Buzz Bakery, Neighborhood Restaurant Group's Pastry Outlets in Alexandria and Ballston

[darkstar965]

Yes, utterly, but not "freakin'".

Ok, well, I like Buzz fine.  Buzz is great, good service, well run (and Tiffany is great too). I like their pastries and cookies on occasion, but their cupcakes are hardly standouts in the area, and some of the items are a bit too sweet or too dense.

Regarding the coffee:  I should not have forgotten about Buzz.  But, only the Ballston Buzz uses Madcap. They told me over a year ago that Alexandria would switch over too, but nothing's happened.  Alexandria has always used Illy Coffee, ever since they opened.  To switch they probably have to ditch their Illy-provided equipment and perhaps do other training.... Perhaps they don't want the expense or effort.

I'm not crazy about Illy--it doesn't compare with what other *real* coffee shops are using. I've had coffee there many times, and its fine.  I'd probably not get a pour over with Illy.  Pour overs and espresso in Ballston are fine.  Not always good, but ok.

Now, I was just up to The Coffee Bar, north of Logan Circle on S, today.  That place is fantastic.  As good as any of the high quality shops in DC.  They use a coffee roasted in LA for some reason, but very nice.  Just more evidence of the problems in the NoVA coffee scene.  A handfull of coffee houses have sprung up in DC over the past year.  Meanwhile NoVA has nothing new.  At least we have the metro.

Hadn't been in many months until today.  I'm more regularly able to stop at Ballston where they have MadCap on tap for coffee.  Jondagle is correct of course that Alexandria is still using Illy and still saying they'll be switching to MadCap.  The staffer I asked rolled his eyes when I asked, "they've been saying that for more than a year."

One potentially good sign reminiscent of how Apple rumour mongers watch for patent filings or reports of parts orders:  Alexandria Buzz recently got a beautiful new Marzocco espresso machine that I saw.  And, it wasn't provided by Illy.  The end may be near. Er, very good or great coffee may finally make its way to this Buzz outpost.  Or not.

[jondagle]

I still don't think the end has come for Illy @Buzz Alexandria. But with ME Swings across the railroad tracks and US1, I'm a lot less interested.

[darkstar965]

Was at the Ballston location today and wanted to report that Annapolis-based Ceremony Coffee has replaced MadCap as the roaster of choice at Buzz and with Neighborhood Restaurant Group.  Sounds like just due to normal business/offering variety type reasons.

Ceremony is a great roaster and the most successful premium coffee purveyor in some respects from the mid-Atlantic region.  They are by far the biggest counterweight now to Counter Culture in the local market...and they're more local than CC. They're also the only East Coast headquartered roaster I've seen on shelves at the best shops in Portland (OR) and Seattle.

[jondagle]

I wish I had remembered to check Buzz in Alexandria at the start of the weekend... A bit late now. They have always had Illy and the difference was quite stark.

I never gave much thought to who's coffee NRG served elsewhere. Was it MadCap everywhere but Buzz?  Glad to hear such good things about Ceremony and that NRG has a more local connection. I wonder whether this has something to do with MadCap's plans for a DC roastery which seem not to have materialized.

I certainly didn't know Ceremony's presence extended to the west coast! I'm taking my espresso machine there (Annapolis) this week for some work. That's where La Marzocco recommends for service in this area.

If you want to hit a coffee cupping with some other Rockwellians in the near future I know Swings is doing them Friday mornings, and Counter Culture used to do them around the same times in DC.

[darkstar965]

I wish I had remembered to check Buzz in Alexandria at the start of the weekend... A bit late now. They have always had Illy and the difference was quite stark.

I never gave much thought to who's coffee NRG served elsewhere. Was it MadCap everywhere but Buzz?  Glad to hear such good things about Ceremony and that NRG has a more local connection. I wonder whether this has something to do with MadCap's plans for a DC roastery which seem not to have materialized.

I certainly didn't know Ceremony's presence extended to the west coast! I'm taking my espresso machine there (Annapolis) this week for some work. That's where La Marzocco recommends for service in this area.

If you want to hit a coffee cupping with some other Rockwellians in the near future I know Swings is doing them Friday mornings, and Counter Culture used to do them around the same times in DC.

