Coffee Culture (Old Town) and Inka’fe (Bay Park)

Just a couple of caffeine fixes for today.

Inka'fe (Bay Park):

Back in January, I noticed that Inka'fe was replacing Humble Bean in the little building on the corner of Denver and Ingulf Streets. The shop didn't seem open yet, but on JJ's last grooming visit, we passed the shop and it was open! We needed to kill some time and wait for "J", so we decided to head on over to check things out.

It's a small shop, but there are quite a few coffee based drinks and Peruvian specialties on offer. I had read that Inka'fe is a woman owned business that specializes in organic beans harvested from Peru. There's also Inca Kola and even Lucuma Ice Cream on offer.

There are basically three different roasts that are rotated for the basic coffee drinks. On this day, it was the "City Roast". The Missus got a latte, which She thought was quite smooth, almost too smooth, and mild in flavor. I got a Cold Brew, which also did not seem especially strong.

It was quite easy to drink and seemed to be a bit lighter.

The young lady working was a joy. I need to return when things warm up and get some Lucuma Ice Cream and maybe an Inca Kola.

Inka'fe
2615 Denver St.
San Diego, CA 92110
Current Hours:
Mon – Fri 7am – 4pm
Sat – Sun 8am – 4pm

Coffee Culture (Old Town):

I like to take JJ over to Old Town for a walk during the off season, when things are quiet in the mornings. On this Sunday morning, I skipped my usual coffee routine and we just headed on over to Old Town. I had thoughts of grabbing a cup at Garden Coffee, but I had forgotten that they open at 9….it was just past 8. And then I saw this.

Ah, yes…..I remembered seeing the sign for Coffee Culture replacing Hola Paris in the Urban Market back in December. I guess they had opened? I walked on over and yes indeed, they were open. 

Man, dig the art work! The young man working; I believe his name is Santiago was really friendly. We even had a chat about places in Mexico. On this day, the coffee featured was Guatemalan, so I got an Americano. I also saw that they have croissants, so I decided to take a chance….there's no bakery on sight, and they didn't have one on display, but I was told they had them. So, I got one of those as well.

The Americano was very earthy, though not bitter and lacking the sweet-acidity I enjoy….it was pretty stiff though and woke me up.

This was a decent cup.

Santiago was nice enough to heat up the Butter Croissant for me, but when he handed it to me, I knew it was basically mass produced stuff.

Very dry, not too crisp-flaky, lacking in salt and butter, the interior doughy……I'll just leave it at that.

Oh well, I'll come back and get a cup again though. The young man was so nice. On this day, JJ was just wanting to "get on with things".

Can you see he's telling me "daddy…hurry up?"

I hope they do well here. The Urban Market seems to have a pretty high rate of turnover. I'm thinking the lease rate must be pretty high.

Coffee Culture
2548 Congress St.
San Diego, CA 92110
Current Hours:
Mon – Tues 9am – 5pm
Wed – Sun 8am – 6pm