creative ambience

For me it’s important that a café remains a meeting place for people. Some cafés, such as Four Barrel in San Francisco or The Barn in Berlin, take this to a point that is philosophical. They want you to enjoy not only your cup, but your company without disturbance from wifi or other attention occupiers. At Da Matteo Fridhemsplan we do offer free wifi, and we do have music. Sometimes, due to the fact that we share our space with a retail store, the music isn’t optimal either. I remember with horror last Christmas pumping consumption music beeing played outrageously loud while people were basically sculling their espressos to get out.

My interest is in the cultural sector, and I do like photography. We have quite a few regulars and some really boring walls, so when a photo class student asked if she could place her images on our wall as an exhibition, it was a starting point for a rotating system that now is booked months in advance with people wanting to put their stuff on our walls.

I won’t discriminate, and we let amateurs, semi- and true professionals hang their stuff on our walls alike. It’s also political. In order to hang at a gallery, you’re expected to sell your stuff. If you get in at all. The public space is closed for most artists. So, the café is the perfect meeting space where you can sit alone and watch someone elses view of the world while waiting for someone, or enjoying that cup.

We also love to see when the people themselves put on an opening. It opens up possibilites to reach out to new customers and people that didn’t even knew you existed. I won’t lie, I’ll probably put my own stuff up there at one point. This is what makes independant artisan coffee houses unique, and almost the last outpost for an DIY culture. I know there are several other cafés in Stockholm putting up various photographs/art. Kafé Esaias, Drop Coffee to name a few. Also Snickarbacken host a real gallery inside the café. And not forgetting Moderna Muséet, the MOMA of Stockholm, that hosts a brilliant espresso bar. Art and coffee goes together!

Right now you can see Sven Isakssons photographs taken live in Stockholm during 2012, of various rock’n'rollers. Unique and exclusive pictures of Mick Mars, Slash and Iggy Pop to name a few! Very cool, very rock’n'roll!

NP: At The Gates The Architects

 

 

Berlin revisited

Chris enjoying a coffee at Five Elephant

It was more than a year ago I was in Berlin, and so much had happened it was time to go back for a visit. My main focus was going to see good mates Chris Onton and Shawn Barbers latest venture, Companion Coffee, a new favorite to the Berlin scene placed in the Voo store that previously hosted CK Voo. Also, from last, I had to see Five Elephant where Da Matteo barista Kim Björnsson had previously worked, as well as Chapter One, considered by the Berlin crowd to be the best on the scene.

To me, Paris is a dirty yet inviting city. London is busy and bustling. Berlin, is like the best of all the cities I like, put together in one. Street art everywhere, scary but never hostile. Easy to get around, yet so huge it’s almost unbelieavable. My girlfriend and I needed a break from the dreary Stockholm pace, and saw ourselves going for 48 hrs to our favorite city.

We opted to stay at the Michelberger Hotel, which by itself was worth the trip. My old co worker and friend Chris Onton met us at the bar in the hotel, and we stayed up late on our first night. The morning after, we had a hearty breakfast, and then walked down to The Five Elephant to have something that wasn’t aeroplane coffee (that’s the only thing undrinkable in the whole hotel). A bustling café and roaster in the middle of a residential area recently gentrified, serving some of the best coffee I’ve had in Berlin. Owner and roaster Kris took time with us to have a coffee and a hearty chat. We actually met at the Nordic Roaster Forum, but I never connected the dots until now.

Next stop was Chapter One, where I was hoping to see the owner Nora. Unfortunately she was out, butBjörn was more than helpful. We opted for a filter Ethiopian and a syphoned Kenyan. The syphon was one of the best I’ve had, and Björn explained the device thoroughly. I can see why coffee afficianados rate Chapter One so high. A lovely space, and so friendly! Will try to come back as soon as I can!

Returning to the crime scene, we found ourselves having a coffee and cake at The Barn, where I was hoping to see Ralf, the owner. Last time I was here, I served my competition blend on the espresso machine! He as well was out, but I learnt later that I was served my coffee from Thomas Lehoux’ sister who worked there. Thomas is the owner of Ten Belles in Paris, and a good mate! Little did I know! Contacted Ralf, and met up with him at the new Barn, which also hosts the roastery. The place is absolutely stunning. Ralf, a person known for his attention to detail, has made an immaculate space to present coffee the way he feels it deserves to be presented; without any disturbances from outer sources such as crying babies or your own indulgence in your laptop. It’s admirable! Ralf told me a lot of mothers have written him to thank him, since they want to use their child free time, in a child free environment. Any which way, I find that The Barn offers something unique in the world of coffee, especially as I find that Speciality Coffee so long have ignored one of the major elements in its presentation, being the environment.

