Artisan Roast

Whenever you hear about coffee in the UK you always hear about Square Mile and Hasbean, and sometimes Climpson & Sons and Union (and for good reason, I've had coffee from the former 3 and they're great!) . But since my roommate Seth was checking out Scotland I thought it would be worthwhile to look into what reputable roaster are in the Highlands.

Anyway Seth brought back some delicious Santa Clara Antigua Guatemala and Red Bourbon Rwanda roasted by Artisan Roast, which has cafes/roasteries in both Glasgow and Edinburgh. I've been enjoying both coffees so much I thought I would share this video i found on their Facebook.

Scottish Barista championships 2011 from Benjamin Cowie on Vimeo.

P.S. Seth was lucky enough to get a cappuccino from the barista featured in the video.

Cappuccino

Cappuccino, Intelligentsia from The D4D on Vimeo.

I love this beverage, and Intelligentsia does it right!

Home Brew

Anyone who reads this blog knows that I can be rather pretentious when it comes to coffee. I love it, but through a series of events largely outside of my control, I developed a taste for only the very best. However, I also live in a place where artisan, fresh roasted coffee is hard to come by. Thankfully I'm very blessed to have a lot of loving friends who have indulged my opulent addiction, even from long distances.

In the past year I've brewed coffee from some of America and Europe's best roasters here at my apartment in Istanbul- all with my Hario V60, Hario Skerton grinder, and traditional Turkish tea pot. These roasters include:

PT's

Cartel

Barismo

Sunergos

Square Mile

Counter Culture

Terroir

Intelligentsia

The Coffee Collective

I'm not bragging- I just want to share how blessed I was. Thank you to everyone who had a part in this... also you'll be glad to know I shared the deliciousness with a lot of people.

The Coffee Collective

As an American, my concept of Europe has always been like a fairytale land. There are real castles, royal families, and enough smugness to make the untraveled Yankee feel like he stepped into a story where everyone is better educated and impeccably dressed.

Such presuppositions certainly carried over into my thoughts about the Coffee Collective, the Copenhagen based roaster and coffee bar. Having followed their blog for several years now, I was already a huge fan before I took a sip. The Coffee Collective belonged with Hans Christian Anderson fairy tales and free health care, wonderful ideas that don't actually exist.

Amazingly the Coffee Collective is a real place in a real neighborhood and anyone, even regular people, can have a cup of coffee there.... and it's really good.

Highlights of my visit:

• Meeting two fellow coffee pilgrims, Haley and Neil, from the UK. It was wonderful to talk with other people that love coffee so much that they flew to another country to taste it. Haley runs a coffee shop in Norwich called The Window. It serves Hasbean coffee (delicious!) and looks lovely.
• An aeropress of their La Esmeralda Special. Honestly one of the best coffees I've ever had. Sqeaky clean with a honey-like body. Tons of floral and fruit subnotes my limited palate has a hard time articulating. In a word: wonderful.
• Seeing the very bemused look on the barista's face when I asked her to pose with Toto (see above picture). Actually this is only sort of a highlight because Danes are really hip and I really felt like a dork asking.
  
• being mistaken by a group of customers as a barista- I wish.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to the 5 of my readers who will find this funny.

A Crafty Christmas from Brendan Inkognito on Vimeo.

Christmas in Copenhagen

It's after Thanksgiving, which means it's okay to start (openly) listening to Christmas music, decorate the house, and subtlety drop hints about reasonably priced present ideas when talking with friends. I've been listening to Sufjan's Christmas albums (of course), Sojourn's Advent Songs, and Vince's Guaraldi's A Charlie Brown Christmas; I haven't put our tree up (maybe after my Turkish test on Friday?); and Peter Pan Peanut Butter is pretty much a commodity in my part of the world.

Sadly, this Christmas will mark the first time I will not be with my (biological) family for the holidays. But thankfully some good friends in Denmark are hosting me and a few expat friends in Copenhagen. While I don't think we'll be spending $200 at voted-best-restaurant-in-the-world Noma it's my ambition to visit:

• The Coffee Collective, an innovative group that's doing wonderful things in the specialty coffee industry.
• The Louisiana Museum, which hosts a impressive collection of modern and contemporary art.
• Malmo, Sweden. A charming nordic city with cool cafes and architecture that will also bring my total countries-visited count up double digits.

PTs v. Square Mile

This is the coffee I've been drinking lately. Both are delicious, but I have to admit I'm enjoying the peachy sweet PT's El Salvador Finca Los Planes a little more than the smooth blackcurrant of the Kangocho AA Nyeri Square Mile.

