“Can I please put your macchiato in ceramic?”

That little sentence started it all. Matthew is, of course, a coffee expert, and he even used to run his own coffee business. Now, it’s rubbing off: I’m becoming a bit of a coffee aficionado myself. At first, I couldn’t tell the difference between the watered-down swill that comes out of the machine at work and Matthew’s French-pressed Costa-Rican fancy-schmancy super-roast. A few months later, I’m having heart palpitations over my mom’s instant coffee granules. This is a real moral challenge for me, since I’m already in danger of becoming a total snob.

So when Matthew ordered a macchiato at Caffe Intermezzo in Pittsburgh’s Strip District, and was greeted with the question above from owner Lucas Shaffer, I could tell right away that he was intrigued. After all, for most people a macchiato is a caramel-coated Starbucks confection, not a concentrated shot of espresso marked with a touch of foamed milk.

Lucas’ wife Alexis pulled the shot with care, grinding the beans, cutting and compressing the grounds by hand, inspecting the finished shot for quality and topping it with a tiny dab of milk foamed moments before. Matthew’s eyes sparkled.

Thirty-year-old Pittsburgh boomerangs Alexis and Lucas Shaffer have opened a real gem in their Strip District location, a tiny coffee bar that’s intimate, approachable and completely snob-free. Their menu is simple: a classic selection of hot and iced espresso drinks, drip coffee, gourmet teas and coffee-friendly nibbles.

Caffe Intermezzo serves Intelligentsia coffee, which Lucas proudly calls “the best coffee I’ve ever tasted.” Intelligentsia is a direct-trade coffee company that works with individual growers to find the best sustainably-grown coffee in the world. The company works equally with the coffee shops who sell its wares, providing training, education and assistance to ensure the best-possible espresso.

“Coffee’s just like wine, olive oil or cheese,” said Alexis. “You can get it just about anywhere, but some is definitely of higher quality. Our hope is to help people recognize when they’re getting a coffee that is truly spectacular.”

And whether you’re a coffee snob or you can’t tell really good coffee from crude oil, Caffe Intermezzo offers a punch-card that rewards you with a free drink after 10 visits. Don’t be surprised if Lucas and Alexis encourage you to try a new offering with your no-risk freebie—that’s one of their signature moves.

“We’ve had plenty of customers who just drink drip coffee or cappuccino or something else, because it’s what they know they like,” explains Alexis. “They don’t want to spend money on something they’re not sure they’ll like. The punch card program gives us the opportunity to educate people about coffee and expand their horizons. Frequently the new drink we suggest as the freebie becomes a customer’s new regular drink!”

And it’s really that attitude, one of sharing and conversation and community, that makes Caffe Intermezzo so unique. And best of all, even after a handmade macchiato of my own, I am not a snob (yet).

Caffe Intermezzo
2048 Smallman Street
Strip District, 15222

… and a (sort-of) new second location
Frick Building
437 Grant Street
Downtown, 15219