From the Barn, it’s not far fetched to go see two former employees of Ralf; Chris and Shawn. I met up with Shawn earlier last year in Vancouver, and he is a spectacular guy! For him and Chris to join forces seems like the most natural marriage made in heaven. Where Cory Andreen once occupied the space at Voo, Chris and Shawn took over and created Companion Coffee. Since we were coffeed out upon arrival, we had sneaky Baileys instead, before meeting up for ramen in Mitte.

The following day, after ramen + drinks with Shawn, Chris and film festival PR manager Claire with a wet ending at our hotel, we went out to see The Cafe At The End of the World. Apparently two bike couriers with coffee passion, being home baristi extraordinaire, decided to open up a café. This is in a residential area, in a rather new building. Despite this, the guys have created a stunning location that actually looks old. The coffee used comes from The Barn, and we went there to see Chris train the guys in coffee making. I really hope it is a success among the locals, cause it’s such a stunning site, and the guys are just lovely!

After having the worst hung over pizza ever, we went and saw Cory at CK Café, one of my favorite haunts in Berlin. Yet again it’s like being greeted like a regular, when in fact it’s only my second visit. We were offered some very good coffee from Solberg&Hansen, in my case a CoE Mexican coffee as an aeropress. My strongest impression from Cory is when I witnessed him take home the World Champion title in the Cupping in Vienna 2012. Such a lovely guy! And now he asks me if I know how to fix his toaster he bought on ebay for 14 Euros. Cory leaves us at Godshot where I meet up wih Denize that I did shifts with at the Brew Bar at the WBC last summer. Lots of coffee, lots of talk on afro hair.

Berlin is becoming a home to me in so many ways. Just the idea that a cappuccino costs you 2.70 and a glass of sekt or prosecco costs 2.90 in the same bar is somewhat overwhelming. To stop at for instance Dada Falafel for lunch and have a meal for two including beer for under 10 euros is almost ridiculous when you consider that the setting is a coctail bar after 6pm at night. There’s art everywhere, and people in general seem aware but not politically pretentious. I really can’t see myself not moving here eventually.

The coffee scene might be up to scratch with Sweden or Paris, but the design is definitely in a league of its own. All the details are stunning. In a very simple setting. Just staying at the hotel is inspirational. And affordable. Take notice, Sweden!

NP Kent Berlin

Swedish Brewers Cup 2013

This years Swedish Brewers Cup and Cupping championships were held at the Fast Food fair in Stockholm. I was tempted to enter the cupping, but decided not to, especially since there were already four people from Da Matteo entering. That didn’t stop me from entering the Brewers Cup though, with a total of three (with myself included) from us competing. The Cupping championships were a very exciting one, and in the end Tobias Palm from Johan&Nyström was crowned a worthy winner! All the best of luck to him in Nice this year! 

In all honesty, I entered the Brewers Cup for all the wrong reasons hence me not winning. At least that’s what I tell myself. Making it to Melbourne was more intriguing than to compete, and competing to do it together with our own Ellen who has never competed before was more fun than training in order to nail it. Needless to say, I didn’t make it all the way. But two things needs to be said regarding this: first of all; all competitors were really good, and regardless if I had been prepared and practiced like crazy, the competition was fierce! The second thing is that the competition itself was a mess.

The first round was a compulsory serve where no one was to know what coffee was used. We did have one day in order to train on the coffee, however upon arrival the sponsor grinders were home barista tools and not anything like professional ones, and thus that parameter was out the window. At least it was the same for everyone. The glamour you witness in the picture above is the competitor area behind stage, where three baristi at a time are preparing their drinks, with one grinder each and sharing a water boiler that was sort of half functioning. At least it was the same shitty situation for everyone, and everyone made it through to the individual presentation, as the total score showed who won the competition.

My own presentation was directed to the idea that Speciality Coffee needs to be approachable. Hence my direction to the crowd, something that the judges didn’t like (I wasn’t the only one though). But even if I understand the point they are making, a few of us wanted to take the opportunity to reach out to the public in such an environment that is inviting to do so. The idea of competitions are to educate and attract, as well as develop the Speciality Coffee industry. This is where I might disagree with the judges.

