What's On Our Counter Winter 2024
Words and Photos by Colin James Sturdevant
New Heights Coffee Roasters
There is plenty of great locally roasted coffee in Houston, but the majestic coffee from two-year-old New Heights Coffee Roasters has taken the top spot in my kitchen, while its just-opened retail shop has become my new go-to for creative coffee drinks. Owner Charlie McIntyre, who has been roasting coffee and mixing drinks for six years, and his team are bringing a new level of innovation to the craft from bean to drink. At home, I’m making my pour-overs with their La Nueva Montana from Fraijanes, Guatemala, with bursts of raspberry, plum and raw honey. It is one of several well-crafted roasts they offer, including an exceptional decaf, which is hard to find in Houston. Theirs, especially in an iced latte, hits like creamy dark chocolate.
At their shop in the Asch Building at 825 Studewood Street in the Heights, the team brings the inventiveness and dedication to seasonal coffee drinks that bars such as Anvil brought to cocktails. Try The Chantilly, cold brew topped with a medium-sweet whipped cream infused with cognac and a few flakes of black sea salt. It’s best to blend in the cream until the drink becomes uniformly beige — you’ll get hints of the fruity whipped cream balanced by the sharp notes from the coffee that remind of toast and buttery cream. It won’t disappoint. To learn more, visit @newheightscoffeeroasters on Instagram.
La Roja; The Red One
I’ve never encountered a bad taco, though I am sure they exist. However, I have tasted boring salsas. La Roja is not one of those. The bottle is what first caught my eye but more importantly, its taste set my heart and palate afire in a saintly blaze. It’s now my number one salsa. You, like me, may have seen this bottle of salsa at Antidote, a coffee house located at 729 Studewood Street. There’s a reason. Pedro O. Perez, the artisan behind this red salsa, is also the chef and
proprietor of Delicias Maya, the taco truck parked at Antidote Wednesday through Friday. I don’t know what goes in his small-batch salsa, but it makes me think of cream, chilis, salt, garlic and vinegar. Its sibling green salsa is also fabulous. I hear you can buy it directly from Delicias Maya when it’s at Antidote or Blackhole, its sister coffee shop in Montrose.
I can feel the decades of kitchen sorcery behind each bottle. Perez has worked in the restaurant industry for over 30 years and his breakfast tacos are a win-win if you happen to find his team slinging them. When I’m at home, I like to make quesadillas with Monterey jack cheese and flour tortillas that I top with eggs. Then bam! That bottle of red magic, La Roja, rains its savory sweet heat and makes my breakfast pop. I think they’ll make great stocking stuffers for the upcoming holiday season or a nice small gift for yourself. To keep up with Perez and his crew, follow them @deliciasmaya1 on Instagram.
Olokoi!
One Saturday morning, I was making my rounds at the Memorial Villages Farmers Market in the August heat. Morning heat, but heat, nonetheless. I was looking for my friend LeeAnne Beckham Carlson, a fellow poet and writer, a goat farmer and cheesemaker at Swede Farm Dairy, and the market’s manager. When I found LeeAnne, I was turned toward a stall where owner and artisan Julie Funderburk, whose mother is from the Pacific island nation of Palau, was selling intriguing bottles labeled Olokoi.
What I thought was a traditional soy sauce turned out to be an umami-rich sauce married with citrus and spices. The salinity falls away at the first taste, and the notes of mature fruits and spices bloom, creating the perfect duet for various applications from dumpling dipping to enhancing a stew or soup. You’ll want to add this well-balanced sauce, inspired by Funderburk’s mom, to your kitchen arsenal. You can find the regular and spicy versions at Memorial Villages Farmers Market located at 10840 Beinhorn Road every Saturday or you can order it at olokoi.com.