Both are first class though and I'm feeling pretty lucky to have fresh coffee from (possibly) the best roasters in America and the UK.

London Coffee: Part 2

Day 2 in London I was joined by two good friends that I met in Istanbul, Chris and Jana, both of who now work in the UK.

First stop: Tapped and Packed. Although they repeatedly came up in my research about London coffee shops, I didn't initially plan to check them out. However, they came highly recommended from Kaffeine and the fact that the serve coffee from 3 different UK roasters was enticing.

After finding their shop in the ultra-trendy Fitzrovia neighborhood (the shop's sign only has it's address on it, which is kind of tricky). I ordered a pour-over of the seasonal single origin selection, a Costa Rica Finca de Licho from Has Bean, and a shot of the house espresso, which is roasted by Climpson & Sons. The Costa Rica was honey sweet with notes of strawberries and raspberries - honestly the most exciting coffee I've had in a while. The espresso was great too, but was definitely overshadowed by how much I enjoyed the pour-over. Chris ordered a giant piece of cake with his coffee and Jana had a flat white (which I also ended up drinking a good deal of).

[Jana poses with her Flat White.]
[Chris enjoyed his cake.]

Next up was Flat White, a cafe in SoHo that helped pioneer the new wave in the mid 2000s. I ordered a shot of their espresso, which is a custom blend from Square Mile. It was good, but I think it probably was better suited for milk. Next time I'll be sure to order their namesake.

London Coffee: Part 1

London is easily a contender for the greatest city on earth. It was the first city to reach a million people since before the fall of Rome, has many of the most iconic landmarks and priceless artifacts on earth, and is the location of the beloved film from my childhood, The Great Mouse Detective.

And yet the single thing I was most excited about in the city was the coffee.

Yes. Even though Brits are traditionally a tea-drinking people, London has emerged as one of the leading urban centers in regards to roasting and brewing specialty coffee- so much so that after looking at the list of coffee shops I wanted to visit I quickly realized I didn't have the caffeine tolerance to check out even half the list during my short stay in Jolly Ole'.

First up was a shop that captured my imagination some time ago when I first learned of it's existence.

The Espresso Room is aptly name; there's barely enough room for all the coffee equipment there and none for a table. They have a modest selection of soups and sandwiches but the lion's share of this glorified closet host a serious arsenal of coffee equipment brewing up Square Mile and Has Bean coffee. I had a shot of Square Mile's Autumn Espresso blend and a flat white, both expertly made by Daniel, an Aussie who was nice enough to explain the Australian etymology of "flat white" as well as explain a bit of the history of the coffee scene in London. I'm not the only customer who's been impressed recently- Time Out London voted The Espresso Room "Best New Coffee".

Next up was Kaffeine, another Antipodean owned cafe serving Square Mile. Exposed brick and a gorgeous Synesso provided a hip atmosphere and my latte was top-notch; however, what impressed me the most was how amicable and helpful the baristas were. In fact they even asked me questions about my coffee experience in America! I must say, if British third-wave is beating its colonial cousin in any category it's here: customer service/interaction. At some of best shops I've been to in America the approach seems to be "treat everyone like an idiot until they prove otherwise". In the UK, my coffee experience was that most baristas are courteous, respectful, and friendly. In fact the only disappointment of the day was that James Hoffman was suppose to be there to help them install their new 3 group head Synesso but instead he was in America. Ironic.

Next time in part two: Tapped and Packed and Flat White

Sunergos

The new location surpasses all my expectations. Great job guys.

Kahveci

Today I went to the Mısır Çarşısı with my photographer/guitar teacher friend Numan, where I bought a cezve and some freshly ground Türk kahvesi. Numan asked me to pose on the steps of the famous Yeni Camii (New Mosque), which was pretty cool and scenic until I got attacked by a flock of Hitchcockian pigeons.

Back at the house Numan taught Seth and me how to make Turkish coffee. Pretty pumped to have trans-continental barista abilities now.

Riding the Third Wave

thuis BARISTA koffietour Londen from Coen Remmelts on Vimeo.

This video has been out for a while, but it's new to me. I wish this guy would shoot a video like this for every major urban center, but those going to/living in London should be glad that most of the best spots to get coffee have been featured in one trendy video.