Second from Da Matteo Stockholm was my sparring partner, Ellen Klintenberg, one of the most solid baristi in Stockholm I know of actually. This was her first competition, and I know she was very nervous really wanting to do the Nekisse she was presenting justice! I tasted the coffee, and it was great, but her presentation was one of the most solid I’ve seen. I would very much like to see her do more competitions in the future, cause I think she really has what it takes to win! The picture above is taken just as she has finished her presentation, and Erik (Rosendahl of Drop Coffee/SCAE, MC) is asking her a rather “funny” question, and Ellen is asking him if he is “f-in stupid”? Grrrrl power! The sky is the limit for this barista, and I am pretty sure she can win if she dares compete again!

A lot of great competitors went on and off stage, but as the clock struck four, the exhibition closed down and everyone had to leave. This was yet another disasterous moment in the competition, just after the fact that more than one barista had to break their performance due to technical collapse of the water boiler. Reggie Elliot was on stage second to last, doing his presentation only in the presence of other competitors and without a microphone. The picture shows the last seconds of his presentation, a rather dramatic finale to his routine that unfortunately cost him points due to overtime. What little I heard from the presentation though, I found it very solid, and I feel terrible for Reggie who had stressed all day to get in time and wrap his head around the coffee due to a cold… A true trooper!

Last out was Da Matteo’s Patrik Rolf Karlsson, competing on our spanking new Rwandan coffee. About this time, the workers at the exhibition hall were asking us to “f-in leave, will ya” and Patrik did a solid routine with myself as time keeper and two judges as only witnesses. He was happy about his routine though, and did everything he had set out to do, so with that in mind I think the context didn’t matter too much, but it’s a set up I don’t think any competitor deserves.

In the end the judges, Mats Carlson of Kaffeknappen and Daniel Remheden of Love Coffee, crowned one of my favorite people in coffee, Nico Castagno, the winner!

Nico was a combination of both nailing all his descriptors as well as addressing the judges in a very charming and approachable way. I’d like to add, that is the way he is as a barista in general, which I think just goes to show why he deserved the title! Nico will represent Sweden in Melbourne, and I wish him the best of luck!!

Unfortunately, he will not be able to prove his success as the Swedish Brewer of the year due to the fact that the trophy was lost by the organizers. And that basically is the straw that broke the camels back. I have seriously never seen a competition this poorly executed. Three people needs to be mentioned as troopers keeping the competition worth its salt regardless; the two judges already mentioned, who had to do so much more except judging (which is not supposed to be on a judges plate at all…) and Erik Rosendahl for doing the best and funniest MC’ing I’ve seen in a competition, keeping everyones spirits at a top level. Also worth mentioning is the fact that these rather horrid circumstances really brought out the best of the barista community, where everyone just helped and coached each other with great heart! And that is what it’s all about….

NP: The Shamen Ebeneezer Goode

That was the year that was…

…is one of my favorite albums from my childhood. It deals mostly with political satire, and this year has been an eye opener for me regarding both politics in general, and coffee politics specifically.

When I got back from Australia in 2010, I was desillusioned since the coffee scene didn’t really allow a father/husband of an age over 27 to have a full time job and yet a satisfactory salary at a café as a barista. I also saw that the dedication to the craft was only second to the struggle to survive financially for most individual cafés. A café job was somewhat destined to be a passage for those who studied or moved on to other things. I wanted to be in the industry, but I also wanted to survive. So for two years I held a full time job with my old McJob, while working for da Matteo on the side. This was the year the tables turned, and I actually got myself a full time position in coffee.

But it had a price. I lost my family, dealt with alcoholism and depression, and was homeless for a couple of months. I’m not blaming anyone but me for this, I did have a choice. And for what? A full time salary and the possibility to work on an überboiler and a vintage 1981 La Marzocco GS2? It’s easy to think that either I’m an über geek who loves gadgets more than life, or that I am now ready to become fat and happy. Well, I am already fat, and that is something I intend to change. And as much as I am happy to work on great equipment, I still think there’s a lot to do before the work is finished. In fact, I think it has only just started. Fine by me.

