College students Matt and Ashley McCauley love espresso coffee so much they spent 11 hours drinking it in a cafe during their first date in Seattle years ago.

"We sat through three shift changes," laughed Ashley. "I pretty much drank lattes all day, and Matt drank straight shots of espresso, then switched to Americanos."

Loving good coffee and also each other, the couple married in 1991. Five years later, they moved back to Ashley's home town of Baltimore, and in 1997, the entrepreneurs opened their first espresso bar.

The pair witnessed firsthand the coffee boom that took Seattle by a storm in the late 1980s and believed they could bring some of that "buzz" back to Baltimore.

"We saw a huge void here," said Ashley, a Pikesville High graduate who predicted that anyone who introduced speciality coffee to the region would be successful. "It was just a question of when, what and who."

Incorporated as Straight from Seattle Espresso Inc., the couple now operates a dozen freestanding, Seattle-style coffee bars, most of them called "The Buzz."

Besides espresso and espresso-based drinks such as cappuccinos, lattes and mochas, they also serve pastries, hot chocolate and teas, as well as steamed milk with imported Italian flavorings and Italian sodas (flavored sparkling water with a dash of cream).

The newest Buzz recently opened in a front corner of Mr. Charles Gourmet Marketplace, which reopened under new management last August on Park Heights Avenue in Owings Mills.

Most of the other Buzz carts are located in public spaces in "host institutions" such as hospitals, universities or office buildings in Washington and Baltimore.

The Mr. Charles cart is the first in a store and also the first in Baltimore County.

"This is one we can patronize ourselves," said the McCauleys, who live nearby with their two children.

The McCauleys also hope to open two additional locations in Owings Mills as they continue to build their business, which last year generated gross revenues of $1.3 million. Ashley said the company is expected to bring in $2 million this year.

They also consult with other espresso cart operators, in a niche industry that they say is growing.

students in seattle

Matt McCauley and Ashley Stark, who met through friends, were both living in Seattle in the 1980s when the town famous for Boeing and rain started going nuts over Microsoft and coffee.

A Seattle native, Matt remembers one barista (an espresso bartender) in particular, who worked downtown with a propane-fueled espresso machine and a cart made from Boeing scrap metal.

Early in the 1980s, the Seattle-based Nordstrom department store also began locating espresso carts near their entrances as an amenity for customers.

Matt had gone to high school with two of the Nordstrom sons and so was aware of the concept.

Starbucks by that time had evolved from a store at Pike Place Market on Elliott Bay that sold coffee beans into a company that was opening cafes.

By the 1990s, Matt and Ashley had graduated from Seattle University, and she was working toward a master's in English while he was three years into law school.

But by then their love of coffee and a shared interest in starting their own business got the better of them, and they moved back to Baltimore to start the Buzz carts.

The McCauleys say their company now has the most locations in the Baltimore region, second only to Starbucks, which tends to dominate the market wherever it goes.

Rather than compete with Starbucks or with local companies like Donna's, which also serves food, the McCauleys say they have stayed focused on the carts, emphasizing high-quality ingredients and good customer service.

They now employ more than 75 people, including managers and the baristas, who work at the self-contained portable carts equipped with a coffee grinder, espresso machine, refrigerator, sink, water supply and cash register.

"We custom make the carts to suit the customers," Ashley said.

For a relatively low startup investment of $35,000 to $40,000, which includes rent and insurance, the McCauleys can set up a site, staff it and start operating in four to six weeks.

"The beauty of our niche concept is that we don't do build out," said Ashley.

There are now six cart locations within the Johns Hopkins campuses in Homewood and at its nursing school.

Within a few weeks, the McCauleys will open a Buzz cart in the University of Maryland medical school in downtown Baltimore.

There are also carts in the Baltimore and Washington Veterans hospitals, Georgetown University and downtown Baltimore, with long-range plans to expand into some of the downtown office buildings.

Right now, the McCauleys say they're facing an uphill battle, because a previous competitor in Baltimore failed to provide property managers with a quality product.

But they say that having an espresso cart in a location helps boost its image as well as provide an amenity for employees and visitors to the building.

pulling the shot

Perfected in Italy, espresso is a strong, dark coffee made by forcing water at high-pressure through just-ground and tamped Arabica coffee beans.

Using the espresso machine, the baristas "pull the shot," producing small cups of espresso, which unlike filtered American-style coffee still has the oil in it, giving it its rich flavor.

There are over 50 variables that go into making good espresso and related drinks, including beans, grind, water temperature and pressure, extraction time, milk texture and quality of other ingredients, Ashley said.

Made incorrectly, espresso can live down to its reputation among critics as a dark and bitter drink.

But done right, espresso is not only delicious on its own, it can serve as the basis for a variety of other drinks, say the McCauleys.

Add a layer of steamed milk to espresso and top with foam sprinkled with nutmeg or cinnamon to make a "wet" cappuccino. Leave out the layer of milk for a "dry" one.

Blend in the steamed milk to make a marbleized cafe latte with a foam top. Substitute half and half for milk for a breve. Add chocolate and top with whipped cream for a cafe mocha, or just add the espresso to hot water for an Americano.

Some might think such expertly prepared coffee drinks are a luxury, but at prices ranging from $1.50 to $3.75 at the Buzz, they are an affordable one for most people, the McCauleys point out.

"We use top-quality chocolate and expensive coffee beans, but at $3, you don't have to be rich to buy one," Ashley said about the mocha drinks.

The baristas at the Buzz also finish with a flourish by giving customers a roasted, chocolate- covered coffee bean with their drinks.

"We take our cue from the Nordstroms," Matt said. "It's all about customer service."

For a list of Buzz locations and more information about the company, visit www.espressouniverse.com.