Ul. Krupnicza 12/3 31-123 Kraków As expected, the day starts relatively late and, once again, my consumption habits seize control of the group direction. This time it is in the form of speciality coffee as I seek out something more than just a hit of caffeine with some care taken about its taste and texture to soothe my need for high-end Java juice from across the globe. Once collectively showered (although taking it in turns individually, I can assure you), a trot to the South of our central location takes us through parkland filled with scenery and sculptures before emerging in a suburb where Karma Kawa serves up a sour mash of beans that has an almost cherry like bite to it that pierces through the oat milk I always opt for in my latte. The smooth and silky pour jostles with this in an intriguing, but not unpleasant, way and doesn’t so much coat the tongue as caresses it in a sweet and sour combination that leaves you wanting more. In my present state, I’m just grateful for the pick-me-up without having to wrestle with something that’s a challenge to swallow but the complex flavours are hard to pin down with me reluctant to call it fruity and no great deal of sharp acidity. I roll it around my tongue time and again to try and form a concoction of words for it but nothing comes forth in my sleep-deprived situation. The cafe itself is a sharp, bright cubby hole of a room cluttered with brews and baked goods that can be clustered up on limited tables or taken outside for a snack in the sunshine. Hardly hipster but full of young professional types, it clatters with an energy of erudite workings and I can see why it’s so popular as a queue begins to mount behind me and I’m ushered briskly but politely out of the way once my coffee has come.
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Grodzka 11, 31-006 Kraków, Poland https://knittedcoffee.pl Searching for speciality coffee, I have a co-conspirator who has similar tastes when it comes to sampling slightly better brews. My research tells me there’s a spot that’s about a 15-minute walk away from the hostel and I wonder if this might be pushing the agreeability of the now largely hungover and definitely sleep-deprived group. I proffer the name and it would appear that more locations have popped up around the city than just the one I had read about, with one being right in the centre of the old town, a five-minute meander from our beds. Knitted Coffee has the unique selling point of providing both caffeinated beverages and woollen products for the ultimate in cosy combinations. I’m also tempted by the pin badge selection they have, since I often apply them to (and lose them from) my backpack but I came for one thing and one thing only. The actual shop is a tiny unit with a few bench seats lining one wall and Instagram-friendly neon lights for influencers and tourists alike but the coffee is no lesser for the obvious tilt at tourist money. Sweet and caramelesque, it’s almost like biting into a soft centred chocolate and having the gooey innards coat your tongue. Warming and mild it has an unobtrusive sweetness that is only heightened by the oat milk of my latte. I later go back to try it as an iced oat latte too, only to have my tastes confirmed that this sweetness really works well whether hot or cold. Silky smooth too, it is what the standard for non-acidic coffee should be. No challenging fruitiness or sharpness, it’s rounded and comforting like a welcoming cosy knit-jumper and I guess that’s where the combination idea comes from.. 32 Rue de l'Hôtel de ville, 81000 Albi, France The French coffee scene isa little bit odd because, whilst the average cup of coffee served up and down the country in bars, brasseries, tea shops and tool sheds is half-decent and, generally speaking, of a better quality than most standard coffees found in Britain, speciality coffee isn't wildly prevalent. Of course, in major cities you'll find it but elsewhere may be a struggle, so when I spotted the undeniable angular boxiness of a LaMazorroco espresso machine, I knew I had to make a stop. The name MoMaTcha suggests more of a focus on teas but the menu allays any fears I stumble through my request in pidgin French before managing to order an oat-milk flat white. Arriving on a bamboo platter, I am overjoyed to see latte art topping off my coffee. It's strong and smooth, and has a bitter after taste that lets you know you've definitely been drinking coffee. I enjoy the rich earthiness that lacks any sort of acidity but is not too creamy when coupled with milk (alternative). This is the ideal way to spend time in France; sitting outside a café, enjoying the sun on your face and a proper cup of coffee. Place Jean Jaurès immeuble des Arcades, 81100 Castres, France Etienne, a strange sort of cafe-come-boutique that positions itself as a sort of novelty coffee shop that sells flavoured