Flat White is my new obsession

Yesterday was an incredible day. First of all, the weather has just gone totally nuts. Snow and rain together virtually caused stop of all traffic. My bus was crawling with the speed of a snail spaced down on valium. It took me 2 and some hours to get to Queen’s Park from Oxford Str. Never mind, because it gave me opportunity to digest the Flat White training session, that myself, Malik (very funny manager of 34 Edgware Rd. store), Lola and Mae had and which was very intense and very hands on.


I was quite interested to find out for myself what all this hype was about. People say, there is flat white café in Soho, which makes the best flatties ever.
I have visited them, but only virtually. (The web site was kinda inspiring. D’ya know what I mean, darlings? Kinda. But I still liked it.)

Here is what they say:
Flat white noun /Austral. flaat whyette/ / NZ flet wyte/ 1. An antipodean coffee which is served as a strong shot of espresso served in a small cup with textured milk; a damn good strong coffee. 2. 51.51 ( 51 30`) -0.13 (0 8`)
(the meaning N2 is mysterious, maybe it has something to do with geography, don’t know)


And this is what Wikipedia says:


“Originally from New Zealand, a flat white is a coffee beverage prepared by pouring steamed milk from the bottom of steaming pitcher over a single shot (30ml) of espresso.


The drink is typically served in a small 150-160ml ceramic tulip cup. The stretched and texturised milk is prepared by entraining air into the milk and folding the top layer into the lower layers. To achieve the "flat", non-frothy texture the steamed milk is poured from the bottom of the jug, holding back the lighter froth on the top in order to access milk with smaller bubbles, making the drink smooth and velvety in texture.


A flat white differs from a latte in that it is served in a smaller ceramic cup[1], whereas a traditional latte is served in a glass with the steamed milk poured over the espresso shot. A latte can also be served in a bowl or a larger cup requiring more milk, obscuring the complex flavours of the coffee.”


It does say there single shot, but I guess 30 ml is actually our double shot. I don’t really like this sneaky notion at the end of the article, that latte is in some ways inferior to this fashionable newcomer. I think, it is the matter of individual taste and those two drinks can not be compared – they are both in the leagues of their own.


There was also an interesting article on Independent web site about flat white, which to me sounded as a obituary to our beloved chain, because some marketing agency predicts that there will be more demand for flat white in years to come then for our lattes. Well, firstly, they are too small to open store on every corner. And secondly, we are rising to the challenge and undigging our tamagauks. To latte art war, my people!

Easy Tiramisu

Remember that book I borrowed from the library with 60 coffee recipes?



So, yesterday I decided to prepare something form there and were leafing through, sighing and squeaking occasionally at the splendour of this all.


Mocha macaroon were voted off because you have to keep them overnight before serving (I think it is some sort of sophisticated torture – you have to spent about 3 hours making them and can’t eat’em immediately!)


The layered pear cake looked rad, but too much hustle just for two of us on Sunday night.


I have to confess, after much thought and consideration, I have decided on Tiramisu, which is the most popular coffee dessert, and since we have the recipe in Gordon Ramsey’s book called “Fast Food”, my tiramisu was made easy.

So, here is the recipe:

Easy Tiramisu

Serves 4
You’ll need:
150 ml single cream, 4 tbsp icing sugar, 250g mascarpone, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 3 tbsp Grand Marnier (or any other brandy)*, 200 ml strong coffee (cooled to room temperature), 20-24 sponge fingers (savoiardi) and some cocoa powder, to dust.


1. Whip the cream with 3 tbsp icing sugar until evenly blended, then beat in the mascarpone, vanilla extract and 1 tbsp brandy.

2. Sweeten the coffee with the remaining 1 tbsp icing sugar, stir to dissolve, then
add the rest of the brandy.

3. Dip 4 sponge fingers in the coffee mixture and use them to line the base of four serving glasses (breaking them into shorter lengths if necessary to fit the glasses). Spoon over a layer of the mascarpone mixture. Repeat layering the dipped sponge fingers and mascarpone mix until you reach the top of the glasses.

4. Spoon any remaining coffee mixture over the top and dust with sifted cocoa
powder. Chill for at least 20 min.

5. Just before serving, stick two sponge fingers into each tiramisu.

Mine on the pics doesn’t have sponge fingers because they were eaten by mistake before I got to the last line in the recipe :-(.

We have tried it yesterday and it is a winner. Very nice and not too sweet with luxurious silky texture and slight tang from the Grand Marnier. And so easy to make! Heaven. Coffee is rather accompaniment, then a lead in this recipe, still you feel its presence.