Yet another apocalypse that failed us this year, the Mayan calendar turned out to be disappointing yet again. Still, I think it made a slight impact on people in general. I for one have been more obsessed with that end of the world 80′s music that sort of was the soundtrack to an era that few people expected to live through some 30 years ago. On Twitter, this is the year I think the cracks were getting really visible. The cycle of information and discussion have been at a full end, and there’s beginning to show a counter cycle floating on top of that ocean of diarrhea consisting of high-fives and self promoting Awesomes that noone gets to call the bluff on. Going to the WBC this year, the coffees I got to try while brewing and walking round at various stands were far from as good as what you’d expect from the hyperbole of Twitter. Not that I expected anything else, but I hope it was an eye opener for a lot of people that the coffee at home you compare with those Awesome tweets, are just advertising the obvious – we want to sell. 

And here comes some of the negatives on that aspect. In Sweden the market of coffee isn’t nearly ready yet for Speciality Coffee. There are a number of cafés out there who actually get the idea of it. Most of them trained to understand it by larger micro roasters (that might sound like an oxymoron) such as J&N and Da Matteo. There is now a surge on the market of one- to three-man (well, mostly men, I can count to four female roasters in Sweden, sorry if I’ve forgotten someone) operations and they all seem to want their piece of the Speciality cake, rather than creating a new market. The cannibalization we’re beginning to see is actually counter productive: first of all, some of these roasters are not nearly as good in the cup as they are on advertising. This could actually work on a market that holds no knowledge in what “good coffee” actually is. But some cafés wants to sell by advertising, and might go with a brand that looks cool but doesn’t really taste that great. Second, when these roasters don’t deliver on time, get you rocks in your grinders or provide you with a coffee that doesn’t taste nearly the same each and every time, the cafés own customers are effected too! This is where “speciality” and “micro” isn’t always the same, even if you buy greens that are 80+. And price dumping? Don’t get me started. This short cut to gain attention at premium accounts will inevitably lead to either the micro roasters own demise, and moving the focus for the whole industry to a place where we have struggled so long to move away from.

Opening up your own units, like Da Matteo did in late 2012 in Stockholm, is actually a way to promote our coffee at the various outlets we have already established at customers cafés and retail locations. Without saying too much, I think we’re seeing more people doing the same in order to brand quality instead of flooding the market with a brand that doesn’t walk the walk. That might in short term mean that the perception in the general public is “branding”, but if we look at what Espresso House are doing for instance, you can see that even at a larger scale, with more than a 100 outlets throughout Sweden, this is actually possible in order to get more people to drink better coffee.

I think we will see more customer focused businesses, rather than just coffee focused. Or rather, coffee focused places realizing it’s not just about the coffee – there are customers involved too. Someone recently wrote something along the lines of “Don’t be snotty to a customer for adding milk and sugar, when you yourself an hour later order a 15 ingredient coctail”. Habits are hard to break, and are cultural. In my opinion adding sugar to an espresso I have never tasted before, is like going into a new restaurant and add salt to food I’ve never tried. If I realize my fries are too salty then, I know I made a fool out of myself. If the chef comes out and yell at me, I will never return.

For me personally, I think 2013 will put focus on my personal health and family first. I’ve procrastinated this long enough, and it’s time to actually step up and take control of my life! Things on my agenda in 2013 is exercise, kickboxing, yoga and better food habits. Beach 2013, here I come!

cleaning up my own mess

For me professionally (I work in coffee professionally, after all I make hot drinks for a living), I am looking forward to be competing in the Swedish Brewers Cup with one of our house favorites, made on a V60. We’ll have a new La Marzocco machine soon (no, not a Strada), and this spring will see us rotate some of our customers house blends as well as our own renowned ones. Together with the team at Da Matteo Fridhemsgatan we’ll most likely create our own blend during the spring.

Also looking forward to some coffee travel. I intend to visit Berlin, Paris, New York as well as Australia this year. And… this is the year I will start roasting! Finally…

NP: Eddie Murphy Party All The Time

A quick update

In the three weeks we’ve been open today, we’ve already had some great supportive visitors from the (global even) community. We’ve quietly started the public cuppings, we’ve had some stunning guest coffees brought to us (from Ritual Roasters and 49th Parallell among others), we’ve had Simian Ghost playing the shop, we’ve had tea and coffee workshop with the staff together with Kura Café (we are using their tea) and we’ve had some great times and made new friends!