Buzz Alexandria was always Illy but Buzz Arlington was more or less a local retail HQ for Grand Rapids based MadCap so it's a big change.  MadCap was served at B&B, Evening Star and, I believe, throughout NRG before this change.  Debateable whether Ceremony is "more local" than MadCap since Ceremony is Annapolis based and has no retail here while MadCap has been operating in this market through independents and with it's managment team based here for a couple of years.

Ceremony and "west coast" isn't so much a "presence" (i.e., a regional roastery or shop) as it is that they have distribution to some better ICHs in places like Portland, OR. This is notable because it's unusual.  As a general rule, most of the more successful and higher profile roasters are west coast based and then supply shops from west to east. That's why you see so many out-of-town roasters available here despite their being several roasters in this area too. Examples of coffees available here include Heart (PDX), Handsome (LA), PT's (KC), Intelligentsia (Chicago) and, of course, Counter Culture, which has a longstanding presence here with its Adams Morgan training/cupping center but is a NC based company.

Lots of cuppings or, (as Joel of Qualia would rightly correct us) "tastings" going on around town regularly these days with all the coffee activity.  We did one early this year with MadCap but not totally clear to me how much interest there is here on DR, which is wonderfully but accurately more a food/restaurant website.  Tried to organize another for a trip out to Ceremony more recently but there wasn't much interest.  If you want to organize something, let me know by PM and maybe we can collaborate.  Or, we can talk about it over a coffee.

[DonRocks]

I set up my workstation at Buzz Bakery, armed with a Large Americano ($3.30), fortified by a somewhat expensive Extra Shot ($1.00). Buzz uses Ceremony Coffee Roasters, based in Annapolis. Note that Ceremony, in addition to having their roastery in Annapolis, is opening up a coffee house in Mount Vernon in Baltimore (up by our nation's first Washington Monument, started in 1815 and finished in 1829, designed by famed architect Robert Mills (who also originally designed the more famous Washington Monument in Washington, DC). Mills also designed substantial parts of the Department of the Treasury building between 1839 and 1842, as well as many other notable Federal projects, ensuring his place among the pantheon (ironically) of legendary architects of Washington, DC and the the United States of America in general).

I also had a Gala Apple Fritter with Spiced Glaze ($2.50).

Despite all the rich history and "Buzz" surrounding Ceremony, my Americano was unacceptably bitter - every bit as bitter as a Starbucks roast, and needing every granule of turbinado sugar poured into it (I love raw sugar in my Americanos - it adds not only sweetness, but texture, as I don't even bother stirring the drink. When faced with the choice of turbinado sugar or simple syrup, I'll generally opt for turbinado sugar with iced Americanos. I let it sink to the bottom, then mash my straw all the way down there, making sure to get at least one crystal with each delightful sip).

The atmosphere of the original Buzz Bakery remains comfortable, although it's getting a touch worn, adding to its charm. It's really a nice place to set up a workstation and enjoy some coffee and a sweet, giving the customer a choice of indie rock inside, or a small, charming patio outside, mere steps away from a Capital Bikeshares rack. Have you joined Capital Bikeshares yet? You should, if for no other reason than that it allows you to park where there are actual parking spaces, pick up a bike, and ride it to your destination restaurant. I haven't actually done this yet, but it's in the master plan, and yes, I absolutely got the $75 annual membership (it's now $85). I first saw a setup like this in Copenhagen in 2000, and it seemed so unbelievably progressive and *cool* at the time; I cannot believe it's here in DC just fifteen short years later - my, how things have changed.

My apple fritter was positively laced with a caramel coating, and I'd be lying if I said the glaze didn't hit all the right notes. I hate that sweets go so well with coffee, but they do, and so my dessert time is often reserved for the morning, doing a large disservice to our city's outstanding pastry chefs. Note to all pastry chefs I talked with about a year ago: I apologize for not following through with my piece, but I got legitimately sidetracked in a big, unavoidable way - contact me, and you'll understand when I explain things to you; otherwise, I'll be getting back in touch, wanting to continue working on the story, hopefully sometime this year.

Since the extremely talented Tiffany MacIssac left Neighborhood Restaurant Group in May of 2014, and actually even before she left, when she officially moved from Birch and Barley to Buzz Bakery, and perhaps even before that, Buzz had gone downhill from when it first opened. I thought sure I had written Tiffany and said as much, but I don't see anything in my outbox, so maybe it's just something I had thought to do - she was destined for bigger and better things from the get-go, and I have no doubt that her already-successful career will continue to vault upward in future years.

