(SpoCOOL) A Spokane Blog

Yes, we're still eating wings. We've just had to move a bit outside of our comfort zone. All the way to Ellensburg.

Here you can find Wing Central, with its reputation as sort of a Mecca for hot wings. Their more famous restaurant can be found in the U District in Seattle, though we hit one of their satellite locations, inside Road House Grill. (Mind you, they also have an honest to god Ellensburg restaurant.)

And, you know, I get it. I understand why the wings are popular. These are particularly spicy, and I'm only talking those with medium heat here. Wings like this are the type that can bring out the competitor in the best of us, and I can  completely see why their timed challenge is tempting.

The wings are also crunchy, and easily passed my bite test. Good. You don't want soggy wings.

Where Wing Central falls somewhat flat is on the flavor. Spicy as the wings may be, they're not particularly tasty. The sauce is somewhat generic, kind of like a better version of Frank's. That's all well and good, but not particularly exciting. Granted, we did not try the garlic wings, which apparently are better, but a wing place should have their basic flavors down better than this.

In that sense, Wing Central might score well with spice freaks. But as far as those of us who want a bit extra? I'm not so sure.

Wing Central is worth the stop, we won't be racing to get there again.

Small as Olympia is, they sure seem to have that whole food and libation thing down there. Sage's is a good example. And if you like coffee, you probably should check out Olympia Coffee Roasting Company.

Really, we don't toss out "world class" hyperboles here too often, but that's exactly what you get at Olympia Coffee. The only spot with better cappuccinos we can think of is Tim Wendelboe. With the airplane prices being what they are right now, going to Olympia is probably your better, or at least cheaper, bet.

The coffee bar is located in a small portion of a building that also houses the roaster. A glass of sparkling water accompanies whatever coffee drink you choose, and the cups and glasses come served on a wooden tray. Classy stuff.

Now, the cappuccino is a fickle friend. Getting the coffee to milk ratio properly down is more of an art form than many realize, and too often the milk is there just to drown out poorly pulled espresso shots. Here they got it right, the coffee, the milk, and the foam, each one flanking the others perfectly. It's that holy balance that makes a cappuccino great, where each part is equal, yet they mix together to create something greater.

The employees are clearly coffee nerds, but they're also friendly coffee nerds which is... Well, frankly, almost unheard of.

Olympia Coffee Roasting Company is a destination, a spot any lover of coffee should stop by. We haven't visited every coffee destination in the Northwest, but this is our favorite, at least for now.

Let's talk No-Li for a bit, because, really, not doing so would just be silly.

The name is different -- and after a bit of agonizing over this, we do feel "No-Li" rolls better off the tongue than "Northern Lights" -- but the beer is largely the same. That's not a bad thing; we'd kind of forgotten about the brewery, which... Hey, we all make mistakes. It's all good when a new name and brand can bring us back.

This pale, now called Silent Treatment, is quite decent. A bit hoppy, possibly, but the malts still shine through, making it a very refreshing ale.

Name changes aside, what makes No-Li exciting, to us, is the re-branding. The new labels are beautifully designed, and, equally important, show off beer information in a clean, concice way. These are the types of labels that pop from the shelves, and a testament to how simple designs can be so much more complex than what first meets the eye.

That might seem secondary, or even minor, to some, but it shouldn't be. Too often we see branding ranging from uninspired to vaguely grotesque (Wild Dawgs is luckily changing its logo soon, though no word if the "Dawgs" part is going anywhere) in this town. No-Li's re-branding is classy and original. That kind of care, in tandem with the good beer, will keep us going back to their products.

But we were talking about Silent Treatment, weren't we? Yes, it's a great ale for the summer. I've always been more of a Crystal Bitter kind of guy, personally, but I could see coming back to this one at a somewhat regular basis.

No-Li is looking at expanding its distribution. It will remain to be seen if they are the ones who will put Spokane on the map, but we'd be just OK with it, if that turns out to be the case.

Most any Ethiopian coffee is known to have a fruity flavor, which might be the reason why some of us enjoy drinking it during the warmer months of the year. You know, fruit. Warmth. Hey, makes sense to me.

DOMA's Ethiopia Sidamo -- Sidamo being the province in Ethiopia where this single origin comes from -- is what one might call bold. I'm sure you could call it many other things too, but as full-bodied as this is, I think "bold" kinda fits. There's a lot going on here, and you'd almost think the beans had been injected with blueberry juice. Really, just give them a whiff and it's hard not to notice the scent of blueberries.

That berry flavor makes this very drinkable, particularly when paired with the more citric notes toward the end, with strong hints of lemon. Very refreshing, and flanked by some mild spices too, kind of just to keep you on your toes. 

(I probably should add something about the currant-like flavors, too, but really, it seems to me that all good coffee has some hints of currants. I think we're at a point where we can just agree that coffee and currants share certain similarities. It's time.)

This Sidamo truly is bold and smooth. This is the type of coffee people should gather around, to hug things out.

Consider this one of our favorites over the past few months.