* Actually, in Ramsay’s recipe it is Marsala(or brandy or Tia Maria), but we didn’t have any of those and had Grand Marnier (standing unopened from March when we bought it in Keflavic’s duty free on the way back from Iceland.) It worked perfectly!

RED Tumbler

This is my new RED tumbler. I bought it yesterday. I wanted to trade my old tumbler (which I broke recently but still used) for this RED thing, but staff said no. Of course, the fact that 3 quid from that sale goes directly onto account of Global Fund will make even black Verona in this tumbler sweeter.


I like its rubbery red outer coat, it is very smooth and not slippery at all, the lid is watertight, so nothing spills. The only drawback I found so far is that the lid falls on my nose and I have to keep it at bay with index finger which is a bit deliberate and non elegant, Môn chaton, but… never mind!

The most important thing is I don’t have to waste any more cups and plastic water bottles EVER. I think I have to thank my parents who brought me up this way, but I always have been environmentally conscious. Since I was as little as three, I would never drop any litter on the streets (thanks God, Chelyabinsk have always been a bin paradise, so to say). Later on I really took this topic to the heart and never ceased preaching about recycling or saving paper, water etc. Although I am fully aware that most of it doesn’t make any difference I believe that making people aware at least is already very good. (I am also aware that by doing my little bit here and there doesn’t count because the climate change was and is induced by heavy industries and big money. Will they ever change the way they conduct business? Fat chance. What they will do or are doing right now – employ a team of PR specialists who come up with some image-enhancing solutions.)
Sometimes I wonder if all this buzz around environment is not just some populist trick in the eve of different elections or market opportunity (the whole recycling industry is thriving and making money for someone). There are many questions and the answers are either hard to dig out or just too heartbreaking to accept.

It was meant to be very light-hearted post, maybe even with a bit of luck quite funny, and I am rereading it now and it is very sad. And not about coffee at all.

Well, this is what I feel.

Revelation

In a fit of clearing up the cupboards in the kitchen, which happens every now and again to "clear energy flow" in my flat and subsequently to change the life's direction to bright and happy future, I found this tea. It was bought for my birthday (I think) by my then fiance (or fiancee - where is the dictionary?).



It is pure magic. It floats on the surface, when you just pour water in, opens up like a flower and slowly and nonchalantly descends to the bottom of the glass. In my pictures it rather looks like a huge spider or octopus, because there is not enough space for it to spread its glorious leaves, still the whole thing never fails to impress me.

It transports me to that delightful place, where people live properly. You know what I am talking about - the place consisting of landscapes and rituals, picked from different epoch and cultures without any reference to historical chronology or geographical accuracy. Where dusk is rosy and filled with the songs of a nightingale, people wear crinolines (all my childhood I was dyeing for one!), high powdered wigs with galleons on the top, have coffee ceremonies with macaroons in caramel lace baskets, listen to Mozart and don’t EVER hurry. Ever.

Where the toilets are located in rose bushes, equipped with pencils and paper to write occasional verse (I trace that one down to my early memory, when my parents bought some raspberry bushes to plant in the garden and left them for few days in the bucket in the toilet – total bliss!). And where it rains when you want it to, so you can indulge in some melancholy and sweet sorrow.
Don’t call it utopia; I am sure this place exists. It just takes looking.

PS. I just noticed that the tea is expired, actually. It says on the bag - June 2009. But I think tea can not expire, can it? It is ethereal. It tastes very nice and so delicate that you stop short of thinking that you are drinking boiled water. Sublime! 

How about Coffee Roulade with Salmon Filling and Apple and Horseradish Confit

Yesterday I was off from my Coffee Master duties and went to the library. I usually keep my eyes peeled and have no plan as what to borrow, I just browse around different sections and always find something interesting. For example, my last trip resulted in large heavy tome on the nature of hurricains. It is a mixture of scientific account and poetry with many colourful pictures and you get the feeling that the author is clearly in love with the subject - powerul and beautiful nature phemonenon, although very unkind to all our humans arrangements. 

So, walking around, I stumbled upon a DYI section which included cooking books. I have a soft spot for cooking books, although rarely cook myself - all those pictures of food, carefully selected and retouched, just like ageing celeb, fancy napkins and rustic plates, little stories behind this particular dish ("I cooked this parfait for my girlfriend and she immediately agreed to marry me" or "That pud tastes exactly like my Gran's" ), all the labour involved to produce some culinary wonder - it is just mesmerising!

