A few weeks ago, with dreary skies looming over Nashville, a friend of mine introduced me to Crema, the newest coffee shop in town. Since it was mid-afternoon, I ordered a cup of decaf, but wound up with a decaf Americano - espresso and hot water. It was hot, bold and black, and by the time I finished it, I wanted more.

Rachel Lehman opened Crema earlier this year, and now that I’ve been back several times, I have to say that she’s always friendly in the mornings. (That’s a rarity in coffee shops.) She proudly follows the traditional Italian standards for preparing the espresso - ground one drink at a time, tamped with 30 lbs of pressure and extracted between 20-30 seconds. She also uses “naked” group heads, which means that the espresso touches less metal and results in a rich, creamy, foamy texture. “I’m a purist, and I believe that if the base of the drink isn’t phenomenal the rest of the drink will not taste good,” she says.

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