Update: May 2024 – Revolution Roaster is no longer inside Cafe Ipe – now called Coffee Coffee. They have their own store in Oceanside, CA. I will leave the below review in place because it is about the coffee, but you should note that Coffee Coffee has really gone down hill. I no longer recommend this cafe. The barristas don’t give two shits about the coffee they are brewing. The espresso machine is a mess, shots run like a leaky faucet, and taste worse.

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After hearing about the “revolution” going on inside Cafe Ipe in North County San Diego, I finally stopped by to sample the results. The shot I had wasn’t perfect, but it was close. It was food enough to understand the quality of the beans being used. The barrista was happy to share that he was dosing 18 to 20 grams for the shot, and it was thick and yummy. The blend they use in their shots is what they call Smooth Operator and is roasted on site by Revolution Roasters. It is damn good, and the bag I bought was roasted the day before. When I got it home, in had to make a minor adjustment to my grinder, but the first shot I pulled from my Delonghi EC155 was so freaking good! The crema was thick, golden and sweet. I love the fact that this is roasted essentially right down the road from my house and it’s all the buzzwords you want… Fair trade, etc.

A few weeks later I stopped by while they were roasting and talked with Dan, the owner for at least and hour. He was happy to share tons of info on his roasts and reasoning for his roasts. Since then, I’ve tried 1 other roast, Surfing Madonna’s Elixir. It wasn’t as good as Smooth Operator for espresso, but it was still very good.

Coffee Coffee – 970 N Coast Highway 101, Encinitas, CA 92024 – (760) 436-2233

Revolution Roasters – 1836 S Coast Hwy, Oceanside, CA 92054