The next step will be to get the lunch going, and eventually get breakfasts. And then world domination, but we’ll take one step at a time

NP: Shandi Living on the Edge

Da Matteo comes to town

I think by now, most people reading this are aware that Da Matteo have opened up their first own outlet in Stockholm. And I am very happy and proud to be a part of the whole arrangement, even though at the moment I can’t take credit for much that has happened there. It has been a very fast process, and to be honest I am still not fully grasping it to be reality. Yet still, it very much is!

We are currently using a very unique piece of equipment; a La Marzocco GS2, restored to mint condition by Espresso Specialisten. Since the café is situated inside a clothing/furniture store called Grandpa, dealing a lot with vintage stuff, it is a perfect introduction to the scene and what we’re about. To me, it’s very much like an old car; it needs to be driven carefully and its chrome needs to shine, and it’s not a car you race with but you cruise the streets and make some noise for the crowd! Still, it delivers a wicked espresso!

The main attraction for me though, is the Uberboiler from Marco. A built in scale and timer and consistent brewing temperature, who could ask for anything else? At the moment, it’s the crown jewel of the store in my opinion, and it is where we’re brewing Chemex and V60. At the moment we have five single origins on offer; two Ethiopians (one washed, one natural), one Kenyan, one El Salvador and one Guatemalan (all washed), and on the Bunn Smartwave we offer our seasonal blend as batch brew.

One cruicial bit for me is staff. Where to find good staff, without stealing them from either competitors or our own customers? And still have good people that are dedicated coffee and café minded? I’ve kept in touch with people who left the industry some time ago, and I always wanted to work with them if the opportunity should rise. They have, much to my relief and joy, accepted this and now I have three staff that are so much better than I have ever dared to dream about! Being part of something new, is inspiring to them and yet slightly challenging. I will present them individually later!

So this is a taster of what I’m up to these days coffee wise. I hope to bring more in depth covering once we go, but this first week has been really full for me to grasp, so I leave it for now! Swing by if you’re in town!

NP: Mark Morrison The Return of the Mack

Last shift!

Today was my last shift at Espressino. It has been some very fun hours, some very long hours, some very stressful hours, some rather quiet hours. Most of all, I’ve enjoyed it! For almost two years, I didn’t do steady bar work. I had almost forgotten what it was like to get up 4am and catch the first train in order to make sandwiches and all the other things a coffee person has to do before he or she can even touch the coffee.

Even though the concept right now is rather restricted to espresso, owner Alex is dead set on finding a way to get brewed coffee on the menu! I am sure he’ll get there! In one sense it is sad that it’s over. On the other hand, I am now moving on to my next project. What that will be, I will reveal soon enough!

NP: Chairlift Amanaemonesia

Nordic Roaster Forum 2012

Last years Nordic Roaster Forum, was hosted by da Matteo in Gothenburg. You can read about my experience then here. Since da Matteo is my employer, it was a no brainer for me to go. This year, I was more hestitant, since I am not a roaster even though roasting and cupping is two subjects I will try to indulge in more and more the coming years. It feels sometimes as if I go backwards in learning, and skim a lot of knowledge off topics I have little knowledge in really. But then again, I hope this knowledge sticks with me, as I become deeper involved with them later on.

Saying that I was hestitant, the kind and generous hosting of Johan&Nyström of this years NRF, made it easier to go since they reside in the same city as myself. And lots of friends were coming too! The venue was set at the acual J&N roastery in the suburbs of Stockholm, but the after hours activities were happening in the Stockholm City Centre.

The venue was indeed very “Nordic”, felt genuinly minimalistic but effective, and beautiful! You can read about the program as well as see all the lectures here, so I will not present them but only comment on a few things. First of all, I found the first day particularly interesting, since it was more about the culture regarding the relationship between producer, roaster and customer. We were presented three different type of relationship trade models for business. All of them with their unique touch. To each presentation was a cupping afterwards.

These are random thoughts regarding the cuppings, but what I found interesting from the point of view where all coffee is first of all in the hands of humans. In another way you could almost refer to the old Biblical idea that God is perfect, human are not. When cupping the first table, the water was already too cold when poured on top of the coffee. The result then, not ideal. The next batch of coffee, the roaster himself complained that the roasts weren’t ideal to what was presented on the table. And so on… I’m not pointing any other finger than when human touches coffee, it goes from perfection to a chain of events that can lead the cup to not be perfect. This to me proves that when we’re talking about coffee, we’re talking about the ideal outcome of that coffee, not how it actually tastes when presented touched by the human hand.

Very obvious for this observation was the last cupping of the event, where four roasters all presented the same coffee roasted in their own style.

