50 beans | first encounter: francis! francis! Y1

A few years ago, illy came out with this new “iperespresso” machine that they dubbed the Y1 Touch (the first iteration had a manual button). The machine uses a capsule that was developed by illy, one that is supposed to extract the perfect amount of crema and deliver the “perfect” espresso. Of course, I do have lingering questions regarding freshness as the beans are pre-ground and tamped into the capsules before being sealed in cans and shipped out. These would be similar questions I would have for any Keurig or Nespresso system that also use pods. Eager to promote its new machine and espresso product, illy came out with the francis! francis! Y1 touch machine at a steeply discounted price of $75, with a multi-year subscription to their iperespresso capsules.

Although I was eager to test out the new machine, I couldn’t justify making such a large commitment to test out something that I had doubts about in the first place. Plus I had already committed to the Saeco Jura fully-automatic espresso machine a few years ago, so I wouldn’t be able to get another one. Well, this weekend while I was in Miami, the hotel I was staying at had a Y1 touch in the room. Alas, my chance had come to test this bad-boy out.

The design is pretty simple and easy to understand. The little tower is where the pod goes, and where the pressure is presumably generated. The overall look and appeal is nice, the brushed aluminum look with just the right amount of illy-red accents in the right places. For a subsidized $75 machine, this is pretty nice, especially when you consider that most machines like this run in the $200-500 range (I think the entry level nespresso might be $99, but it sure doesn’t look this nice). The one thing I did notice, was the lack of a cup-warmer. I know, this might not be a sticking point for most people, but the other illy machines come with it, so I would’ve expected this machine to include the same.

The machine is pretty self-explanatory, but just in case, an easy-to-understand instruction manual was provided to guide you through the process. The first step of course, is to turn on the machine and fill the tank with water. Of course, it was suggested to use bottled water (I like the fact that the coffee is free, but the bottle of water sitting next to the coffee is $10) – fortunately I had an extra bottle I picked up in the lobby at breakfast. I filled it up and got it ready to go.

My first impression was the ease of use – of course, any espresso pod system would pretty much have to have the same ease of use in order for it to be convenient enough to justify paying more for pods. This system was no other than the keurig or nespresso. Put in the pod, push a button, and once the espresso finished extraction, the pod disposes of itself. In this case, the pod is disposed upon opening it for the next one (similar to the nespresso).

The espresso itself was pretty tasty, it mitigated my concerns about freshness; however, the roast was a bit dark, especially compared to the lighter roasts that I’ve been getting accustomed to at some of the 3rd-waved cafés, though, still way better than any shot I’ve seen pulled at starbucks though. The crema is just right, which makes me think the capsule is probably rigged in a way that will generate the foam when it comes in contact with the oils (not 100% sure though). Overall pretty decent considering it was probably roasted and ground 3-5 months ago.

50 beans | manhattan cold-brew crawl

A few weeks ago, I went out to new york with a few college buddies for the US Open and whatever other shenanigans that presented themselves. The trip started when we found this price-war between american, united, and virgin america. It was a one-day sale for SFO-EWR, so we booked it in a hurry. Good thing we were able to get it on the same week as the Open semi's and finals. And hey, while I'm in new york, why not try out the coffee? Now, most of the 3rd wave coffee hubs are in the west coast (portland, sf, seattle); however, micro-roasters have sprung up in new york, because, well, why not? It's a huge market with international residents, so someone's bound to appreciate good coffee right? So here's part one of the NY coffee crawl...these are all non-NY based coffee places that have set up shop in NY. The next trip (whenever that is...) will explore the local ones.

Blue Bottle Coffee – Rockefeller Center
The first full day in new york, Gaj and Alex were on their way to Rockefeller Center to check out the view from the observation deck. Since I had already been up there before, I decided to head on over to 5th ave to get my watch regulated at the boutique (the NY has an onsite watchmaker) and was planning on meeting the others when they were done with Top of the Rock. When I got to Rockefeller Center, they were still on their way up, so I decided to hit up blue bottle in the basement of the building and wait for them in the square below (read: people watch).