I found a book called (surprise, surprise!) "Cooking with Coffee. 60 recipes using Fair Trade coffee". I want to cook all the 60. Since the book is borrowed until 9th of Jan, theoretically, I might be able to do that, but realistically, I will be just bumming around the house on my days off, half heartedly looking for a job and heating up the Covent Garden's pearl barley soup, which I bought from Sainsbery's the other day in great abundance.          

The index list looks like a dream - Asparagus with Coffee Orange Butter, Coffee-smoked Fish with Nut vinaigrette, Crayfish Cappuccino (oh my, my!), Coffee Doughnuts, Coffee Pannacotta with Kiwi Fruit, Pineapple and Praline, Coffee Pancake with Pears in Spicy Syrup and (hold the emotions!) Mocha Macaroons!  There are as many savoury recipes as sweet which is good, I think, the savoury side of coffee is due to major update.

Share your love

I dreamt about doing a post on latte art for a long time, especially because I know at least three people, who can do it quite effortlessly (including me as a potential Latte Van Gogh since I tried it so many times and never succeeded, however I just know I can).

However, latte art being a skill that equals piano playing in its grace, poshness and complexity and involving as much fidgety hand movements, is difficult to come by. Every so often by struck of luck some divine symbol appears on the silky surface of the cappuccino, sheer beauty that makes angels sing. Only to be totally ignored by the customer or worse just to be hidden under plastic shroud of a lid.  

And when I asked people (Devesh and Irina*) to create something on demand so I could take couple of pics, they got very nervous, self-conscious and started blaming jars for being too big, milk for not frothing and shop being too busy for such delicate operation. 

Well, I got what I got. Still very nice :-)

* Irina makes fantastic leaves and flowers, not to mention hearts, her art has most contrast and definition due to micro bubbles in perfectly steamed milk. She is just a genius with a jar and wonderful barista! 

Ageing gracefully, or Vintage Sumatra

Yesterday my district manager and myself went touring around the stores, this is our usual practice - to keep in touch with Store Coffee Masters and to support them as much as we can. My last port of call was St. John's Wood store, which is also the only Black Apron Store in my district. 

Now, Black Apron Stores are shops that sell (surprise, surprise!) Black Apron Coffee, that is speciality coffees, rare non-mass-produced beans, delicate and exotic, for an ultimate classy coffee experience. (Black Apron is also a give away sign of a Coffee Master - that crazy person, constantly high on caffeine, pursuing you to find a lemon meringue aroma in a cup, that smells of - well, coffee!)

This time of the year Black Apron offering happened to be Aged Sumatra, the beans that small amounts of going into our signature blend - Christmas Blend. It retails at hefty almost 9 pounds, however, it is worth every penny, if you think about how much time and care went into production of this wonder! 

They say: "A bold, exotic coffee from a land of tigers and spices." I have to stop here for a moment, because you won't find another person, so painfully obsessed with tigers as you humble servant. This short sentence, this simple marketing trick of marrying a real obtainable product, available to you now, with a notion of some far and totally impossible destination (paradise with tigers and spices mixed into delightful concoction!) sold me instantly! " Aged coffee, it's said, originated aboard sailing ships laden with spices and coffee beans as they made their long voyage home from Dutch Indonesian colonies to Europe. Exposed to exotic hardwoods, spices, ocean spray and extreme temperatures, the unroasted beans acquired intriguing qualities. Inspired by these maritime voyages, we carefully aged this coffee up to five years in its native environment. Our boldest cup to date, Aged Sumatra possesses an exuberant* cedary aroma, a syrupy mouthfeel and untamed flavour." ROAR_R_R_R_R!!!

Beans come in a beautiful bronze coloured tin with a little carefully composed booklet. I think it makes a fantastic gift for Christmas. (Tin alone is invaluable for keeping memorabilia from far land exotic travels or jewels). 

Tasting notes

Aroma is exotic indeed, reminiscent of a pinewoods, mossy and moist, smashed leaves and maple syrope. 

Not as "green" and herby as conventional Sumatra. The body is pleasantly full and engaging, very balanced and unusual. Has some characteristically Sumatran spiciness, however, more delicate and complex. 

Really nice cup! 

* I had to look up this word in dictionary :-) It means "lively and cheerful".  

