CoffeeBeer >> Double Shot Buzz >> White Raven
On our Central California Coast excursion last spring, my friend Mistah Rick and I drove from the coast up into the Santa Cruz Mountains to Ben Lomond to visit our mutual friend, Vicky. She was at her second home which she’s gradually remodelling. Sadly, because she was self-isolating due to having been exposed to Covid, we couldn’t stay long, as we had intended to spend the night. So after a short visit from a distance, we took off and headed down into Felton for lunch.
The town of Felton started life back in 1874 as a logging community. Four years later it was incorporated as the Town of Felton, but that only lasted a few decades, because in 1917 it was disincorporated. Although that term sounds a bit strange, it simply means that it has no town council or elected officials at the town level. To be honest, the first two years of my own life were as a resident of an unincorporated part of Los Angeles County, and I certainly didn’t suffer as a result.
Today Felton still has a population of less than 5,000. The great thing about this town -- sorry, place -- is that it’s only eight miles from the ocean, and it’s just minutes away from the Redwoods. And if one happens to visit, the Roaring Camp and Big Trees narrow-gauge railroad is just a little over a mile away, and a ride on that sounds like a pretty cool way to see the big trees. For those interested in more modern history, back in the 1960s Jerry Garcia and Janis Joplin both lived in nearby Lompico.
When we reached Felton, we pulled in and parked by the pub we intended to visit for lunch after we’d had some coffee. Conveniently, just across the highway, was The White Raven, which seemed like a perfect choice.
Inside, we found ourselves in a fun little cave of a place, with local artists goods and coffee supplies for sale, along with gift cards and incense. Thankfully they also sell espresso drinks, along with soups, bagels, and locally made pastries. Rick and I both ordered double macchiatos which were served in paper cups, so we took them out back to the pleasant shaded patio.
As we sat and chatted and enjoyed the morning, I quickly realised that our macchiatos were excellent. In fact, this was the best macchiato I’d had in ages, considering my earlier “coffee” of the day, most of which I’d had to throw out because that eight-ounce cup of hot milk possessed only the vaguest suggestion of coffee. So the fact that this barista here in Felton truly knew what she was doing made me extremely happy. Our drinks tasted just right: the coffee was robust but not too bitter, and it was just a total pleasure. So did this mean that I would now have to move across the Atlantic Ocean and the entire country to live in Felton, California?
The White Raven uses Peerless coffee and teas from Oakland. The cafe is also the home of Larry’s Famous Chai, which is brewed fresh all day, for those who fancy something noncaffeinated.
When we finished our macchiatos we walked back inside, through the back room where a guitar and ukulele perched waiting to be played. From the jewellery rack in the front room I spotted a pair of wooden Sasquatch earrings that I absolutely had to buy. I reasoned that they would take up very little room in my suitcase. (I learned later that we could have also visited the Bigfoot Discovery Museum, less than a mile down the road.)
Speaking of strange creatures reminds me of a very short and recent Messenger conversation with my Bay Area Friend:
Your comment [about cataracts] leaves me wondering: can a cat contract a cataract? Can you eat panna cotta and drink pina colada, then compose a cantata for a catatonic cat with a cataract? Certainly, especially if it's a Catalonian cat catastrophically careening around Catalina Island in a catamaran with a catalytic converter. Ooh! For the rest of the day I'll be trying to scramble this all into one grand palindrome.Related Links