The shop was pretty small, but they managed to have two separate registers/lines. Even though they have pretty much the same roasts (e.g. hayes valley, 17ft ceiling, giant steps, etc) as the ones in SF, there was still a decidedly new york flair to the coffee shop. As it turns out, blue bottle opened a roaster in Brooklyn, and are now operating three shops in manhattan. Since it was a bit warm outside, I figured it’d be perfect for some new orleans iced coffee (cold brew, milk, and chicory).

The coffee was as expected, the chicory adding just the right amount of sweetness. The barista adds the coffee for you, and in my opinion, added a bit too much milk. Aside from that, the coffee was perfect. I parked myself on a bench outside and just watched people walk by, which was pretty entertaining. It’s funny to see just how many different types of people cycle through new york on a daily basis. I heard so many different languages and accents, saw people from all walks of life, and even eavesdropped on two attorneys next to me who are apparently defending an underground art dealer. **sigh** only in new york...

Intelligentsia Coffee – Highline Park
A coffee roaster that hails from Chicago, Intelligentsia coffee has also now set up shop in new york, with a shop in the highline hotel, and a training lab over by NYU. Located on the side of an old brownstone building, they, like blue bottle, have two separate brewing areas. The first, being a small shop inside the building, the other being a coffee truck outside – very much like a taco truck, but filled to the brim with tasty coffee.

Since we were based in midtown (51st and Lexington), this was quite a trek for us (lower east side). We had an entire day of tennis ahead of us, so Sean, Alex and I took the E train down to Chelsea and hoofed the 5 blocks to hit up Intelligentsia for some brew before making our way over to Arthur Ashe in Flushing. Gaj and Bo were meeting us there (Gaj waited in line for 3.5hrs to get us some original cronuts).

Since it was the first time I’ve seen a coffee truck, I figured I gotta try it right?? Once again, I opted for cold brew (hey, why mess with a good thing?). The brew here is a lighter roast that what blue bottle offered for their new orleans iced coffee. It’s a fruitier taste, and pretty much renders cream and sugar unnecessary.

another blue bottle sighting

After getting our coffees, we decided to take a walk down highline park before heading over to Flushing. Highline park is an old elevated train track that runs 20ft above the city streets. After this route was retired, a plan was put in place to turn the tracks into an elevated park. It was pretty cool, they have lawn chairs out there, some benches, even some coffee places (blue bottle has a stall here too). We even saw the place where my roommate Arian proposed to his wife. It’s pretty unique to new york, and a good way to repurpose obsolete equipment.

Stumptown Coffee – Chelsea
This coffee roaster, originally from Portland, established its presence in new york by setting up shop in the ace hotel, followed by another one further downtown. The midtown location was a few blocks away, so we decided to swing by on the way to the Met.

The location was much smaller than Intelligentsia, and had a line that went all the way around the corner. Unlike Blue Bottle and Intelligentsia, there was only one line and one place for them to make the coffee, so it sort of held the line up. Aside from that, the place was pretty cool. They sell all kinds of hipster coffee equipment and coffee supplies.

Since I didn’t want to break my cold brew streak, I opted once again for the cold stuff. The coffee here was quite similar to the cold brew at Intelligentsia. It too was a light roast, and the coffee was quite enjoyable.

After picking up the coffee, we headed back uptown to the Met, which featured some pretty cool 19th and 20th century impressionist paintings and 16th century Americana (e.g. George Washington crossing the Delaware). I think I’m going to come back here the next time I’m in new york.

50 beans | BB Small Lot – Ethiopian Nekisse

On a recent trip to SF, I swung by blue bottle with an old buddy of mine for a cup of new orleans iced coffee (and possibly some beans). There, we came across their usual seasonal blends of direct-sourced coffee and their usual hayes valley blend. Then, in a separate display, they had these little tins that resembled candy containers. Initially, I had thought that maybe they had branched out to offering some kitschy chocolate covered coffee beans or something, but apparently, upon closer inspection, these were in reality a new line of small lot coffee, which they source in small batches and roast up to order.

At first glance, the canister is definitely different then their usual brown-bag feel. It gives a good solid-in-the-hand feel (at ~45/lb it ought to come with a better container), and upon breaking the seal, you get a whiff of the beans…freshly roasted but not burnt. My first taste will be with a V60 pourover, coarse grind (hario mini-mill), first pour/bloom for ~10 sec, followed by ~45 sec brew time (doing this at work…I don’t have scale/timer here – timing done with speedmaster).