I was in the mood for sugar this morning, and the fritter was just what I wanted (the other doughnut on offer was a maple-glazed yeast doughnut with bacon on top - please, God, hammer it into restaurateurs' heads that the tragic bacon-in-dessert failure-fad is mercifully coming to an end, and please inspire important restaurant groups such as NRG to take the lead in terminating this awful, disgusting use of two otherwise fine items). Anyway, I hadn't had much sugar in quite awhile now, and this blast of glazed joy was exactly what I wanted this morning; this fritter may be too sweet for some people, but it wasn't for me, at least not this morning - I had to pace myself not to finish it before finishing my coffee). It was a delicious fritter!

[jondagle]

Yeah, I agree with everything in the last two paras. But don't blame Ceremony for your Americano, blame Buzz. The original location has never been good -- or at least reliably good -- for espresso. [Was this beverage iced? Well, that would open up a whole other can of worms. Espresso and ice don't mix well (ref: infamous Nick Cho/Murky incident--Nick was completely correct about iced espresso, incidentally). But again, that's craftsman error. The Ballston location is much more on their game at the espresso machine, maybe because they never suffered through the Illy days?

Unfortunately, like a number of places, I like the "idea" of Buzz more than the reality. Their cupcakes have always been meh. However, I did get a big cake for a party there and it was great -- as are the pies I've had -- but many "basics" leave me scratching my head. And others miss the mark completely. They have wide variety of stuff in the case tho...

I'm not enamored with Ceremony, though they did great work on my espresso machine. The Armstrong empire uses Ceremony and I've had bad coffee at Eve.... Unlike some other roasters, they don't seem to monitor the use of their coffee, and it reflects a bit poorly.

And I would point out that CBS has been available in the area (even in NoVa) for at least 3-4 yrs, so it reached DC only 11 years post-Copenhagen That's 26% better than you gave credit!  

Any thoughts on Compass Coffee (Shaw)?

[DonRocks]

Was this be iced? Well, that would open up a whole other can of worms. Espresso and ice don't mix well (ref: infamous Nick Cho/Murky incident--Nick was completely correct about iced espresso, incidentally). 

Yes, actually, it was. I don't remember this discussion, but you can be sure that I'm going to try and find it now. Thanks for mentioning this, Jon.

[jondagle]

 

Yes, actually, it was. I don't remember this discussion, but you can be sure that I'm going to try and find it now. Thanks for mentioning this, Jon.

 

I'll save you the trouble...

"Coffee-Shop Threatens to 'Punch' Customer in his 'Dick'" by Ben Popken on consumerist.com

"Murky Coffee's Owner Reponds to 'Espresso-Over-Ice Kerfuffle" by Mark Frauenfelder on boingboing.net

"Espresso, Extra Bitter" by Joe Heim on washingtonpost.com

And this follow-on discussions over at CoffeeGeek.com:

"Murky Iced Espresso vs. Iced American Argument"

A brief quote from the a senior coffee geek:

 I think compromised espresso served over ice AS espresso is not something any quality driven shop would actually feel comfortable serving.

Completely right. The customer was an "executive" at Time Warner Cable. This might explain a great deal about cable "service" in the US, today....

[DonRocks]

I'll save you the trouble...

"Coffee-Shop Threatens to 'Punch' Customer in his 'Dick'" by Ben Popken on consumerist.com

"Murky Coffee's Owner Reponds to 'Espresso-Over-Ice Kerfuffle" by Mark Frauenfelder on boingboing.net

"Espresso, Extra Bitter" by Joe Heim on washingtonpost.com

And this follow-on discussions over at CoffeeGeek.com:

"Murky Iced Espresso vs. Iced American Argument"

A brief quote from the a senior coffee geek:

 I think compromised espresso served over ice AS espresso is not something any quality driven shop would actually feel comfortable serving.

Completely right. The customer was an "executive" at Time Warner Cable. This might explain a great deal about cable "service" in the US, today....

Great post, Jon, *great* post. I remember the arguments; I just didn't remember what they were arguing about. Stupid me for not having taken away the crux of the argument - I've now learned my lesson.

Thank you!

[DonRocks]

Buzz Bakery had opened a third location near The Yards in Oct, 2013, but Neighborhood Restaurant Group decided instead to use the space for an addition to their brewery, Bluejacket. These folks know what they're doing, so there's obviously more money in Booze than Buzz: