Happy Birthday B-Java

Visited: 15/04/07

I would like to congratulate B-Java (5510 Lafayette Rd. Indianapolis) on their first birthday. BJ, the owner of the shop, recently celebrated a successful first year of her coffee shop.

I never reviewed this café because it didn’t fit into my "Purdue Run" and unfortunately B-Java is the ONLY quality espresso bar in Indianapolis, so by me visiting it, wasn’t much of a run to compare it with any other place. I was absolutely amazed by quality of espresso that BJ was producing.

BJ has been around the coffee industry for a long time, she is also a certified SCAA judge and has judged barista competitions at Chicago coffee festival. BJ has a very high quality work ethic and is passionate about what she does. You can sense real warmth inside B-Java. She has very regular and loyal customers, even Matt Riddles parents go to B-Java to get their coffee and that says a whole lot, haha despite them being good friends. There is a starbucks on the same shopping lot but it’s no competition for B-Java, if anything it attracts more customers that taste the difference.

BJ has a really nice setup inside the shop; 2 group WEGA along side a bunch of mazzer grinders. She is also running naked portafiltes. I’ve worked with few WEGA machines back in the day and must say that if you know how to use it properly you can pull really nice shots and that’s exactly what BJ does day in and day out!

The coffee is roasted in Indianapolis so it is always fresh, from what BJ told me it peaks around 7 day mark. She is using a blend called Café Vera, which is a well-balanced, full-bodied blend. From memory my espresso was very rich and smelt coco and milk chocolate. The taste was more of toasty nuts with light berry acidity right at the end. I thoroughly enjoyed it and can definitely say that it was the best espresso I have had in Indiana.

Once again I wish B-Java a Happy Birthday and lots of success in the future. When you are in Indianapolis B-Java is on your “must to go to” list.