That's why we decided to taste test mochas in independent coffee houses throughout Columbus, Ohio, to see which are mediocre and which are miraculous. Hopefully, we won't gain several pounds and spend hundreds of dollars. So here are the rules that we're following.
The coffeehouse needs to be independent, not part of a chain, so forget about Starbucks, Caribou Coffee, Cup o' Joe.
Paulita will order a medium decaf mocha at every coffee house. If the barista asks, she'll turn down whipped cream. Otherwise, she'll take the mocha as it is made.
When Grace comes along, she'll order a specialty drink and we'll judge that as well.
The criteria by which we'll grade the coffeehouse and the mocha are the taste of the mocha (both chocolate and espresso), the ambience of the coffeehouse and the service of the barista. Plus an overall rating. The rating system will be 1 to 4 beans with 4 being miraculous. We'll rate each qualification by bean before giving it an overall bean rating.
We hope you'll send along suggestions of coffeehouses we should try and let us know if you agree or disagree with our reviews.
Maybe we can visit every independent coffeehouse in the Columbus area in 2013.
Challenge accepted.
Cheers!
