Where to Go to Learn a Little About a <i> Latte</i>

Coffee drinking has achieved a new elan in the past few years, as evidenced by the large number of people who klatch at local coffeehouses.

Roasting and brewing coffee beans has also become as much a science as an art form. Several North County coffee emporiums sell coffees from around the world and are well versed in the nuances of a good cup of mud. Here are a few:

La Costa Coffee Roasting

6965 El Camino Real, Suite 208 (next to Edwards Cinemas), La Costa. 438-8160 No subject in the world is as intriguing or beguiling as coffee--just ask Douglas Novak, owner of the La Costa Coffee Roasting coffeehouse. Mention coffee and Novak turns into a fount of information on the history and lore of his favorite brew. The store owner has been a coffee aficionado since his high school days.

“In college, I wrote term papers about coffee in my English classes as well as in my business classes,” he says. “I became fascinated with the industry.”

Novak has been selling coffee at the La Costa location for 18 months. The family got into the business 10 years ago when Novak’s parents bought The Coffee Merchant in Plaza Camino Real.

“Even politics plays a role in coffee growing,” Novak said. “We have to order coffee beans according to the world market, taking into account the political and agriculture scene” in many coffee-producing countries.

According to Novak, the original coffee plantings in India came about after a pilgrim returned from Mecca bringing home a few beans. Thanks to those original seedlings, the powerful Dutch merchants established in Indonesia later broke the Arab monopoly.

Indeed, reading down the list of Novak’s coffee offerings is like taking a quick trip to some of the world’s most exotic destinations, among them New Guinea, Sulawesi and North Yemen (where coffee originated).

Classical music and the scent of roasted coffee fill the air of the La Costa coffeehouse. In a corner of the store, a large drum coffee roaster holds a prominent place: This is where Novak roasts his coffee beans twice and sometimes three times a day during the holiday season. Plunging his hands into plump gunnysacks filled with green coffee beans, he holds out a handful. The beans look similar to peanuts.

“Think of these as green bananas,” Novak says. “The flavor of coffee can change drastically depending on the way and on the temperature at which it is roasted. Coffee gets its flavor from the microclimate in which it is grown.”

Out of hundreds of varieties, only two are fit for commercial purposes. The Arabica has a smoother flavor, although its flavor depends on the botanical components of the bean. The Robusta, which is grown at lower altitudes, has twice the amount of caffeine as the Arabica and can leave a bitter aftertaste.

Coffee is perishable and is best consumed within two weeks from the day it is roasted, Novak said. He “cups,” or tastes, his coffees several times a week. The cupping ritual involves sampling seven or eight varieties at a time, much like wines. Novak talks in terms similar to a wine taster’s: “I look for a bright flavor with a citrus finish, a good body and a liveliness on the palate.”

La Costa Coffee Roasting offers more than 45 blends, including 100% Kona coffee, the only coffee grown in the United States. Customers can also request special blends. Coffees range in price form $6.50 to $13.95 a pound. Mail order is available.

The Pannikin Cafe

510 N. Old Highway 101, Leucadia. 436-0033 A handful of Mona Lisa coffee mugs smiles benignly on customers at the Pannikin Cafe in Encinitas. The cafe has been in business in the same historic location--the former Santa Fe Railway Station--since 1982.

The Pannikin’s first store, which opened in La Jolla in 1968, is widely considered the first “real” coffeehouse in San Diego County. More than two decades later, Pannikin is still going strong at nine locations around the county, including at the Flower Hill Mall in Del Mar.

The Encinitas cafe’s cozy seating arrangements and bistro-style round tables serve as a popular neighborhood gathering place. The adjoining store is a coffee lover’s treasure trove jammed floor to ceiling with coffee beans, mugs, pots and T-shirts. The constant hiss of the espresso machine punctuates intense conversations.

“Look for freshness when purchasing coffee,” advises Eva Beckman, who manages the Encinitas Pannikin. “That will be the key to good coffee. Ideally, you should buy your own beans and grind your own. Even though it is vacuum-packed fresh, it doesn’t stay fresh if it sits around too long.”

The Pannikin’s coffee beans are roasted at a central location in downtown San Diego and distributed twice a week to Pannikins throughout the county. Nothing stays on the shelf more than a week, Beckman said.

The Pannikin coffee offerings are listed according to their continents of origin: From Africa and Arabia come the Ethiopian Harrar, indigenous to that country’s Kaffe region (hence the word “coffee”), as well as Kenya Plantation coffee, Beckman’s favorite blend. “I like its strong flavor,” she says.

From the Americas come Brazilian, Colombian, Costa Rican and Guatemalan blends. Among the Pacific varieties, the Pannikin offers aged Sumatra Mandheling, coffee from Papua New Guinea--not available at the moment due to a poor crop--coffee from the Celebes in Indonesia and, of course, 100% Kona. Dark roasts include double (French) roast, Turkish, Viennese and New Orleans, among others.

A selection of freshly ground decaffeinated coffees round up the list. Coffees range from $6.50 to $8.60 a pound. Gift baskets and sampler gift packs are available, as is mail order service.

Starbucks Coffee

11885 Carmel Mountain Road (Ralph’s Shopping Center), San Diego. 675-0412 Starbucks, a Seattle-based coffee company that saw its origins as a purveyor of coffee beans at the Pike’s Place Market in 1971, is setting out to turn the American public into a nation of espresso and cappuccino cognoscenti. The company has grown to more than 150 stores nationwide, and it gets its name from the coffee-loving first mate in Herman Melville’s Moby Dick . San Diego counts among the largest of Starbucks’ West Coast operations, says Peggy Paarman, district manager for San Diego County.

Since February, Starbucks has opened eight stores in the county. “I would venture to say that Starbucks is positioning itself at the top edge among leading coffee retailers in the world,” Paarman says. “We’re the first coffee retailer to become public,” an action taken last summer.

Like the other coffee retailers in the county, Paarman has seen a tremendous growth in consumer interest for specialty coffees. “Five years ago, hardly anyone knew what Arabica beans were,” she says. “Now, everyone knows a caffe latte .”

On a recent Saturday morning, the colorful store is abuzz with joggers fresh from a morning run, parents with young children and small groups of shoppers taking a break. “We’re really a neighborhood store,” Paarman says. “We’re very committed to being a part of each community.”

Starbucks coffee is roasted in Seattle to ensure the most consistent quality, and shipped second-day air three times a week to all its locations. No coffee remains on the shelf for more than a week. After that, it is ground and donated to charity. To better develop the flavor of the roasted beans, Starbucks roasts them to a “full city” roast, one among six roasting styles, which yields a darker roast than the “cinnamon” or institutional roast commonly sold in supermarkets.

For the holidays, Starbucks is offering a special Christmas blend in addition to its 30 regular varieties. Gift packs and a selection of specialty coffee machines are on display in each store. To order my mail, send for the full-color catalogue, available in stores or by calling (800) 445-3428.