The aroma is quite pleasant – it’s definitely one of the better smelling coffees I’ve brewed. The taste is sweeter than the last roast I had (Guatemalan from Temple Café), and had a more pronounced fruit flavor. Another reviewer noted that it had a light blue and blackberry flavor, which I didn’t experience (to me it felt more citrus-like). Of course I’m not very good at describing flavors and smells so you’ll have to bear with me.

The first taste carried a changing flavor, depending on what part of the mouth is experiencing it. At the back, you can feel the roast and the caramelized flavor comes out a bit. The citrus taste comes out a bit at the left side of my tongue. At the tip…I taste nothing (kinda sad actually – maybe that’s cuz I killed off all those taste-buds the last time I had Korean food). One thing I will point out though, this coffee has a creamy texture to it (no I didn’t put creamer in it)…almost as if someone had melted some butter into it (I know that sounds weird).

All in all, a good tasting cup of coffee. I’m not going to pretend that I am an expert at reviewing coffee. All I can say is that it was definitely tasty and I enjoyed it. For more technical information, here’s some information provided by the roaster:

Location: Aleta Wondo, Sidama, SNNPR, Ethiopia
Altitude: 1700-2000 meters
Varietal: Heirloom Ethiopian varietals
Processing: Dry-processed
Preparation Methods: Pour Over, French Press, Espresso, Siphon

50 beans | some call it sticks, some call it art

Ever wonder what life as a coffee stir stick would be like? There’s that anticipation that your destination would be heaven inside the bottom of a coffee cup, then not-so-heaven when tossed in the garbage. Well, what happens if you never get to that coffee cup? What happens if you never fulfill your wooden-stir-stick destiny? Well, I’m certain that’s exactly what was going through the minds of some 60,000 wooden stirrers (if they had minds that is…) as they were purchased from some local grocery store in Sumter, South Carolina.

You see, local artist Jonathan Brilliant developed a method of weaving together wooden coffee stir sticks (much like the 7 inch round-tip ones you can get at Starbucks) to create free flowing sculptures that feature no adhesive binding of any kind, and rely solely on the tensile strength of the stir sticks themselves. This piece, created in 2007 in Sumter, South Carolina (incidentally the location of the start of the Civil War…just a random observation…) took roughly 60,000 stir sticks and 14 days to create, and held together for an amazing 6 months (remember…no glue!!) before starting to fall to pieces. Of course, not all the stir sticks were wasted, the pieces were donated to local schools… presumably for arts & crafts projects and not for kids to use in their coffees (kids shouldn’t drink coffee…stunts growth apparently).

 
Apparently this guy also did one last year at fresno state...see below:

50 beans | Coffee Crawl – Prague

Ok I’m just going to preface this post by saying that this will be LONG. A lot of times getting a cup of coffee was a good excuse to get out of the cold and warm up a bit. Also, coffee is good. Prague has a lot of coffee places, and, well…you know…

A Café
I kid you not, this place is called a café. This was my first cup of coffee in Prague, at 4:55am before a 5:10am train from Prague to Linz en route to Salzburg. I got a cappuccino with whatever Czech koruna I had on me (I had like $2 worth left over from the initial $20 I exchanged). It was a decent cup of coffee, nothing too special, but enough to get me up and running for the day. It was going to be a five hour trainride and I wanted to get some last-minute planning done on the train.

Costa Café
Yes, I am aware that Costa is a huge chain, but since I don’t have much experience with it, and they had good free wifi (which is more than I could say for our hotel at times), this was a good place to park for a bit and enjoy a macchiato. It was also next to an exchange place that gave decent rates. The macchiato was pretty good, they did the right milk to espresso ratio (equal parts milk to coffee).