Finca Los Andes

From Cartel Coffee Lab:

Finca Los Andes

Juan Jose Ernesto Menendez

Arguello

1700 Meters
70% Red Bourbon, 25% Orange Bourbon,
5% Kenya and Typica
red wine - cherry - dry
Santa Ana, Apaneca-Ilamatepec
El Salvador

This farm only produced four bags for the entire year, and we have procurred the only two to make it to the US! From the same farmers that have many great coffees like Alaska, La Illusion, and La Suisa, comes one of their new offerings from the same mountain. With this balanced cup in hand, you will notice a red wine dryness, coffee cherry flavor, and a pleasantly dry finish you might expect from a great cabernet. Please enjoy responsibly! (Buzz not included.)

The Best of Beantown

It's nice having people visiting from Boston.

Exerts

I brewed the last little bit of my Counter Culture Guatemala iced, so refreshing in this humid 33 C heat. Kind of scary to be out of (drinkable) coffee, but glad to know some of Louisville and Phoenix's best is on the way. Kahve geliyor!

Really been enjoying playing "Treats" by Sleighbells as my get-motivated-for-a-full-day-0f-Turkish-class soundtrack on the train every morning. A lot of fellow mass transit commuters must be wondering why my head is bobbing so early in the morning. The answer is infectious beats my friends.

Speaking of Turkish class, I'm finally learning conditional clauses, something I've longed to be able to say for a while now. Türkçe öğrenirsen, çok pratik yap!

After what's been essentially a 4 year hiatus, I've decided to start writing poetry again. Not sure how it's going to turn out now that I've lost most of my brooding teenage angst.

Been enjoying reading T.S. Elliot, Orhan Pamuk, and N.T. Wright lately- when there is time, which isn't often.

Buna Ababa

"We call this coffee Buna Ababa, or "Coffee Flower", for a reason. Notes of jasmine, lemon blossom, and gardenia lead to flavors of citrus, bergamot, and honey above an elgant, delicate body in the cup. This is perhaps the most regal and brilliant coffee anywhere and these coffees are always firm favorites of coffee connoisseurs." - Tasting Notes from Counter Culture Coffee.

In other words I am "l2l"ing this month's coffee of the month from Counter Culture. Grateful to get my hands on a bag.

Bike Snob on 3rd Wave Coffee

My favorite online cultural commentator, Bike Snob NYC, recently offered a rather biting critique of third wave coffee in New York. As a bike-loving coffee snob, I love seeing cross-polination between my rather esoteric interests- even if it isn't always self congratulatory admiration.

Hey, there's nothing wrong with fancy coffee (just like there's nothing wrong with fancy cars or fancy 29ers) but if we really took our coffee seriously in New York we'd still be purchasing it for pocket change and drinking it from paper cups on the way to work. Turning the drinking of a beverage that wakes you up in the morning into a lifestyle is the complete opposite of being "serious." It seems to me that if you want to sit around all day doing nothing except obsessing over the plant you're consuming then marijuana would be a more appropriate choice. Coffee is for working; "Wednesday Weed" is for not working. In that respect we should be copying Amsterdam and not Portland.

Funny because it's true?

Lower Cases and Capitals

A few snapshots and bylines from yesterday's DC trip:

I found the Abraham Lincoln Memorial the most compelling place on the mall. But I'm not sure if that is because of Lincoln's somber, fist-clenched stare or because of his articulate 2nd inauguration address engraved on the wall.
It's been a long time dream of mine to see the Wright Flyer, but the part of the exhibit I was the happiest to see was this gorgeous fixed-gear, one of 5 surviving bikes built by the Wright Bros. I would definitely rock those bars.

The Chester Dale Collection was my favorite part of the National Gallery of Art. This Manet was particularly striking.

This picture is significant because I believe it is the first Pablo Picasso I've seen that I've really like. I particularly love the drab colors, minimal attention to detail, and the clean lines.

The District of Colombia has a really killer coffee seen and I was able to stop by Chinatown Coffee and Peregrine Espresso. Peregrine ranked among my favorite coffee experiences, largely due to a great conversation with a couple of the baristas who were preparing for the Mid-Atlantic Barista Competition next week. I got a double shot of the seasonal Nemba, Burundi espresso, which did not disappoint.

We finished the day at Zest Bistro, a hip new-American restaurant. Just looking at the picture makes me hungry.

I must say I'm very pleased my nation's capital is so cool.

Barista Bash

Get excited.

Mean Mugging

Actual conversation in a coffee shop recently.

Me: "Could I get that cappuccino in a mug?"
Barista: "No, you can't."
(I pause for a second to see if she was being sarcastic. She wasn't.)
Me: Oh, are you closing soon?
Barista: We close at eight.
(I glance at the clock and see that it's just past seven.)
Me: hmm.
(Grudgingly drink my cap from a styrofoam cup with Starbucks style foam.)