There were several interesting things about this, I thought. First of all, you could definitely pick two of the roasters before it was revealed, just by listening to the reactions around the table. Second, it was kind of obvious that there seemed to be some sort of Norwegian touch to three of the coffees, and a Swedish style to the fourth, since it seemed they highlighted the same things in one country, with various results. Regardless, the fourth was so different it stood out in what seemed a negative way, which I think again is the error of Man. The debate afterwards was what could have happened with the outstanding batch. No conclusion was done, but a lot of suggestions came up. I’m not going to say this is pseudo scientific, but it seems a lot of times there are a lot of experts in a field where there is so many gaps of general knowledge still to be filled in. This is naturally very positive, but I wonder how much effort is put in to follow up on suggestions like these, to find some proper data?

I also wonder how these cups would stand up brewed in a bar on different days without being compared to each other. The suggestion of highlighting qualities against each other in this context, gives other outcome than drinking for pleasure. Or would we then blame the outcome in the cup on the barista?

Another very interesting topic was the panel discussion on the term “Direct Trade”, theme of the first day and also a term used and owned by two roasters in two different countries with two slightly different approaches. It seemed a little bit obvious that two roasters, with the public as their market, wants an easy way to “certify” their coffees, while the middle men, such as Coffee Collaborative Source and Nordic Approach, has a much more complex attitude towards it. To simplify, I’d say it’s because they don’t have the public, but the roasters, as their customer base. And then there was the small shop roaster who had the philosophy that he did direct trade, but didn’t necessarily wanted or needed to put it on his bags. Five attitudes towards “Direct Trade” then. One has to think though, that if you want to create a “certification” that goes for quality and premium price on that quality, you shouldn’t compare the price to the Fair Trade brand, that does not take responsibility for cup quality at all, but only the ethics involved with the trade. Needless to say, we do hear the markets demand for good pickers, who then gets paid more, as well as a better organic approach gives better results in the end. But I just can’t see what the connection to Fair Trade is at all?

And every event of this calibre also demands its partying. J&N kindly hosted two nights at their own venues, and the final night was at Kafé Pause on Söder. However, I have a feeling that most appreciated was probably the low key but excellence of Kafé Esaias where we went for pre drinks with a bunch of people. I’d say that this was the place I heard and saw most visitors return to, so I was very excited for good mate Joel and his extreme focus to detail in his food pairings and coffee skill.

It was a very professional event, and I think everyone left quite impressed and pleased. It at least gives me the will to dwell deeper into the world of coffee!

NP: Eddy Grant Electric Avenue

Paris coffee scene revisited

About a year ago, I visited Paris with my daughter. This I have written about here. Since then, I’ve met up with some of the key players in the Paris coffee scene both in Sweden and in Vienna. Chris, who then worked at Kooka Boora, came to stay in Stockholm for 6 months, and made a pretty big impact on the Stockholm scene as a barista in the Kafé Esaias crew. And David, then at Le Bal, I saw perform a Tamper Tantrum talk on this years WBC, on the Paris coffee scene. Besides that, I had drinks with the Coutume crew at the La Marzocco party in Vienna, so the Paris scene has probably outside Stockholm been the one I’ve been most up to date with, and thus mostly keen on returning to (the others being Berlin and Perth).

First stop on my Parisian coffee crawl was the much anticipated Telescope Café, situated very close to Opera. This could be one of the most slick and minimalistic cafés I’ve seen, but still with a hell of a lot of soul and very inspirational! The quiche were brilliant and the coffees just beautiful! Everything seemed like a designers dream, however presented very casual! In many ways, I find Telescope to be sort of the opposite spectrum of Revolver in Vancouver (if that makes any sense at all), however as inspirational!

The main reason for me to go across town, up to La Gare d’Est, was to meet up with good mates Chris and Thomas. At Ten Belles, it was really pumpin’! Ten Belles is owned by Thomas Lehoux, who I have had the pleasure of meeting at several occasions. Thomas is one of the friendliest dudes in the industry, and the place reflects that really well! Chris, mentioned earlier, was here too working the machine and serving us Swedes some super delicious coffees, roasted by Telescope! Had a lovely homemade pie before heading up to Le Bal.

