Our Favorite Drinks from Around the World

By Katie Hammel | August 29th, 2011

- Brooke Schoenman, WhyGo Australia

For all the specialty cocktails and over-the-top drinks in Las Vegas, my favorite is still a simple cup of coffee. I like to sip my java at Sambalatte Torrefazione, a locally owned and run coffee shop in the Boca Park area of Summerlin. The menu at Sambalatte includes several coffee drinks that can’t be found anywhere else in the city, and though I usually order a sugar-free vanilla latte, there’s something about the care and precision of creating the drink that I am particularly fond of. All drinks are made behind a clear window panel so you can see how they’re made, and all of them come complete with coffee art.

Las Vegas 2011 Restaurant Awards - Sambalatte Best Coffee

By Max Jacobson
October 13th, 2011

Luiz Oliveira, a native of Brazil, grinds and brews coffee to order, using 100 percent Arabica beans from Rio Verde in Brazil, or those from exotic locales such as Guatemala, Sumatra and Ethiopia.

Sit in the lounge here and you get to drink the results in a porcelain mug. Beans are roasted locally by Colorado River Coffee Roasters. The Flat White cappuccino with extra milk has a perfect swirl of foam and amazing balance.

Nutella Latte at Sambalatte

June 16th, 2011
By Vegas Seven Magazine

They grind and brew 100 percent Arabica beans from Rio Verde, Brazil, for your coffee at this new coffee emporium in Boca Park, but my choice for a cuppa Joe here is a delicious concoction made by mixing the hazelnut-chocolate spread Nutella with steamed milk and a big hit of espresso. $4.50, 750 S. Rampart Blvd., 272-2333.

Muito alem dos casinos:um roteiro de restaurants em Las Vegas

Lola Magazine
Publicado em 29.08.2011 • Por Luísa Dalcin

• Sambalatte(750 South Rampart Boulevard, Suite 9 | fone.: [702] 272-2333)

“Um dos mais novos cafés de Las Vegas, o Sambalatte está reescrevendo
o caminho dos cafés americanos. O proprietário é um brasileiro,
Luiz Claudio Oliveira, que fez este café inspirado nos anos de viagens pelo
mundo e em fazendas de café, principalmente no Brasil. O  menu do
Sambalatte não é o de um café comum: os grãos de café  servidos na loja
são colhidos de todos os cantos da terra. Além de cafés regulares, mocha
lattes e cappuccinos, o menu oferece bebidas como afogato, café misturado
com uma colher de gelado, e granita, uma bebida gelada no estilo italiano.
Além do pretinho, o Sambalatte oferece uma ampla seleção de produtos
frescos– mas frescos mesmo! Todos os dias, pães, bolos, tortas, são trazidos
da França congelados em um processo que usa hidrogênio e são
descongelados apenas na hora de servir. O sabor é incrível, como se tivessem
feito na hora, especialmente para você. Com quadros de fazendas mineiras
espalhados pelas paredes, o lugar é aconchegante e especial.”

Sambalatte Torrefazione Las Vegas

By JoAnna | December 1st, 2010

Just like any city you might encounter, Las Vegas has its fair share of coffee shops. You know, those places where you walk in, order a cup of Joe and wander out, enjoying your coffee but probably not remembering much about the experience?

One of the Las Vegas’ newest coffeehouses, Sambalatte Torrefazione, is rewriting the way coffee is served, experienced and remembered. Owned by Luiz Claudio Oliveira, this Summerlin-based cafe was inspired by years of world travel and education on coffee farms and at coffee conventions. Only then did Luiz open Sambalatte, a welcoming coffee shop that greets visitors with several umbrella-covered tables and large glass windows, which offer plenty of sunlight throughout the shop.

Sambalatte is washed in rich earthy hues and has several comfortable seating areas, including tables, chairs and lounge couches both downstairs and in an upstairs loft area. Several bookshelves throughout Sambalatte are packed with books, magazines and newspapers. If you start a book while you’re there, ask for a bookmark to keep your place so that you can pick up where you left off when you go back again.

