Aldo

[ned]

If you love a good espresso and you get anywhere near Greenport on the north fork of Long Island, you must stop in at Aldo's Too. Aldo roast his own beans, makes his own blends and is obsessed with extracting the perfect espresso for his customers. I was there yesterday. He spent five minutes composing an iced cappuccino for the person ahead of me in line, talking all the while about the whys, hows and wheretofores of the perfect iced cappuccino. . . nearly steered me off the espresso I'd been anticipating for the previous two hours. When asked about what type of bean and roast he prefers for espresso we were treated to a generous fifteen minute soliloquy. The essence of his message I think was that the barista must determine a specific set of variables: blend, roast, pack, pressure and temperature and work to create harmony within them. Each of the particulars matters less than the sum of the parts. Then he went on a jag about roasting.