  

Geopsychology, or Coffee Drinking in Greece

It has been known for ages, that climate and landscape shape national identity and mentality: that annual amount of sunshine has as much influence on one's personality as family habits or schooling. Landscape also played a major role in creation of language as we know it today and, of course, music, which is in a way reflection of the language or even its natural extention.
When I hear Catalan Spanish (as oppose to Colombian), I see this flaming deserts, this huge dazzling empty sky, this austere mountain ranges and  agressive attacking sun. I almost hear flamenco rhythm in an everyday exchange at the butchers.

 And London is an increadible place for meeting individuals from every corner of our planet (can I say that? given that Earth is round?). But only through travelling one can fully experience this concept, which every time feels like one own's discovery. 

I have noticed that the sunnier and warmer climate of the country - the sunnier and warmer are that country's folks. Occasionally, people get a bit crazy and overexcited with all that heat and unlimited sunshine. I am sure, everyone in London knows some Spaniard who is slightly mad or full on crazy. Nothing personal, but they just are ;-)

The more south you move  - the bigger and juicier fruit you get, insects blow out of proportion, resembling dinosauruses more that flies, cats aquire mad gaze and people tend to enjoy life more. This June we went to Greek island Sciathos to witness just that.

Oh, Greece, Greece, Greece, sweetest memories... Sun, strawberry daikiris, blurry horizon line and intoxicating, almost drinkable  acacia aroma, filling the air.... Pines upon pines upon pines and quiet. Crystall clear chilled water, kleftico, stiffado and the sourest wine ever. Oh, how much I loved that place!

In terms of coffee drinking - Greek like theirs in tiny cups with plenty of sugar and without milk. Coffee there is first being ground to almost flour like powder and then brewed. Waiters in cafes will ask you if you want your coffee medium, which I thought was reference to the size, but when they brought it for the first time in such a tiny vessel, I half-jokingly asked what small was like - ... (now, I don;t know the word for a sewing device that one uses to push needle through particularly thick material, I hope you get me!)?

His replay was that medium means amount of sugar in coffee and that foreigners usually drink medium.
Naturally,  being secretly addicted to sugar and desperately trying to conceal this addiction, I said that I don't want ANY sugar and once the drink arrived heroically tried it  - it was very strong, almost like espresso, but syropy and thick and quite bitter (hence sugar I guess).

I loved it, because I loved Greece and greek coffee will forever remind me of golden times spent in this paradise on Earth.  

PS. The box of Nescafe  on one of the pictures - is not typical, I want to think that instant coffee in Greece is a mean of convenience and not an acceptable habit.

Ethiopian coffee ceremony

On Thursday we had a District Coffee Master  meeting and instead of usual coffee tasting at the start we had a fantastic Etiopian coffee ceremony hosted by lovely Rahel. It was just mind-blowing to see how pretty much everyone can roast coffee at home, equiped  with very basic pans and, of course, knowlegde that being passed down in generations.

Rahel was very concerned about fire safety at the beginning, but it has all gone down well - no unexpected fire drills initiated!
Rahel was wearing very beautyful traditional dress for the occasion, I partucularly liked embroidary on hem. She started with roasting green coffee beans(from Ethiopia, but she wouldn't tell which part they came from - Sidamo or Haraghe or elsewhere) in a little pan, shaking the pan as she went along. Everyone got quite excited once the aroma of freshly roasted coffee started to fill the place! Then we heard the first pop.

She brewed coffee in a little black jar called jabena and poured coffee into little cups, holding jabena quite high up, which allowed to see whether coffee had right consistancy - not too thick and not too watery. Since in Ethiopia they don't use any measurments, it is cruicial to judge by the look. (if it makes sense ;-)

We all had a sip and everyone was saying that this feels like "proper coffee", meaning probably, that it was fresh, full of aroma, body and character, that we expect form a truly unique cup.

I did film the whole thing and intend to make a little video to post here, however, it might take a while to cut raw 15 min material into 3 min clip. Watch this space!    

Love, love, love it!

Everything is changing so rapidly these days, like it or not, it is just the fact of life. Seems like everybody's attention span is getting shorter and shorter, concepts are evolving with speed of light and it's hard to imagine that food or fashion can get any faster...  People are expecting more and much quicker and much more exciting. And to succeed in this insane race, one needs to play a chameleon, creature that teaches us a thing or two about adaptability and flexibility.

On Monday I saw an e mail from Darcy, talking about few grand openings in the course of last weeks  and amongst them cutting the ribbon at Conduit Street store. I have learnt that the store design was heavy influenced by Pike Place shop in Seattle, the very first "Starbucks" ever opened. Since the chance to go to Seattle will come by not very soon, I went to Conduit Street instead.