coffees topped with cream and all sorts of ephemera. This would usually initiate suspicious thoughts that this may not be the place to go for speciality coffee but the back wall is covered in chutes of beans with their origin, roast and preparation on so you might select a personally tailored bag of beans to take home. The coffee I order in-house is mild and smooth and, although I have to settle for soy milk over oat, it's creamy enough in its palate that it complements a latte nicely. Prater 80/2, 1020 Wien, Austria Vienna’s famed Volksprater offers many things to the residents of Austria’s capital. A funfair with a Ferris wheel that can be seen from all over the city, an entertainment park with bowling, and a cinema, and plenty of brunch spots, eateries, and bars to make the most of. But, tucked away, at one end of the Prater, is the Viennese Coffee Roasters or Wiener Rösthaus. A veritable funfair itself, at least for the average coffee enthusiast, the Rösthaus is filled to the brim with speciality equipment whilst at least one wall is lined with beans from across the globe that you can choose from. In fact, source your beans for the exact brew method you want and you can either have them served up to you then and there, or prepared in a bag to be taken home for your own brewing pleasure. It is a palace built to honour the Viennese tradition of coffee, and yet, seems so absurdly out of place in an arena dedicated to noise and excitement when itself is a serene oasis of caffeinated delight. I’m rather surprised by it, taking up a prime tourist location spot, you feel it should be cheaply sought and expensively sold coffee but that is a rapidly dispelled notion by a simple glance of what they have to offer, and a taste of their house blend in a silky smooth oat latte. I note that they do barista training and coffee courses, and wonder if I had perhaps deliberately been kept away by my acquaintances until the last day of my visit here. Either way, I was ecstatic to practice my school boy German and get all the way to the end of ordering my coffee before having to switch back to English to say ‘take away’. Something that elicited a polite, but knowing, laugh from my server. Boutique-y in nature, I’d love to spend hours rifling through what oddities I could find for my home brewing setup in amongst their wares, but not being local nor blessed with endlessly deep pockets, I resist the urge and make a mental note should I ever return. For a city famed for its coffee houses, they apparently serve pretty poor coffee. Like any capital though, there are plenty of third/fifth wave cafés to seek out the better stuff, but getting the premium stuff takes a little more searching. I turn to Lonely Planet’s Global Coffee Tour, a flight from a friend that has served me well on my travels down the years and I hope the ones detailed here have survived the hit of COVID. With two of the best in the world listed in Vienna, I only have time to get to one and Alt Kafee Wien is the one that, geographically, suits my needs. Calling it a café undersells this glorious emporium of equipment and brews, a chapel of caffeine, a shrine to the beany beverage, the shelves are stacked to the ceiling with high end ephemera and bags of the finest blends and single origins. I manage to order a few oat lattes in my school boy German but asking for a recommendation for beans to take home is beyond me and so I take the plunge and just risk picking up a bag and hoping for the best. The gent serving assesses my choice and, in flawless English, says, “You know this is decaffeinated , right?” “Oh, god no!” He chuckles heartily at this as I put it back on the shelf. “I think, perhaps, you are a bit young for this.” “Yeah, perhaps in 30 years, maybe.” For some reason this really tickles him and he cracks up as I try to ask what’s good for a home espresso machine. In between guffaws he hands me the Rossini blend and I dutifully pay as he lines up the lattes for me and my mates. We can still hear him chortling and saying “decaf”, as he shakes his head, when we leave. The latte is a single origin from Cuba that has a smooth, rich bitterness that is cut nicely with the sweetness of the oat milk. It seems sweeter and to me out here than back home but I don’t know if that’s the case or if I’m just overthinking it. I’m genuinely chuffed we made it here, and that my mates made the time for me to make this little discovery. Does it deserve its name as one of the best in the world? I don’t know but it’s certainly one of the best I’ve been to. Scheurlstraße 11, 90478 Nürnberg, Germany A brief reprieve, a silent slip away from the city centre and into a residential area and I am lost but lost with purpose. This is only the second time I’ve been to Nuremberg but it is a city that lends itself to wandering. The large open roads, pedestrianised old town and the