Free wifi is available at the coffee shop, and there are several outlets to keep your gadgets fully charged during your stay. In fact, unlike other coffeehouses where spaces feel cramped and seating is at a premium, Sambalatte provides plenty of space for people to spread out, plug in and work for hours at a time on whatever pressing project requires concentration … and a little caffeine.

Which, of course, is what draws people to this coffee shop in the first place. Sambalatte’s menu not only features common coffee drinks, but the beans served at the shop are culled from all corners of the earth, and the drink selection is unlike those found other places. In addition to regular brews, mocha, lattes and cappuccinos, Sambalatte’s menu also offers drinks such as afogato, a coffee beverage mixed with a scoop of gelato, and granita, an Italian-style iced coffee drink.

In addition to coffee, Sambalatte offers an extensive selection of fresh pastries, tarts and cakes, sandwiches, smoothies and specialty frozen drinks.

Of particular note is how affordable the selections are. In addition, all are created behind an exhibition barista area, so you can can see how your drinks and food are handled. Drinks are delivered with coffee art on top. If the time to create a leaf or heart doesn’t say that care has been put into the process, I don’t know what does.

Located at 750 South Rampart Boulevard, Suite 9, in the Boca Park complex in Summerlin, Las Vegas. Hours of operation are Sunday 7:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m., Monday and Tuesday 7:00 a.m.-8:00 p.m. and Wednesday through Saturday 7:00 a.m.-10:00 p.m.

Flat White at Sambalatte Torrefazione

by Max Jacobson - Vegas Seven Magazine
March 10th, 2011

Why go to a big chain coffee bar when you can get your cuppa joe ground and brewed to order for a deuce? Flat White is halfway between latte and cappuccino, with a perfect swirl of foam. The espresso used to make it is a blend of Ethiopian Harrar for boldness, Brazilian for creaminess and Colombian for balance. $3 (6 ounces), 750 S. Rampart Blvd., 272-2333

Las Vegas City Guide

Sambalatte Torrefazione opened last year and coffee junkies have been raving since. Beans are ground to order with coffee served up in porcelain china and bedecked with a design in the froth and served with a sweet treat on the side. Baristas serve up their wares from an exhibition area. And the coffee is locally roasted by farmers who use organic or fair trade products. You can also pick up gelato, chocolates and pastries fresh baked daily. Inside you can find community tables with rechargeable WiFi stations, a book library in the mezzanine to chill and space to conduct business meetings. Outside find seating with teak tables and comfortable chairs. Every night features live music

Sambalatte - it's like Starbucks but Samba with latte.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011
by Charles Fontanilla

This coffee shop is located in Boca Park in Summerlin. I guess you could say that Sambalatte's target demographic is anyone 20 and above, looking for a good chat with friends on a Sunday afternoon, and sipping various types coffee from all over the world. Sounds fancy huh? What's even more fancy, the interiors. The walls were decorated with a modern and antique furniture, bookshelves and paintings. What about the drinks? Of course there are mid-price, drinks. The espresso I got was just like an espresso. But my friend who got an Ethiopian black coffee... mmm mmmm delicious. I don't drink black coffee but the Ethiopian black coffee is something to give a try. It has that black coffee bitter taste but yet a hint of something sweet. It's like Chelsea Handler, she's a bitch but yet she's fun. The pastries look good too, but I wasn't in the mood for something sweet at the time. Maybe on my next visit, I'd give a try on their Chocolate Caramel Pyramid. The workers are very friendly also. Looks like they're the type of people you would want to be friends with.

Sambalatte is like going to your grandma's house for a cup of tea but yet she serves you coffee and has a collection of history books.

Books from famous authors, philosophers and a book about Russia's history.

Painting on the wall that shows what coffee Sambalatte carry.

The two story coffee house is located next to Kona Grill and open Monday to Wednesday from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Thursday to Sunday from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Check out their website at http://sambalatte.com.

There's a new place in town, where everybody knows your name. It's called Sambalatte.

