The Dripolator - Asheville's finest

So, being a coffee connoisseur (snob?) can be a burden more than a blessing. I can no longer handle the inadequacy of a 'quick' cup of coffee from some lesser company/roastery/coffee shop. No, it has to be Counter Culture, Stumptown, Gimme!, and it has to be done right (though it's pretty hard to mess up good beans, unless you just make really weak coffee). For that reason, I was very excited to discover the Dripolator.

When you walk into a good coffee shop, you can judge the quality of the place almost immediately. The smell of a fresh pot brewing, the striped down, no frills coffee menu (if you see 'frappucino' you're in the wrong place), and the respect the establishment shows to the company who provides their beans. In this case, the Dripolator serves Counter Culture coffee (no surprise, given the existence of a training center in downtown Asheville), and their appreciation for their beans is pretty obvious throughout the storefront.

Being an appreciator of good coffee means you probably have a thing for well made espresso drinks. I like to judge the quality of a place by their Cappuccino (double, of course. I ain't no light weight). Unfortunately, I failed to capture an image of their cappuccino, but suffice to say it was smooth, rich, and did justice to the company from whom they depend on their beans. And, being a good coffee shop, the barista art was definitely present in the milky-foam that topped my cappuccino.

Now, since we were in Asheville for more than one day, we just had to go back for another round. But this time, I decided to try something different: a Chai (pictured above, set to a background of a soon-to-be completely massacred slice of pie). I asked the waitress if it was house made. Check. I asked her opinion of it. She said, without hesitation, "We are pretty damn proud of our Chai." Well, hell, what choice did I have?

Of course, being a coffee fiend, i had to get The Dirty Chai, which includes two shots of espresso. Note: there was no article in front of the name on the menu, but I feel that its inclusion here emphasizes the singularity of this particular Chai. I can easily say that this is the best enhanced/dirty/red-eye/'whatever you want to call it' Chai I have had the pleasure of consuming. A nice hint of spice and a strong hit of espresso, neither of which was overpowering.

I suggest you try it, or just about anything else they have to offer.