Kavárna Slavia
The famous Grand Café Slavia is situated right on the river across the street from the National Theatre opened in 1881 (the same year as the theatre) and became a popular meeting place for both artists and intellectuals, including former president Václav Havel who was a frequent customer during his dissident years. If you find space, get a table by the riverside windows to enjoy beautiful views of the Prague Castle. Café Slavia is a very pleasant place to have coffee and or hot chocolate (I ended up having both since we came here twice). The coffee was pretty good…ended up getting an amaretto coffee. The hot chocolate came with a bit of ice cream, but the cocoa had an odd consistency. It was like drinking chocolate syrup. Stick to the coffee.

Café Trinity
Not all cafés were good. Well, I suppose the coffee here was decent, but this was definitely a tourist trap disguised as a friendly café. First of all, they advertised wifi, which didn’t work, and the menu was outrageous. We’re talking 110Kc for an espresso. This is normally 28-35Kc. Aside from the fact that it was a tourist trap, the coffee was decent. I got a cappuccino, which came out promptly and tasted decent. The foam was decent and it held for quite a bit.

Kavárna Obecní dům
This café is one of the best looking cafés I’ve seen so far – still has that classic old-style European café look. I had the Viennese Iced Coffee here…it was decent – can’t really mess up coffee and ice cream I suppose. The thing about this café is mostly the atmosphere – live band, grand crystal chandeliers, high ceilings and well-worn plush velvet seats. This is a café you can spend an entire afternoon in reading the paper or studying. Definitely a good rainy-day place to hang out.

Café Rozmani
This place was a small café on the side of the road that we decided to check out purely for the sake of getting out of the cold. I had an egg liqueur coffee (didn’t know such a thing existed). It was an interesting consistency – the egg liqueur kind of sat at the bottom unless you stir it up. Probably not something I would order again.

Ok maybe that wasn’t that long…thanks for reading. I’m starting to look into the next trip…not sure where though. Maybe coffee crawl Mumbai =)

50 beans | Coffee Crawl – Vienna

The second city in this series is Vienna. After the Turkish army was defeated during the second siege of Vienna in the 17th century, sacks of coffee beans were discovered in the abandoned Turkish camps. Legend has it that Jerzy Franciszek Kulczycki, a Polish officer, was given the bags of coffee as a gift. Having spent some time in Turkish captivity, he must have learned what these beans were used for, and used the beans to open the first coffee shop in Vienna. Kulczycki opened a coffee house in Vienna at Schlossergassl named the Hof zur Blauen Flasche ('House under the Blue Bottle'). This  helped popularize coffee in Vienna, and was instrumental in establishing the coffee culture there. While the blue bottle coffee house is no longer there, other cafés have sprung up to take it's place.

Since 2011, Viennese coffeehouse culture has been listed in the Austrian list of Intangible Cultural Heritage (put together by UNESCO). The Viennese coffee house is described in this inventory as a place "where time and space are consumed, but only the coffee is found on the bill."

Café Tirolerhof
Located directly across from the Albertina, Café Tirolerhof is a nice quiet place to sit, pour over a local paper (english available), and enjoy a cup of coffee. Upon walking in, you're invited to seat yourself at any table in this nicely decorated viennese café. As you sit you'll notice the velvet fabric that is on each seat, well worn by the butts of many viennese from years past =) I was able to enjoy an einspänner and homemade apfelstrudel here.

Café Sacher
This café is situated down the street from the Vienna Opera House inside the Hotel Sacher, and sits on the site where Antonio Vivaldi once lived. This café is famous for it's sachertorte, a chocolate cake with apricot jam filling, which was first created here. They offer the full sachertorte slice or a mini-sacher, depending on your mood/appetite. Since I already had breakfast at Café Tirolerhof, I opted for the mini-sacher, which is a 1x1 inch cube. I also opted to try the Viennese iced coffee, which is pretty much Vienna's version of the affogato, and consists of coffee, vanilla ice cream, and some whipped cream. The Viennese iced coffee was alright, the sachertorte was kind of dry (not a big fan but I figured I had to try the original here).

Café Landtmann
Founded in 1873 on the Ringstrasse next to the Burgtheater and across from the parliament building, this coffee house is known as a local meeting place for many of Austria's leading industrialists and politicians, and historically as being the preferred coffee house of notable Viennese such as Sigmund Freud and Gustav Mahler. The Viennese melange is great here.

