Cafe Valverde Coffee Roasters opens

Cafe Valverde Coffee Roasters
196 Essex St
Salem MA 01970

How about a hot cup of Joe?

Cafe Valverde opened today in what was formerly Fuel, on Essex Street. This is the first retail location for Nelson and Eleni, online coffee importers from the North Shore who focus on beans from Bolivia, Costa Rica, Brazil, Guatemala for all you coffee aficionados.

Cafe Valverde in Salem

We drink a fair amount of coffee around here and as you know Salem has some great offerings.  We decided to drop by and get a feel for the newest cafe in Salem.

The decor was simple modern coffee shop and the counters, floors and seating was clean comfortable. The earthen floor tiles, golden yellow walls and huge windows gives this small space a warm and inviting feel.

Prices range from $1.49 for a simple 12oz. cup of coffee to $5ish for some of the espresso drinks. They also have a variety of bagels, pastry, brownies, and other assorted goodies.

Counter at Cafe Valverde

How was the coffee?

With six people behind the counter and me being the only customer I figured this would be a 30 second visit.  I asked the counter girl what she recommended I try and got the typically uninformed answer of “everything is good”.  I chose a caramel vanilla latte and a plain cup of coffee.  After a 10 minute wait I got my coffee and hit the road for my 5 minute walk back home.  I took a sip of my drink and promptly burned the taste buds off my tounge. My latte was a scalding 168 degrees! According to the National Coffee Association, this is the correct temperature range, but I can tell you it’s hotter than anyone around town serves it so be careful.

Caution hot coffee

I usually reserve my palette for fine Scotch and rich chocolates, but the overall thought is that the coffees we tasted were a bit thin and, although clean, they left a slightly bitter earthy aftertaste.

If you are a real coffee snob, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Also, knowing that it takes a while for most restaurants/shops to work the kinks out after their initial opening we will return later.