Caffe Vita on Alberta

Caffe Vita is originally a Seattle roaster and has about nine locations, including one in New York City.  They recently opened this shop in an old storefront at 2909 NE Alberta Street.  The shop has a beautiful stainless steel Synesso espresso machine (Synesso is also a Seattle company) and a Probat roaster.  There's not much else in the shop, other than big sacks of unroasted beans and a few inexpensive chairs and tables.  I like their priorities.

You may see the full manufacturing side of the business if you come here during the morning, from roasting to weighing and putting the finished beans in sacks labeled for delivery to accounts all over town.  Below is the roaster, dominating the middle of the room and ready to be put to work.

All of the roasts I have tried from this place are impressive (a  bag of yirgacheffe that went way too fast is particularly memorable).  The espresso shots are well made.  The staff doesn't go out of its way to be friendly, but sometimes that's just what one wants: caffeine and privacy.  Here's their espresso service setup, in a photo taken during a sun break on a soggy fall day.