Cafe June - Ellicott City, MD

  A Coffee Maven Review

Today I found myself in the midst of my old haunts just west of Baltimore with two coffee-related goals. I needed a place to do some online work while the housekeeping folks tended to our hotel room; I also needed some good coffee to brew in that room for the remaining days of our stay. We had been here long enough for us to use the pound I had roasted before our trip.

For many years, I would have known what to do: the historic downtown was home to a cozy cafe that was also an excellent roaster. I discovered it before I even started this blog, and wrote about Bean Hollow on the web page that was its precursor. I have written extensively about the flash floods that ultimately led to the demise of that cafe. 

Which brings me today -- out and about in Ellicott City in search of coffee bliss. And I found it in a very unassuming strip mall far from the center. Cafe June is doing many things well -- friendly knowledgeable baristas, a floor plan that is both open and welcoming while providing ample seating for those here with a friend and those here with a laptop. 

Having just had a big breakfast at a diner where I was not willing to try the coffee, I asked only for coffee, and was glad to learn that a pour-over was available.  The Guji is what is fueling this blog post and a bit of writing I just did for my students. Its presentation was as delicious as the cup -- with a clever jukebox motif on the information card about today's blend.

The Ethiopia Guji from Pike Roastery is very delicious and somewhat unusual -- it is an heirloom variety from Ethiopia, but it was prepared with a washed (wet) process more common in Latin America. This brought forth some very smooth, light flavors instead of the earthy fruitiness for which Ethiopian natural-process coffees are known.