered an espresso and a pourover. Wasn't a fan of my espresso, but (sadly) it was of similar quality of many other ICHs around town. Pale crema, sour.

My pourover was some Hawaiian varietal. It was a decent cup, certainly wasn't overroasted, but I'm beginning to think I have a narrow taste in coffee and prefer something that is a bit sweet. It was a bit bright for me. I did prefer it to Sidamo's roasts down the street, and I definitely think it measures up to most of the other independent brands that I've tried. Wish I had a better coffee acumen than to speak in such broad statements, but that's where I am.

A friend of mine who is an enthusiast likes their service at Room 11.

[Mark Dedrick]

Vigilante will be a presence at the as yet to open Maketto on H Street, and will also feature at the H Street Coffee House (is it open yet? I need to walk by there) in the old Sova space.

[darkstar965]

I hit up one of their pop-ups at the Biergarten Haus on H Street NE the other week, ordered an espresso and a pourover. Wasn't a fan of my espresso, but (sadly) it was of similar quality of many other ICHs around town. Pale crema, sour.

My pourover was some Hawaiian varietal. It was a decent cup, certainly wasn't overroasted, but I'm beginning to think I have a narrow taste in coffee and prefer something that is a bit sweet. It was a bit bright for me. I did prefer it to Sidamo's roasts down the street, and I definitely think it measures up to most of the other independent brands that I've tried. Wish I had a better coffee acumen than to speak in such broad statements, but that's where I am.

A friend of mine who is an enthusiast likes their service at Room 11.

DaRiv's post is cool. And useful in talking about coffee even more generally than just Vigilante. As always, if you like (or don't like) whatever is in your cup, that's all that matters. That said, good espresso shouldn't taste "sour" or the more commonly encountered "bitter." The pourover you had sounds like it might be enjoyed by many, including me. Some like more or less acid, citrus or "bright"ness in their coffee. But, avoiding burnt or "over roasted" is a pretty universal preference. Likewise a bit of "sweet"ness, complexity and nuance, whatever the lexicon used.

[turbogrrl]

Vigilante has a new pop-up location: Hogo's.

They are occupying the bar from 7am-2pm Mondays through Fridays in March.