The one place that I know that takes care in how the process works is Jay's Shave Ice in Timonium, MD. It's a hike but it's well worth it. They carry beans from Kona and are mainly a hawaiian specialty store but their espresso is to die for. They are so serious about how their espresso is made they actually compete nationwide in barista competitions.

To be honest, Starbucks back in the day used to be really good in terms of having barista's trained to do espresso well. Now since they have switched over to automatic machines for their grinders and porter filters, their quality has sucked ass. It's more about mass production as opposed to quality. Their barista's can't even froth milk correctly. It's sad. But I guess when you're raking in billions, you gotta be doing something right. Their gimmick of getting people to like their coffee/espresso at a young age has them going for years. Too bad many people won't ever understand how it is to have great coffee/espresso as opposed to just decent because of this.

 

nah.. the military food still needs to be heated up manually i believe...

 

I hear you on the espresso quality. I may just have to make a trip up there to get some good espresso. Straight espresso, maybe with some small amount of sugar, is how I like my coffee.

I was totally spoiled in Italy - EVERY place we went had awesome smooth, creamy espresso that didn't give you the jitters or set your stomach on overdrive.

Java Shack in Arlington has some pretty decent coffee most of the time... if only I still lived down there...

 

i live near timonium, i'll have to check it out. not sure where it's located exactly though

 

Jay's Shave Ice
2046 York Road
Timonium, MD 21093

It's right next to a big ass jewelry store on York Road. It looks like a small house.