 I jumped in the car on Wednesday and headed to Mustang, Oklahoma for - what else - espresso. I did grow up in Oklahoma but Mustang was not a place I spent much time. It is about 15 minutes from Oklahoma City and, that I know of, not known for coffee and espresso. But, I have to try it all, right?
I have been reading online (here is a review done on BlogCritics.com) and in a few publications about a shop owned by a guy named Charles - rightfully named Charlie Bean. They have a nice site and it seemed like a cool place to try - and heck, who wouldn't want to take a quick drive out to Mustang? Here is a bit from the BlogCritics Review:Ten-year Mustang resident Charles Mangus and his wife Linda teamed up with their partners, Greg and Linda Kersh, to open the first coffee house in Mustang on February 13th. Upon entering you are surrounded by the earthy aroma of roasted coffee and jazzy tunes in the background. Charlie Bean sports seating for 65 patrons, an in-house coffee roaster, a forty-inch flat-screen TV hanging above a fireplace surrounded by cozy leather armchairs, and free wireless Internet with purchase.
I asked Charles what made him want to open a coffee house and he replied, "I started roasting my own coffee years ago and just have a love for coffee."
On any given day there are eight to ten employees working behind the counter serving up various offerings from their one-hundred-item menu including bagels, yogurt, and even soups and salads for lunch. On the shelves are the traditional offerings of grinders, syrups, teas, whole bean and flavored coffees, and even caffeine-laden lip balm I had heard they have a lot of wholesale business and that they are cleaning house on the coffee market in this part of the state. I was anxious to finally find their location (425 West Highway 152 in Mustang) and have a cup.
I got there and found much of what the writer above described. The singage in front looked professional and elegant and the building was new and looked fantastic. They do have a few couchy areas to hang out in and nice tables to sit and work on your computer, read, or eat. You do have to pay for internet but that is somewhat normal I guess. They also have a nice large room in the back of their place that is opened for use or can be rented for private parties.
Their coffee roaster adds alot to the look of the place. While the pictures on their site show a clean and elegant area around the roaster, it was a bit cluttered when we arrived. I will just say it was because it was 2 in the afternoon and they were just coming off the lunch rush and had not gotten around to getting it cleaned up. They do have a large food menu which would probably mean they get hammered on the lunch hour.
A few other things I took down while there were that they use Nuova Simonelli espresso machines, Mazzer grinders, a drive through lane/window, and a lot of retail - coffee and tea, coffee and tea supplies, candies, and more. They had two baristas on duty when we arrived. They were wearing - yes, green aprons! The photos on their site show them (and the author above mentions it in his review) wearing black aprons with Charlie Bean shirts. That would be much better. Green aprons?? I know this is a trivial remark but I think green aprons have a home - that is just my opinion. Their back bar was cluttered with supplies and mixes, a soda fountain, and other stuff just sitting around. They also have such a huge menu and so many options it was hard to look at and find really what I wanted.
I ordered an espresso macchiato and after being asked what size I wanted, I headed off to a table to wait for my drink. A barista took care of me and served it in a nice demitasse cup with saucer. I got back to my table and began to evaluate my drink. I first saw that there were large coffee stains on my cup! While I am going to assume it happened when she was extracting the espresso, my mind kept going back to the fact that this cup was dirty!
They make it in the classic scoop fashion which was a nice change from others I have had - while I do not normally have a preference. The milk was not on the velvety side but rather pretty rough in texture. The crema was thin and dark - maybe a characteristic of the blend? I do not know much about their coffee - yet. While it smiled of cocoa, it polished very stale and bitter - shooting directly to the front of my mouth.
I need to head back there and get the low down on their coffee roasting profiles, talk with their barista, see them pull a shot, and try something again to really get an idea of my impressions but my first impression of the cafe was good on a design level and not so good on a coffee level.
I know they are pushing quite a bit of coffee so I am interested in learning more about their wholesale stuff and really what they are all about.
...be bold
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