Le Bal has shifted coffee from Café Lomi to Has Bean. Not that it made any difference to me, as I ordered a glass of wine. Chris girlfriend Emelie was working, so we had the opportunity to talk Swedish and ask about tonights dinner in Montmartre. It was nice seeing Le Bal again, and I will definitely return for coffee on my next visit to Paris. This time around, it was poor timing for us though.

As the night time took us out to party and quickly turned into morning before we hit the suburbs and the bed, it wasn’t until late morning we found ourselves in central Paris again. I really wanted to revisit Kooka Boora (now named KB Café), the place where my daughter had the pancake breakfast every morning, where I met the friendly baristi and had some wonderful juice. This time around though, I took my girlfriend to a semi packed joint where the people behind the counter didn’t really seem to know what they were doing. There was nothing vegetarian available, so I ordered an espresso and a cappuccino and sat myself outside waiting. Some good fifteen minutes passed as our Swedish friends also had found their way there. Realizing it was too much of a wait, they ordered take aways, and left shortly afterwards. Me, I asked for my drinks two times before I left the place half an hour later, ending up getting nothing. By then, it was only half full and they still didn’t seem to know what they were doing. Very sad, and annoyed, I never want to set foot there again.

Instead, for coffee I went to Coutume. Now, outside there was a huge line. And it didn’t seem to move fast. So after a few minutes, I saw a Japanese coffee tourist move to a stool at the bar, so I followed his steps. Before doing so though, I asked the guy at the line if Antoine or Tom were around, the two guys who owns Coutume. The answer was no, but he wanted to know if I was Jesper, and if so my visit was expected! This really blew my mind! I sat down at the bar, and had a chat with the two friendly baristi from Iowa. I was presented two solid and consistent shots of espresso before heading to Palais de Tokyo, but as I was sipping it, I thought about how great it was to see a café have a line on a Sunday, and noone seemed to be minding the wait, but rather anticipating a really good time! Then I said goodbye, and left with a smile! Paris café culture seems to be really happening!!

There was one place I wanted to go, but didn’t have time to this trip, and that was the new space of the Café Lomi crew! Also, last night Antoine of Coutume was flooding instagram with pictures of a new place in town, so there are lots of things happening in Paris, and I am extremely exciting to be going back next summer for an extended stay! In many ways, I find Paris more interesting than London these days! And bare in mind, I do love London!

NP: Lifelike Sequencer

There just might be an X in espresso

This was both my second time to Paris, and second time I got to tag along the wonderful da Matteo crew to serve the press coffee at Volvo’s stand at the international car fair. The fair was both smaller, and more intimate! Since it was a press booth, sometimes the reactions from other car exhibitors who wanted to taste the coffee, but could present no press-ID, was slightly stressed. One Swedish guy exclaimed; “But I’m very important on Twitter”, and ran off angry.

The da Matteo crew, minus Jocke who had to leave due to an early flight

We had great reactions to the coffee from both major newspapers coming to report from the show. Both added that Volvo had the best coffee on the fair, which we naturally had to investigate. Mercedes and Toyota both had big espresso bars, with plenty of staff. Toyota had something like 4 grinders (not sure what they were for though?), but the coffee tasted hideous.

As for the coffee, this was very true…

Also we were filmed by various teams that were reporting from the fair, and one journalist presented himself from the last trip to Geneva, and handed me the link to the report from earlier this year (check out the presentation on Volvo V40 in this link ) (for some additional car pics, please visit my Flickr)

Working at fairs like these is a lot of fun, and though we worked 12 hours a day, we still managed to squeeze in some fun on town! Also, we had the opportunity to extend our stay in Paris for a couple of days, but sort accomodation ourselves, which was a great opportunity, since my girlfriend as a very good coincidence had a performance in Paris the same weekend.

“Fresh” the audience thought!

Besides the coffee side of things, I met up with an old friend I hadn’t seen for the past 15 years or so, and had drinks in Montparnasse. Service was hideous, but the company was great! My friends boyfriend is a super exciting producer/DJ, well worth checking up!

Just before going home, I went with friends to the fabulous Palais de Tokyo. It’s an amazing arts space close to the Trocadero area, with a giant café offering close up view of the Eiffel Tower (that I also caught glimpses of from a taxi, and from the skybar in Montparnasse. It’s like it is casting a shadow over everything this weekend without ever taking centre of attention).

Palais de Tokyo offering some impressive artwork

My second visit to Paris really left me wanting to explore further, and by the looks of it, I will have the opportunity to come back next summer for a couple of weeks! Can’t wait!

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