Avoca – Fort Worth – Really Good Coffee

Avoca Fort Worth

On our Round Trip Coffee Florida to Texas road trip, we had the good fortune to discover a coffee gem in Fort Worth, Texas: Avoca Coffee Roasters.

When the early–20-something barista refused to provide a doppio espresso to go, my first inclination was to reach over the counter and shake this young man vigorously. We had already been excursing for several hours. It was getting late and we were in a hurry not to miss the rest of our opportunity (together with the boys) to look around Fort Worth, Texas.

It was long past time for espresso.

And with no prior experience with this shop, coffee quality was still a question-mark. To deny my request for a doppio-to-go activated my inner coffee-tiger and almost let him out of the cage.

Fortunately for the young barista, wiser minds prevailed.

First, my wife gently admonished me for reacting that way by quietly reminding me that he was right.

Second, the young man held his ground, unshaken by my obvious irritation.

This got my attention.

As I listened to his clear and well constructed reminder of proper straight shot etiquette, my inner ready-to-pounce-demeanor subsided.

He was adamant in a gently commanding manner…

“A properly extracted espresso,” he explained, “only lasts for a short period of time. And it should never poured into a paper cup.

(except when I want to take it with me and drink it on the way out the door, I thought)

It should,” he continued, “always be served in a pre-heated ceramic cup. The beauty of the crema and the Avoca espresso experience that we strive so hard to create for our customers gets lost in the translation otherwise. I am instructed by the owner never to serve straight espresso in a to-go cup. If you would like a doppio, I will be happy to serve it for you in a ceramic mug.”

“Ok,” I grumbled, still not yet convinced this coffee was worth my time anyway.

But he did have a point.

My wife smiled.

Anywhere we travel, we seek out new coffee locations to explore. We sample espresso and coffee extensively. More often than not, we end up rating “new shops” poorly. Over time,  an unconscious default expectation of poor quality – until proven otherwise – is the result.

SURPRISE !!! We were both pleasantly astonished at the rich, full bodied espresso we tasted, carefully prepared by the hands of this young espresso evangelist.

We both had mini-espresso-flavor-celebrations: little parties in our mouths. When this happens, it almost always rights whatever wrong has taken place up to that point in the day. And in this case, it did just that.

This is relatively rare at an unfamiliar location.

Leading Up To Avoca…

For several days prior to our arrival in Fort Worth, our coffee experience was not what we had anticipated.

In all fairness, travel fatigue played a role, as well as weather and time limitations.

It started with treacherous road conditions on Highway 10 – all the way from Mississippi to San Antonio. After a poor night’s sleep the night before, several hundred miles of highway construction magnified our weariness. So we missed most of our planned “San Antonio Exploration Day” and got in too late for coffee. Within walking range of our hotel, there was only a Starbucks and it was closed already.

Fortunately, we had the foresight to bring our own Keurig and water with us – just in case…

The following morning, after enjoying a few cups of Organic French Roast Beaniac in our hotel room, we burned up the clock and most of the day thoroughly enjoying the River Walk area and the sunshine. We both agreed a return trip was in order to properly explore San Antonio because we had only scratched the surface on this trip. Unfortunately, there were no espresso cafes in the area we stayed. So the San Antonio coffee world would have to wait.

We decided to head to Austin before dark. By the time we got there, it WAS dark and RAINING. We found a hotel we really liked, in an area we didn’t like at night. This had been the day designated for Austin Coffee Exploration. But sometimes schedules are like dominos; one change tips into another, etc… So effectively we were about a day and a half short of coffee exploration time.

Barrett Coffee…

We launched the next day hunting Austin coffee – kind of bleary-eyed from driving and pushing so hard. Team Barrett stumbled upon our namesake roasters: Barrett Coffee – and we were pretty excited to try coffee with our name on it. The owner was a very nice person and a really hard worker. Coffee was disappointing.

Our original Austin itinerary included a visit to Texas Coffee Traders because the owner had been part of Montana Coffee Traders in Whitefish – familiar to us for many years. Given our situation and the crummy weather that day, we decided to add Texas Coffee Roasters to our next trip to San Antonio.

After several hours of looking around Austin, we headed off to visit Waco and Magnolia. As fans of “Fixer Upper”, Magnolia had been a definite part of our Texas itinerary for several years. We got to town and decided to turn in early and get a good start in the morning.

We spent the whole day at Magnolia and loved the place.

Magnolia Press…

Magnolia Press had very smooth and high quality coffee. Beautiful venue, high volume, well organized and operationally excellent. The staff was friendly and you could tell they liked working there. Nice coffee shop.

That night we headed to Waxahachie to get some ‘r and r’ for a couple of days before we headed off to Fort Worth to explore.

At that point, we were ready for really good coffee at AVOCA, we just didn’t know it yet.

We found Avoca accidentally – following GPS directions to a taco place we had found on the Net.

“Hey, let’s stop there after we eat.”  And we did.

The Avoca Coffee Roasters experience is an exception.

Avoca quality was the kind of surprise that feels like a reward for doing something right in your life.

It’s nice to get that kind of re-assurance sometimes.

If you’re in that neck of the woods – even Dallas or Waxahachie – Avoca Coffee is worth the drive.