Step inside this caffee lounge and espresso bar, and you’re welcomed by your first name. The baristas and owners know everyone, and the guests know just about everybody too. It reminds me of the popular TV show “Cheers” and the fictional neighborhood bar, where everybody knew your name. “Cheers” was a welcoming watering hole, a place for friendship and comaradarie. 
Now, Sambalatte is the new “Cheers” and the place to hang out in Vegas.
Since it opened last fall, it's been embraced by the community, and the media have discovered it as well, including The New York Post, the local NPR affiliate, Fox 5, and a Brazilian TV station.Haute Living ranked Sambalatte No. 1 in its Top 5 coffee shops in Las Vegas. Word is spreading all over Twitter and Facebook too. And Seven magazine wrote, because of the micro-roasted varieties, “this just might be the freshest, most distinctive cup of coffee you’ve ever had in Las Vegas.”

Owners Sheila and Luiz havetaken the time to not only focus on the brews, but on customers too by offering quiet attention and friendly smiles, and creating a cheerful atmosphere for people to stop in for their morning organic java and French pastry or sit at a table and sip while reading the paper. They’ve created anupscale boutique coffee lounge with a welcoming atmosphere that’s tough to beat. There’s a European feel about the place, found mostly in coffeehouses in New York and San Francisco.

 

Located on the West Side, in Fashion Village Boca Park,Sambalatte is already filling a niche in the area. The owners have created an environment that welcomes students, entrepreneurs, business people, and friends for a place to meet up by offering comfortable couches, tables and wireless Internet. The mezzanine upstairs is a favorite for some visitors. It’s already being called the best place in town to spot celebrities. But that list also includes local lawyers, cops, journalists, and dancers and performers from the casinos on the Las Vegas Strip.

When the sun is out, people flock to the outdoor umbrella tables and bring their dogs with them (there's an outdoor doggie station too). The shelves are stocked with books, magazines, board and table games, the morning paper, as well as an alt-weekly newspaper, and children are welcome. By nightfall on Friday and Saturday nights, it’s a coffee lounge with live music.

Urban sociologist Ray Oldenburg, in his 1989 book The Great Good Place, called such spots “third places,” where they’re not work and they’re not home. Instead, they’re “the heart of a community’s social vitality, the grassroots of democracy,” he wrote. In his book, he examines gathering places and reminds us how important they still are.

Sambalatte is just that: a great gathering place, where guests feel connected. Located between the Cheesecake Factory and Kona Grill, some stop by for a short time.Others go in with their Kindles, Nooks, laptops, netbooks and iPads, to work while sipping a white mocha or a chai latte, or lunching on an Italian sandwich or Caprese on a bagette (my favorite), yogurt, or a fruit-and-cheese plate. Fresh-baked goods are made in-house daily, so there's a lot to choose from.

Opening Sambalatte was a good move, choosing a corner of Boca Park Fashion Village that has an almost-village feel to it, with a waterfall, a meandering walkway and greenery. The place caught on quickly.
Like “Cheers” and its characters, who regularly hung out for the camaraderie, Sambalatte has become the place to be, where everybody knows your name. You can smell the fresh-roasted aroma before you walk in, and, somehow, the world seems better for it.
Take a virtual tour, with this video, and see for yourself:

Sambalatte Torrefazione

750 South Rampart Blvd

Las Vegas, Nevada 89145

702.272.2333

O melhor cafè de Las Vegas

by Daniel Rayol on fev 13, 2011

Essa semana conheci o “Sambalatte”, com certeza um dos melhores “Coffee Shops” que tive o prazer de conhecer! Uma amiga brasileira aqui de Las Vegas (Cristine Lefkowitz) comentou comigo sobre um novo “coffee shop” já super badalado, aberto por um brasileiro chamado Luiz Oliveira, e que estava sendo muito bem comentado por alguns dos mais importantes canais de mídia de Las Vegas. E realmente eu pude comprovar tudo e muito mais! Luiz, o dono é um uma pessoa com um grande conhecimento na área de serviço e uma enorme cultura do universo do café.

