Pachamama Cafe

Pachamama Coffee Cooperative opened the Pachamama Cafe inside the Davis Food Co-op on G St. It serves coffee grown by Pachamama co-op farmers and roasted in Sebastopol by Pachamama.

They sell self-serve drip coffee, Custom Drip Brew, espresso drinks, cold brewed coffee, and an array of iced and hot tea.

They use 100% organic ingredients, and as many as possible come from companies that give back to the farmers (keeping with the spirit of Pachamama).

the Custom Drip Brew coffee being brewed

The Cafe opened in August 2008 and is still developing the small space it leases from the Food Co-op, but it looks nice now and serves very high quality coffee and tea that can be enjoyed while shopping or sitting outside at the Co-op's shaded patio where Wi-Fi is available.

They also have a stand at the Saturday Farmers Market where you can order most of their drinks except espresso drinks. Cans of coffee beans cost $10 a pound, or bring your empty Pachamama cans to be refilled for only $6 per pound.

2008-09-22 09:50:03   I will be checking this place out and will report back. La Marzocco and drip bar? Interest has been piqued. —CoffeeSnobDavis

2008-09-22 10:11:01   Drip bar was looking pretty proper last time I was peeping scene at the co-op, but I no nothing about coffee so I look forward to hearing what you have to say! —StevenDaubert

2008-09-22 18:41:47   This is my new favorite for coffee locally. The custom drip is fantastic. Only small complaint is that once it's all in the cup, it's not as hot as it should be. I think it might be that if they aren't serving a lot of customers when you go in, the ceramic filters are cold and absorb a lot of the heat form the water. Or maybe it's the distance the stream of coffee falls through the air cools it off a bit. Seems like if you heat the filter and set the cup right under the filter it wouldn't cool as much. —MatthewPearson

2008-09-23 14:06:05   I work at Pachamama. CoffeeSnob, you should let me know it's you when you come in so we can talk coffee and you can give me some suggestions for improvement (like what MatthewPearson did here. thank you MatthewPearson, I had been wondering how to keep the drip hotter and I hadn't thought of heating the ceramic. I'll definitely look into the best way to do that.) I would really like to serve the best drinks orderable in town, so any help is appreciated. —KernHaug

2008-10-23 11:06:25   Hey Kern, what do you look like? I'll look for you when I visit.

Sorry I haven't updated my impressions. Until I've thoroughly sampled the coffee in secret shopper fashion at least as much as I have with the other cafes in town, I won't be giving my opinion. Since the Co-Op is so far from my house, I have to go out of my way to visit.

Initial impressions: - Barista seemed actually interested in making the espresso. - Milk was steamed better than any other cafe in Davis, not quite microfoamy though. - Proportions on the cappuccino were off, more like a latte. - Espresso did not come through the milk, may be because of proportions or may be because of the espresso. Espresso was not on the menu (this was before they had the bigger menu). —CoffeeSnobDavis

2008-10-25 23:20:50   I'm currently the only male employee. And my headband (as required by the deli) is a tie. And man, yeah, steaming/foaming milk well while getting good cappuccino proportions is tough. I had it down pretty well on my home machine, but definitely have to practice at work (which is tough because not many cappuccinos are ordered). Thanks for the feedback. —KernHaug

2009-01-25 00:27:21   I haven't had many chances to get a drink from your hands, Kern, but I have had many from your co-workers. I'm afraid the overall verdict is not good :(

How do you guys get trained? Any required reading, like Professional Barista's Handbook by Scott Rao or Espresso Coffee: Professional Techniques by David Schomer? Road trips to Temple Cafe or Old Soul Co in Sacramento? I saw your suggestion box and it looks like you guys are making an effort to improve.

^{Here are my suggestions, I'm too lazy to write it on paper. —CoffeeSnobDavis}

2009-06-06 13:43:39   Holy shcamoly their iced coffee is like liquid crack. Not only does it taste amazing, but it'll make you bounce off the walls for hours. —TJJ