Demel
Hofzuckerbäckerei Demel, or simply Der Demel, is a famous pastry shop and chocolatier in Vienna. Demel is located a block away from the Hofburg Palace and was once a purveyor to the Imperial and Royal court of Austria-Hungary. While I did not try the coffee here, I did come to buy some sweets for some relatives, and got a chance to look around inside. This place is a bit on the pricy side for candy – three small boxes of chocolates for €42 =/ but their sweets are pretty and creatively made. The flower in the picture above is a handmade piece of candy.

That's all for Vienna, the last and final post is coming soon and will feature the location where I spent the bulk of my trip: Prague. Until then, auf wiedersehen!

50 beans | Coffee Crawl – Salzburg

Two weeks ago I had a conversation with my boss which led to a conclusion that with a new project coming up, if I don’t take any time off now, I wouldn’t be able to until june/july. So, sort of on a whim, I got my vacation approved, checked for flights to Europe, and booked myself a flight/hotel for Prague (Reykjavik wasn’t feasible and Zurich would’ve been too much $$). 7 days later I was on a flight to Prague. Of course, the first two days I was in Europe solo, as Mike wasn’t able to make it till Friday, so I decided to book some rail tickets and check out Austria as well. This is a three part coffee crawl series – highlighting the cafés visited during my stay in Salzburg, Vienna, and Prague.

The first city is Salzburg, which is known as the birthplace of Mozart, and also the setting for The Sound of Music. It's a smallish town with many churches and old buildings, and the local people are very friendly. Coffee has had a long tradition in Austria. After the Turkish army was defeated during the second siege of Vienna in the 17th century, sacks of coffee beans were discovered in the abandoned Turkish camps. Legend has it that Jerzy Franciszek Kulczycki, a Polish officer, was given the bags of coffee as a gift. Having spent some time in Turkish captivity, he must have learned what these beans were used for, and used the beans to open the first coffee shop in Vienna. Back then, Salzburg was still an independent principality, but they didn’t have any coffeeshops yet, so if Vienna had coffee, why shouldn’t Salzburg? In 1703, Café Tomaselli opened its doors, and the Salzburg coffee scene started.

As the coffee scene in Austria flourish, they began to develop their own coffee habits. Here, coffee is traditionally served with a small glass of cold water and some sugar, and there isn't really much of a to-go concept. A visit to a café is an experience, and you should expect to spend at least an hour or so per visit, but the atmosphere will be warm and pleasant. Anyways...enough background stuff...the following is a run-down of cafés visited in Salzburg (sadly I couldn’t visit them all):

Café Mozart
Located on the famed Getreidegasse, this place was definitely geared toward tourists, but had decent coffee. They offered English menu’s and free wifi, and had the full range of Austrian coffees. I ended up going with an Einspänner, which is a strong black coffee with whipped cream. It was pretty good, but it seems that they kinda overdo it on the whipped cream a bit. I guess it is a good substitute for the creamer and sugar, as it can easily be mixed in to make a lighter cup.

Café Tomaselli
Founded in 1703, Café Tomaselli on Alter Markt Square is the oldest and most well-known of the Salzburg cafés. Salzburg’s famed son, Mozart, had coffee there and so did generations of local and international artists such as Max Reinhardt, Michael Haydn or Hugo von Hoffmannsthal. The old-fashioned interiors, worn velvet seats, and Austrian café culture make this place worthy of a visit and so is the coffee. The coffee I got here was the viennese melange, which is a cup of strong coffee with milk and a bit of whipped cream and almond shavings...it was pretty good.

Café Fürst
Came here too late in the day to actually enjoy a cup of coffee (didn’t want to be overly wired at night), but dropped by for a visit and to sample the original mozartkugeln (mozartball). Just around the corner from the Café Tomaselli in the Brodgasse, Café Fürst is the site where mozartballs were immortalised in chocolate for the first time in 1890. Notable for being the first handmade chocolate candies to have a perfectly round shape with no flat sides, mozartballs, of course, were named after the famed Salzburg composer, Mozart.

Ok...that's pretty much it for Salzburg...next up in this series we'll be visiting Vienna, where we'll get to explore the viennese cafés to experience what has been described as a place "where time and space are consumed, but only the coffee is found on the bill."