O Sambalatte é um lugar fantástico, desde os quadros com fotos artísticas de fazendas de café em Minas Gerais, a decoração e cores nas paredes, até os pequenos detalhes das mesas comunitárias com tomadas para carregadores de eletrônicos e WiFi gratuito. No entanto, tudo isso fica quase pequeno comparado ao café e guloseimas servidas no local. Todo café servido no Sambalatte, passa por um longo processo de seleção, e tem como ser 100% rastreado á sua origem! E no Sambalatte funciona mais ou menos assim: Você escolhe o grão, e também um dos vários processos de preparar o café. O meu predileto é o Siphon (ou siffon), um método inventado á mais de 200 anos pelos franceses, e hoje muito usado pelos japoneses para preparar o Blue Mountain Coffee da Jamaica. O aparelho lembra um pouco algum tipo de instrumento que você encontraria em um laboratório de química, mas produz um café bem encorpado, sem ser amargo. Outro aparelho interessante no Sambalatte, é o de preparar café gelado, parece uma daquelas invenções de Leonardo Da Vince, e o café pode levar até 24hs para ser preparado. Mas como se não bastasse, Sambalatte também serve uma variedade de quitutes que chegam todos os dias, vindos da França congelados em um processo que usa hidrogênio no dia anterior, e descongelados apenas na hora de servir! Outros pratos, como os Gelatos, quiches, sanduíches e etc, são preparados diariamente por chefes franceses renomeados de Las Vegas. Além de tudo isso, quatro vezes por semana, músicos locais se apresentam tocando diferentes estilos de Jazz no local. Bem, com tantas qualidades temos que reconhecer que o Luiz com o Sambalatte, traz á Las Vegas algo de grande importância aos que vivem aqui, e aos que visitam também… Cultura! Um lugar para socializar, e saborear! Coisa que muitas vezes, apenas são encontradas em grandes metrópoles do mundo, e nem sempre em uma cidade como Las Vegas, liderada pelas grandes corporações e casinos.
Parabéns Luiz.
Daniel Rayol.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 04, 2011 SAMBALATTE

Travels with a Gourmet

Brazilian-owned Sambalatte was such a find that even if I stumbled onto it on my second to the last day in Las Vegas, I made sure to visit it twice.  It was the best coffee I had during my stay and the best cafe I have ever been to in Vegas with a relaxed but welcoming atmosphere and baristas that know what they are doing.  The espressos are short the way they should be (Starbucks pay attention) and thecappuccini (can I say that?) are frothy and decorated with delicious "latte art".

Inside there are several tables, a cozy sofa and even a few shaded outdoor tables.  Free WiFi, a table kitted out with rechargeable stations, a selection of breakfast breads and pastries, sandwiches and even gelato.  Get there quick before it starts to get mobbed by the coffee cognoscenti.
_______________________________
Sambalatte
750 S. Rampart Blvd., Suite 9
at Boca Park, Summerlin
Las Vegas NV
Tel: +1 (702) 272 2333

Best Hangout

Desert Companion Magazine - February 2011
by STEVEN MASON

Lots of coffeehouses drink so deeply from the anti-Starbucks vibe that they've become caricatures of anti-corporatism. Fair trade? Check. Organic? Double check. Che Guevara posters? Venti check. So whether you're traipsing around Greenwich Village or San Francisco's SoMa district, finding a coffeehouse that creates an oeuvre and owns it - instead of proffering over-roasted coffee and overpriced imitations of food - is next to impossible. But that's all because you're not looking right here in Las Vegas (Boca Park, to be exact), where Sambalatte Torrefazione serves world-class java for the true enthusiast, freshly roasted, ground and brewed (French press, vacuum brew, chemex, aero press or single brew), tea, foodie salads and sandwiches like their caprese; pastries flown in from Paris; comely desserts; and palate-cleansing gelatos. All in a two-story, spacious environment, walls adorned with photos of coffee in various stages of production; communal teak tables; the requisite Wi-Fi along with a bevy of rechargeable Wi-Fi stations; books and magazines; room for the impromptu business meeting or understated art of the pickup; live Latin and jazz music on many nights; unobtrusive but substantive music the rest of the time; and an eclectic mix of cool, personable coffee-lovers (as customers, baristas and servers). When it comes time for my dictionary, Sambalatte has got first dibs on the word "oasis."
[750 S. Rampart Blvd. Suite 9, 272-2333, http://www.sambalatte.com/]

Newbie cred: Steven Mason, brand strategist, ADHD connoisseur, and megadose consumer of caffeine, has lived in Las Vegas for 15 months.

