I stopped by Carmel's yesterday morning to grab a quick latte. Living all the way over in Surprise, an actually good espresso based beverage is a rarity in my daily life. And this was certainly one of those rare mornings! The latte came out at the perfect temp, the espresso/milk/thin layer of foam proportion was expertly done. They use Cartel beans, which is good. But it also leads to a very easy comparison that frankly works against them a bit. Cartel just knows their beans better and I have had better espresso from said purveyor. The espresso had the tasted like the pressure was a bit too high, causing some mild over extraction that resulted in an unrefined finish. However, the baristas at Cartel have experience out the wazoo and Carmel's is still pretty young. So, in brief, it was a very tasty latte but it wasn't melt-my-face-off delicious. But there is huge potential here and I know of no better espresso within a reasonable distance. Well done, Carmel's!