Noah Phillips
The Victory, 2710 Atwood Ave., has the established, confident vibe of a neighborhood institution, with stools along the diner-like bar. The shop has a reputation for serving some of the best coffee in town. And it’s well-earned — the Victory uses beans from Anodyne Coffee, a Milwaukee-based micro-roaster founded in 1999.
This is a spot that accepts only cash; laptops and cell phones are discouraged, and there’s no Wi-Fi. You’re more likely to see people chatting, reading a newspaper, or gazing out a window than engaging in the digital universe. The staff is unfailingly friendly and warm.
Lattes here are normally made with Anodyne’s Mind Tonic espresso blend, but while reading about other roasts, I requested an iced latte made with beans grown in Rwanda near Lake Kivu. These beans are a bourbon cultivar of the Coffea arabica species first developed in Réunion off the coast of Madagascar — one of the first coffee varietals. These are described as carrying hints of raisins and tamarind. I couldn’t taste the fruit, but the drink had a light but still full flavor, delicious and refreshing on a warm day. Should you opt for the standard Mind Tonic blend, look for chocolate notes followed by grapefruit, cherry and raspberry — or so Anodyne suggests.