But First Coffee

January, 14th, 2011

By Amy Strodl

Number 1. If you live in Vegas, go to Sambalatte in Boca Park and have some coffee. You are sucky if you don't support this place. Best cup of coffee I have had outside of Spain. Number 2. How cute are these lounge chairs I found on Esty? They were reupholstered in coffee bean sacks and I think they are so flippin cute! Now go get a cup of joe with your sweetie this weekend.

Coffee cafe caters to connoisseurs by making each cup fresh

By JAN HOGAN 
VIEW STAFF WRITER 
October 5th, 2010


Sip. Savour. Socialize. Those are the catch words painted on the wall. Maybe another should be added: samba.

Sambalatte Cafe has opened in Boca Park at 705 S. Rampart Blvd., Suite 9. Coffee beans are not ground until the customer places his order.

Owner Luiz Oliveira is a native of Brazil, where coffee reigns. He said he wanted to raise the bar with his cafe, a dream that began gaining momentum five years ago.

"I saw that Summerlin was missing a true coffee bar," he said. "If you go to Europe, this is the kind of place you see."

The decor uses coffee colors such as an earthy brown, accented with vibrant red -- chosen to reflect the coffee plant's berries. Coffee beans actually are considered the "pits" of the red berries. A world map depicts the prime growing regions for coffee.

Don Anderson of Colorado River Coffee Roasters said each coffee bean has its own characteristics, just as grapes do for wine.

The coffee is brewed in a variety of ways. One of them is the cold drip system, which depends on gravity. It uses a tall hourglasslike apparatus with glass chambers that remind one of beakers.

"It looks like it's a science experiment," server Jessica Boothe said.

A single cup takes two minutes to filter down through its various chambers.

Regular coffee costs $1.75, and iced black tea is $2. Cafe latte is $2.50. A chalkboard has the beverage menu handwritten on it.

The cafe's sandwiches also have a European touch. The ham sandwich, for example, is made with Black Forest ham and Brie cheese and is served on a baguette for $6.50. Not in the mood for a brewed beverage? Sambalatte also offers fruit smoothies for $4.25.

Organic and sustainable are key words at Sambalatte. It has joined forces with the Rainforest Alliance and is committed to conserving resources for the good of the planet. Food is served on porcelain china. Those on the go receive environmentally friendly disposable cups.

No coffee lounge and espresso bar would be complete without desserts. Chef Megan Romano's pastries are available for those with a sweet tooth, and Patrice Caillot brings the flavor of his native France to Sambalatte with gelato creations. Like the food and pastries, those also show pride in craftsmanship. The pistachio flavor sees him hand-grating the nuts.

Sambalatte plans to offer chair massages on Mondays. Its upper mezzanine includes a lending library and a flat-screen TV for those who like a little television with their brew. The sound system plays soothing music to complement the relaxing atmosphere.

But it's the coffee products that take center stage.

"Our philosophy is to make one cup at a time," said barista Paul Skinner. "It better showcases the potential of the bean ... to do it justice."

Otherwise, he said, you are "cheating yourself of the experience."

Hours are from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday, 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday and Tuesday and 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. For more information, call 272-2333.

Contact Summerlin and Summerlin South View reporter Jan Hogan at jhogan@viewnews.com or 387-2949.

A Great Coffee Deal

By Max Jacobson | December 1st, 2010

Serious coffee is served at Sambalatte (750 S. Rampart Blvd.). I’m impressed. For $2, the café grinds and brews coffee to order—100 percent Arabica beans from Brazil, Guatemala, Colombia, Sumatra or Ethiopia. The beans are roasted locally, by Colorado River Coffee Roasters.

It gets better. Sambalatte’s Flat White (halfway between latte and cappuccino) is a bargain at $2.75. The espresso used to make it is a blend of Ethopian Harrar for boldness, Brazilian for creaminess and Colombian for balance.

This is also one of only two places locally to get coffee made with a siphon (the other being Social House at Crystals). Water is heated in a bubble-shaped vessel and filters back down into a round globe, creating a clean, intense brew. The $10 charge produces coffee for four. Get more information at Sambalatte.com, or call 272-2333.

