Ultimo Coffee

A seasonal single origin can be tasted four ways at this Philadelphia bar, as pour over, espresso, Aeropress or morning batch brew, which tells you where the attention goes. Ultimo Coffee roasts its own beans and has done since 2016, and the cafes exist largely to show what the roastery is doing.

A rotating single-origin list, brewed several ways

The programme runs on seasonal single origins rather than a fixed house espresso and a drip pot. At one point five were on at once, an Ethiopia Homacho Waeno and a Kenyan Karatina among them, and the same coffee could be ordered as pour over, espresso, iced espresso, Aeropress or batch brew instead of being confined to filter.

The equipment backs the intent: a BeeHouse dripper for pour over, a La Marzocco Strada on espresso, Mahlkonig grinders including a Peak and an EK43. The pour over recipe is deliberately plain, a short bloom then one main pour, about two minutes of extraction, which puts the weight on the roast rather than on technique. Tea is taken seriously enough to run to a dozen options, and matcha is on the board. Food is cafe-scaled and not the headline: cakes and bagels at Rittenhouse, croissants, lemon cakes, thick focaccia sandwiches and sticky buns in Germantown.

Two rooms with different temperaments

Pick the branch to suit the visit. Rittenhouse is compact and visibly coffee-first, whitewashed plaster and brick, a white painted ceiling, small white hexagonal floor tiles. Seating is tight by design: a two-top against the right-hand wall, three stools at a narrow bar beside the espresso machine, a row of two-person tables opposite, and window bars at the front. The counter runs most of one side, cakes at the near end, retail bags on low shelves, the pour over station in plain view.

Germantown is the opposite temperament. It is light, airy and large, casual and comfortable, with many tables and enough sun and space to study or work for a couple of hours without getting in anyone's way. Both are counter service, and both are calm rather than precious about it.

Order espresso, then choose a bite

Espresso is the strong opener because the setup is specific, with a featured espresso ground on the Peak while other coffee, filter and espresso alike, moves through the EK43 behind the counter. To follow the single-origin side instead, take a BeeHouse pour over, or ask for an Aeropress when a coffee such as the Ethiopia Homacho Waeno is offered that way.

Then match the food to the visit: a croissant or a lemon cake for a light stop, a bagel or a slice of cake from the Rittenhouse counter, or a thick focaccia sandwich or sticky bun when the food has to do more of the work. Order the coffee first and the pastry second, because the coffee is the argument.