wealth of history and architecture make for an atmospheric stroll but I am on the hunt for a specific prize, something to give me the necessary perk and pick me up to soldier on through the stag-do shenanigans that I have transplanted here for. I know Berlin is the city where German caffeine fiends flock to and I also know the Deutsch love their drip and filter coffee, so I am dubious about coming across a decent espresso joint but I’m led to believe that there are three of note with the nearest being a 15-minute walk from the hostel. Whilst everyone else slowly stirs from a long night of drinking, I shower and shoot out to find this morning elixir. Heading North and away the old town seems a little odd given that you’d assume this would be the prime place to find these houses of hot stimulation but all seemed to be dotted on the fringes, happy to waver on the edge of the city centre but never quite enter its boundaries. I actually pass the place I’m looking for a couple of times because I don’t expect to find it on a street filled with flats and parking spaces, the glass fronted shop almost looking like an extension or conservatory but once inside the tiny unit is almost the perfect setup of what an ideal coffee shop should be. A wood panelled countertop piled high with espresso machine, aero press and other assortment of brewing methods, a glass cabinet crammed with pastries also fights for space. The back wall is decked with bags of beans so that you might just pluck one up on your way to pay, whilst the glass on the other two makes it feel very open and airy despite its small scale. I struggle through some GCSE German to order a black coffee but when the server responds with a big grin and perfect English, I abandon this and ask if they have non-dairy milk before switching my order to an oat latte. A Brazilian/Kenyan blend that is so rich and yet manages to compliment the oat milk completely, I would have almost thought it was tailored exactly for my needs and whilst sipping on this I decide also to try the vegan ciabatta advertised on the backboard since the cafe clearly knows it’s stuff when it comes to plant based diets. So impressed by the coffee am I, that I pick up a bag before heading for the the door, undoubtedly delighted by this unexpected find. Runstraat 6, 1016 GK Amsterdam, Netherlands There is a certain irony in having a coffee in a city where 'coffee shop' is a euphemism for something entirely different but once inside this particular establishment there is no surprise as to why it made the list of the best. Perhaps I was initially drawn in by the name of 'Screaming Beans' but the interior itself is a sleek, modern thing of beauty that welcomes you into its impressive surroundings. Whilst travelling, I've noticed how, in different countries, you get presented with a little something that, more often than not, compliments the flavour of the blend. The traditional accompaniment is an Italian biscotti that offers an ultra sweet bite to contrast a strong, dark espresso. In Austria I found they serve a small praline chocolate to match the sweet nutty tones and in Amsterdam I received a tiny square of Brownie (just a regular one I'm afraid.) Rich, warm and chocolatey that went oh so well with the smooth creamy latte. Kárastígur 1, 101 Reykjavík, Iceland A surprisingly bright warm day, I had directed us to Reykjavik Roasters, an independent coffee roastery and cafe that I was eager to discover. Being a bit of a caffeine fiend, I was overwhelmed by this discovery and drank down the nutty, caramelesque latte with aplomb only to go back up once again and buy a bag of beans I could use with my own coffee machine at home. It is the little comforts of such things that make going home a joy but when you can take a little something of what you have experienced on such amazing trips like this one with you then perhaps you are luckier than you first thought. Vendersgade 6D, 1363 København, Denmark
Coffee Collective is a speciality coffee micro roastery, with three coffee shops in Copenhagen, that was formed by a former world cup tasting champion, a master roaster, an architect and a former world barista champion. This combination alone means it is held in very high stead by coffee lovers alike and it is consistently ranked as one of the best coffee shops in the world and, given the opportunity, I just had to try a latte made by a former world champion barista. The one we settled upon was in the food market of Torvehallerne, a glassed-in area of artisan food and drink stalls, the finest organic produce and typical Danish fare next to international cuisine. In short, it is something akin to London's famous Borough Market but in a more upmarket setting. The coffee, by the way, was alright. |
AuthorThe Mean Bean Machine (Vincent Wood) Archives
August 2023
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