Coffee Shop Review - Sambalatte

Thursday, Oct 14th, 2010
by John Grouchy


I heard about Sambalatte about 2 months ago.  At that time it was still not open but they had a teaser Youtube video of the layout of the store that intrigued me.  From the short clip you can tell this unlike any other coffee shop that Las Vegas has seen.  It's located in the Boca Park shopping complex in Summerlin and has been open about a month now.  It's a two story store with the lower floor containing several tables and a few lounge chairs in a very lounge type setting.  The second floor contains more seating and a small library of books.  The decor is beyond your typical Starbucks or Coffe Bean and strives to be upscale but casual at the same time. 

However their focus on the decor did not take away from the quality of the coffee that they serve.  They use beans from Colorado Roasters in Boulder City and serve everything freshly ground.  They only brew coffee one cup at a time and use either a siphon pot or a pour over into the cup.  This gives them the ability to offer beans from many different regions and you are secure in the knowledge that the cup of coffee you are drinking was not sitting in a brew pot for an hour.  They also serve pastries, sandwiches, smoothies, and gelato.  All of which looked really good.

Overcome with the amount of choices offered I only ordered a cappuccino because I figured if I didn't like the way that was made it would be waste of time to try anything else.  After ordering I sat at a table to take in the decor and watch the barista prepare my drink.  I was very happy too see that she knew her way around an espresso machine.  The cappuccino was served on a tray with a glass of water and a little biscuit (very posh).  The cappuccino was well made and tasted good.

Overall I am very impressed by Sambalatte and look forward to my next visit to try more of what they have to offer.  I just wish they weren't located all the way across town.

Look Out Starbucks: Sambalatte Packs Them In

By John V. Donovan
Las Vegas Is Talking

Now this is a coffee house.

When the first question I asked the owner, Luiz Oliveira, was what type of fuel he was using, that should be a hint this is not your typical cookie cutter coffee shop.

I cringed when Doug Taylor, Manager of Bet On The Farm Farmer’s Market, suggested we meet at this Boca Park coffee house out in Summerlin for a quick business meeting.  It’s about 30 miles from my location in Southern Anthem.  When I say Southern, my neighbors are two big horn sheep. But hey, why not, tis’ the season to be jolly! It’s late December, it’s dark out, the wind is blowing about 50 knots and the rain is coming down in buckets.  I just love a nice Sunday drive in Vegas.  But no doubt it’s better than being stuck in London’s Heathow Airport right now where 200,000 people are stranded due to, ‘inclement winter weather’ and few will reach their holiday destinations.

I’d heard rumors about this place and that it was already packing in a great supportive crowd, even though it’s been open for only three months. Believe me, they’re not rumors.

My first thought when entering and scanning the crowd is that this was not Vegas. It has a New York or San Francisco look and feel. Third sense perhaps, or maybe it was the young crowd reading the Sunday Paper, playing chess and some even using those, oh, what do we call those things that our parents used to use a long long time ago way back in 2009? Oh, my memory is so bad. Now I remember. They were called books. That’s it. They were reading books, real books, you know, when they were actually made out of paper. Imagine, they didn’t even have lithium batteries in them!

So I arrived early to scout out a table near a power plug for my PC only to find that 90 percent of this crowd had the same idea, but only they arrived before me. Near the front entrance is a cool bench-like arrangement with multiple power outlets with eight people, facing each other, all plugged in. I soon got lucky and found a table open up near the back of the store on the first level. This was perfect and would save me some embarrassment. This place resembled a mini Apple store, so slinking to the back with my Toshiba PC still hidden away and out of site was a great way to save face. Actually, I think this whole PC/Mac thing is a bunch of bull. OK, my PC did unexpectedly decide to reboot twice in the next 45 minutes, but who’s to say this isn’t a technological advantage?

Luiz serves coffee from Colorado River Roasters, which is located out in Boulder City. An amazing operation, CRR purchases only the finest and rarest of beans from international suppliers. If you visit Bet On The Farm farmer's market on Thursdays, you can usually find Don Anderson, a warm, entertaining and very knowledgeable individual with a display of his high-end product. They’re packed in one pound clear plastic-like containers that have a neat built in air valve. Just one push on that bag expels that delicious aroma and you’ll be in coffee heaven. …and become another CRR customer.

