Houndstooth has lightened up its act.
This was probably a commercially wise gesture,
But the old Houndstooth is still there if you dig around a bit.
* * *
When Houndstooth was first founded,
It wanted to be the sommelier of sommeliers of high-form espresso.
Sitting on your computer working was discouraged.
Lattes and mixed coffee beverages were available,
But if you bought one,
The barista acted as if she had just sold her soul to Starbucks.
There were vast amounts of information about each coffee bean.
The counter staff was prepared to talk about coffee subtleties with you with all of the enthusiasm and loquaciousness of a cheese sommelier at Antonelli's.
* * *
All that is gone now.
Houndstooth is filled to the gills with people working on their computers.
The modal drink is lattes.
The place was full, but I was the only guy drinking an espresso.
Questions asked about coffee received terse and not altogether enlightening answers.
* * *
That said, someone in management is trying to keep the artisanal espresso tradition alive.
The espresso I ordered (their Vixen blend) was an unusual and complex coffee.
I like my espresso bitter - which sets me apart from most high coffee fashionistas.
But I could appreciate that the coffee I was drinking was complicated with a foretaste and aftertaste that were different from each other.
One element was floral and one element was something else I could not give a name to.
Their old espresso drinking classes would have been useful here for giving me a working conceptual scheme.
* * *
That said, making lattes and letting people work on their computers is a very high margin business.
Changing their business model is probably the number one reason why
a) Houndstooth is still alive today and
b) Houndstooth is adding location after location.
There were lots and lots of happy latte drinkers in the house.
One of them was not my wife.
She hated her croissant and was indifferent to her soy latte.
But if there had been an election on rating the lattes in the cafe, she would have probably lost.
* * *
I think this is an interesting espresso house - especially for North Central Austin where many of the famous coffee houses serve utterly indifferent espresso.
I have not found my mad true love espresso at Houndstooth yet.
I may never find it.
Some "gourmet" coffee houses aspire to an espresso that is very light - a drink that is almost like water.
This to me is a pointless exercise, and I will not rule out some sensibilities of that nature at Houndstooth.
I have found great espresso in various coffee houses on Austin's new Eastside.
Plus, if you are ever lucky enough to get to London,
Go to the neighborhood called Crouch End.
They have about twenty coffee shops in a six block range.
Three quarters of them make espresso that is to die for.
However, I suspect my one true espresso is hiding somewhere at Houndstooth.
The question is, how to find it, while avoiding useless ultralight espresso. read more