Wanda S.
Yelp
I don't spend a lot of time south of Boston, but work brought me to the Lower Mills area and I felt like having a relaxing, cozy afternoon at a coffeeshop. In fact, it's one of my pastimes to visit new coffeeshops and see what they have going on. Unfortunately, as much as I wanted to like Flat Black - I did not. And I'm not sure if I would give it a second chance.
Firstly - this particular store is VERY messy - coffee bags laying everywhere. The woman working that day was an older woman who I'm sure is a lovely person, but she has NO CLUE what she is doing in terms of pulling espresso shots and making drinks with steamed milk. I've worked as a barista in independent 3rd wave coffee shops for several years and while I do my best not to be a snob, there are just some things that shouldn't be done.
I ordered a large "Peppermint Patty" latte form their "seasonal specials" list. Usually, I'd go with something more classic and coffee-like, but I felt like going a little decadent today. She started by dosing out the espresso grounds by just letting the grounds run into the portafilter while she fiddled with the syrups. The drink should have been a light pump of chocolate and mint - that's it. I could tell she was sifting through bottles, but I figured she was just looking for what she needed...meanwhile - the portafilter is OVERFLOWING with espresso grounds. When she finally turns back and shuts the grinder off (it was not set to automatic dosing) there is a MOUNTAIN of grounds everywhere. She doest settle the grounds at all, skips straight to grooming (briefly) tamps it down and then connects it to the espresso machine...she then prepares the milk while the espresso grounds are being exposed to heat in the machine (wrong move)...finally starts to pull the shot into DIRTY shot glasses...keeps steaming the milk which I try to be optimistic about since I can't see what's up yet...but then I notice after over A MINUTE that she STILL has not stopped pulling the shot. It had to have been at least a minute and a half and she looks like she's waiting for the shot glasses to fill up to the top to "know that it's done." If you don't know - a shot of espresso pulled properly should only be pulled for about 28ish seconds depending on other factors. So this shot is EXTREMELY over pulled which means the taste would be horrible - especially on its on.
At this point I'm so glad I didn't order a straight espresso shot - I'm thinking its fine because the sugary syrups I ordered will hide the espresso taste anyhow. She finally hands me the latte and the milk is also poorly steamed. Barely warm but with big airy foam on the top (unlike the silky, dense, air bubble free foam you'd expect as a thin layer on a latte).
She rings me up for practically $7 which I think it COMPLETELY ridiculous for a large latte, but oh well I say. That's what you get when you try a new place. So I sip into my latte and almost start laughing because OF COURSE, the flavors aren't even correct. There's freaking raspberry syrup in my drink...and like, *maybe* some mint and a small dose of chocolate? But 100% lots of raspberry...I can even see small red syrup dots on the top edge of my cup. And it is very, very sweet. I know I ordered sweetness - so I get that. But this is sweetness in a way I never wanted. I wanted mint and coco. That's it.
I decide to have a good laugh and make the most. I get up to use the bathroom and OF COURSE there. is. no. freaking. bathroom.
GOODBYE FLAT BLACK. I might go to another location to try your black coffee, but I won't be going out of my way anytime soon to do so. clean your store. train your baristas properly and put a toilet in the corner.