So, Doug orders one of Don’s blends and Luiz sets up what looks like a chemistry experiment on our small table. Four young customers at the adjoining table notice what’s going on, immediately pull out their mobile devices, and begin streaming live TV to the world. First, a container of clear pure water, about three inches in diameter, is suspended in a metal base over a small high-tech butane powered burner. A larger glass container roughly 3 inches in diameter by 5 inches high contains the ground coffee beans and is securely attached to the lower water filled bowl via a rubber stopper. The fun begins when the burner is lit and, after a few minutes, the pressure of the expanding gas above the water forces the water up and into the container of coffee. With the burner still chugging away and with the all the water now in the upper chamber, Luiz uses  a wooden stick about twice the width of an ice cream stick to gently stir the mixture. As he did, we could see three separate and distinct layers of various viscosities almost magically appear. Then the heat source is turned off, the lower bowl cools just a degree or two, creating a vacuum, and the pure dark coffee makes its way to the lower chamber and is ready to be poured.

I did mention that this was not your typical cookie cutter coffee house, didn’t I?

The marketing plan that Luiz developed using his years in the restaurant and hospitality business is very simple: Offer the best possible quality of product and service, nothing but the best, spare no expense, and those who appreciate the best will find you and support your business. 

They have and they are.

Sorry, I didn’t mention the amazing pastries and other goodies.

Sambalatte Torrefazione Las Vegas

By JoAnna | December 1st, 2010 

Just like any city you might encounter, Las Vegas has its fair share of coffee shops. You know, those places where you walk in, order a cup of Joe and wander out, enjoying your coffee but probably not remembering much about the experience?

One of the Las Vegas’ newest coffeehouses, Sambalatte Torrefazione, is rewriting the way coffee is served, experienced and remembered. Owned by Luiz Claudio Oliveira, this Summerlin-based cafe was inspired by years of world travel and education on coffee farms and at coffee conventions. Only then did Luiz open Sambalatte, a welcoming coffee shop that greets visitors with several umbrella-covered tables and large glass windows, which offer plenty of sunlight throughout the shop.

Sambalatte is washed in rich earthy hues and has several comfortable seating areas, including tables, chairs and lounge couches both downstairs and in an upstairs loft area. Several bookshelves throughout Sambalatte are packed with books, magazines and newspapers. If you start a book while you’re there, ask for a bookmark to keep your place so that you can pick up where you left off when you go back again.

Free wifi is available at the coffee shop, and there are several outlets to keep your gadgets fully charged during your stay. In fact, unlike other coffeehouses where spaces feel cramped and seating is at a premium, Sambalatte provides plenty of space for people to spread out, plug in and work for hours at a time on whatever pressing project requires concentration … and a little caffeine.

Which, of course, is what draws people to this coffee shop in the first place. Sambalatte’s menu not only features common coffee drinks, but the beans served at the shop are culled from all corners of the earth, and the drink selection is unlike those found other places. In addition to regular brews, mocha, lattes and cappuccinos, Sambalatte’s menu also offers drinks such as afogato, a coffee beverage mixed with a scoop of gelato, and granita, an Italian-style iced coffee drink.

In addition to coffee, Sambalatte offers an extensive selection of fresh pastries, tarts and cakes, sandwiches, smoothies and specialty frozen drinks.

Of particular note is how affordable the selections are. In addition, all are created behind an exhibition barista area, so you can can see how your drinks and food are handled. Drinks are delivered with coffee art on top. If the time to create a leaf or heart doesn’t say that care has been put into the process, I don’t know what does.

Located at 750 South Rampart Boulevard, Suite 9, in the Boca Park complex in Summerlin, Las Vegas. Hours of operation are Sunday 7:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m., Monday and Tuesday 7:00 a.m.-8:00 p.m. and Wednesday through Saturday 7:00 a.m.-10:00 p.m.

Sambalatte by Max Jacobson

By Max Jacobsen

I live in Green Valley, and begin most mornings with a coffee klatsch at the local Starbucks. The only other choice around here is the Coffee Bean at the District. Call me a captive audience.

But now, I’ve had Luiz Oliveira’s coffee at Sambalatte, so I’m actually going to Summerlin once a week to drink it. It may be the only serious coffee in Las Vegas. The twenty plus mile drive is worth it.

Starbucks over roasts; I’ve never quite gotten used to the burned taste. Their CEO, Howard Schultz, boasted at a lifestyles meeting that “milk is profit”, in the coffee business. Ever since, I’ve been doing their tall coffee for $1.62, diluting the hell out of it with soy milk or Half and Half. They charge $3.50 for a Grande cappuccino. I pass, thank you.

But consider what you get at Sambalatte, located at 750 S. Rampart, for $2. They grind and brew your coffee to order, 100% Arabica beans from Rio Verde, in Brazil, or ones from Guatemala, Colombia, Sumatra or Ethiopia. Order to go and it will be served in a paper cup. If you are going to drink it on premises, you get a porcelain one.

This is delicious coffee, intelligently roasted. Beans are roasted locally by Colorado River Coffee Roasters, some of which is available at Mario Batali’s Farmers Market. If you haven’t tried them, you should.

It gets even better. Sambalatte’s Flat White is halfway between latte and cappuccino, with a perfect swirl of foam, and a bargain at $2.75. The espresso used is a blend of Ethopian Harrar for boldness, Brazilian for creaminess, and Colombian for balance.

There’s lots more. Like iced coffee? Sambalatte is using a 24-hour drip to increase the intensity while reducing the acidity. Are you in the mood for tea? The store slow brews various choices.

As you enter, you’ll see a map of the world with the coffee countries highlighted in red on the main wall. Oliveira is a walking encyclopedia when it comes to coffee. Did you know Colombia is the only country in the world that has two coffee harvests per year? That’s because of the equatorial climate and high altitude at which the beans are grown.

Brazil, he tells me, produces 55 percent of the world crop. “All our beans are Rain Forest Alliance Certified”, he says. “We do almost everything we can locally as well”, he says, “from pastries (Andreas World Cake) and gelati (Desert Ice Boutique) to where we roast. This way we contribute to traceability and sustainability, and have less of a carbon footprint.”

The pastries, I’d like to point out, are terrific. I sample a mini-croissant that is buttery and flaky, and a small, streusel topped blueberry muffin. They are both a quantum leap above what you can get at Starbucks.

Now, the real show begins. As Brazilian jazz plays softly on the sound system, tiny thimbles of sparkling water are given as palate cleansers, and the head Barista, Paul, arrives at the table with a coffee siphon.

If you’ve never had coffee brewed this way, now is the time to start. The Japanese do it this way in many of their high-end coffee bars, and the method is fascinating and fun to watch. When done correctly, and that’s critical, it produces the best coffee of any brewing method.

And it’s done correctly-and vigilantly-here. At $10, you get 16 ounces of impeccable Joe, enough, says Paul, for four “European” sixed cups.  The process is old. It was patented back in 1830. Here’s how it works.

Water is heated in the bubble shaped lower vessel, and boiled until it reached what Paul refers to as the “extraction temperature”. This step is critical, lest the coffee be weak if the water isn’t properly hot. Then, the ground beans are placed in the top vessel, which has a permeable filter separating it from the lower vessel.

The water expands as steam, and as it has no place to go, it siphons into the top vessel, mixing with the coffee. An airtight seal is created. Once the heat is removed, the coffee filters back down into the lower vessel, or round globe, creating a clean, intense brew. Whew! I hope I got this right. My physics professor always liked you better.

This is really one of two places in Vegas to have siphoned coffee. The other one is Social House at Crystals, where it is $14, and where it will only serve two, at most. So this is a good deal.

Furthermore, Sambalatte serves a delicious Black Forest Ham and Brie sandwich, terrific smoothies, and wonderful desserts by Praml such as mini-Napoleons, cream puffs and éclairs. (They are, incidentally, as the boss points out, the only things in the store not bought locally.)

We told you he was serious.

For more information, visit their Website, www.sambalatte.com, or call them directly, at 272-2333. Gotta go. I’m off, unfortunately, to Starbucks.

Sambalatte Torrefazione
750 South Rampart Boulevard
Suite 9
Las Vegas, Nevada 89145Tel: [702] 272-2333