As usual, I was quite sceptical at first, discounting Darcy's overtly enthusiasm on the same grounds that that of a mum smiling deliriously and clapping at her toddler dancing like a drunken horse and singing totally out of tune. He is a metaphorical Father of it all , at least, in UK and Ireland. He is tied to shine with pride like a polished samovar. However, Conduit Street is a delight. Surrounded by high end fashion stores (Vivien Westwood, Moschino, Krizia etc.), just off Regent Street, it is airy and light, with plenty of space and sitting on every level - hard chairs, low sofas, high bar style chairs. It delievers that semi-authentic independant coffee shop feel, that it is trying to achieve: giant bags of coffee on open shelves, paintings on the walls.

And the china!  I loved the mugs, I remember, we used to sell them and took them down for Xmas, but they are totally rad! Lighter, taller than ones we use now and much better looking. Novelty!

Downstairs area is a cross between night club and the library, which is a bit confusing, but I have to admire the inventiveness of the interior design guys, there are bookshelves and comfy sofas,  caves with low lights and soft puffs, that inspire inappropriate conversations and  intimacy. In the middle of the room sits a huge communal table, I guess it would be ideal meeting space for many PR consultanies thriving in the area.

I really liked it and am disappointed that it is located quite far away, but whenever I am  in town, I will be definetely visiting the Pike Place, sorry, Conduit Street.

PS. I also had a pleasure of talking to Maria briefly there, who is DCM in Soho.
I also took some pics of the shop, however, if you want to get full impression of what it is like, have a look at Starbucks Facebook page, or better still, get your bum to Conduit street!      

Symphony of flavours

Somehow, everytime I taste coffee, some music piece spings into my mind, usually of classical nature(I have a soft spot for good old stuff).

Whilst single origins I tend to associate with solo instrumental pieces, e.g. cello, piano, sax, multi-regional blends bring to my mind golden orchestra standards with its poliphonics and layers and layers of tembre.

Whenever I have Sumatra or Sulawesi, Beethoven's sonatas are blasting in my head. Colombia is early Mozart, crisp, clear and playful, like a spring in the forest.


House Blend - is Tchaikovsky's "Flower Valse" from "Sleeping Beauty" and Guatemala Antigua - guitar flamenco, played on the streets of Barcelona.
Arabian Mocha Sanani, although being a single origin coffee, is so intense and almost intoxicating, winelike, that it reminds me of Wagner's creations, heavy and fierce.


None of our line up is Chopin for me... I am searching for the brilliance and versatility of flavour, fragility and delicacy of aroma and unbearable lightness and meloncholy in the cup.... Something slightly sad, but life assuring and impossibly pleasant. Shall I find this perfection?

PS. When I drink tea, it's always about Rachmaninoff! Tea drinking is very traditional Russian pastime and Rachmaninoff's concerts, heavily indulged in Russian folk music, are sheer delight!

"Triple grande Latte? That guy is seriously hot!"

Vogue Paris and coffee - match made in heaven (how cheesy is that!?!?!)

The title of this post is a fragment of our half-drunken chatter in the pub after Christmas meeting  (no, we didn't start celebrate Xmas early, it was a meeting about Christmas campaign). After of couple of hours of quite formal introductions(how are your family? Is it really that cold in Russia? I can't believe you can't drink water during Fast! etc. ), we eventually got to our favourite pastime - gossiping, and since we couldn't b*tch about each other (everyone was present), of course, our victims were our customers! 

Oh, what a joy to discuss their gimmicks with fellow barista! Fresh, delicious and raw pieces of gossip were served in the room, interrupted by explosions of maniac laughter and sighs of disbelieve. And here is the secret, our dearest patrons! - since we don't know your names, we are marking you just like cups for mutual convenience. It might look like an incredibly challenging task - to memorise your beverages, in order to recognize you and provide that legendary service, but it is the same mechanism we all use to remember the names!

Your name might be David or Olympia or Kelly, however, for us you are forever Venti Skinny Cappuccino or Double Tall Mocha no cream. People are creatures of habits and it is very unlikely that they change the drink they find comfort in to something unknown.

Next time you are in the shop just tune in and listen what is being said behind the bar... With a bit of luck, you might catch something ...juicy :-)

Coffee and Reykja

When we went to Iceland last March, from what I had read from all the guides, I expected Reykjavik to be a coffee heaven. ""People run on coffee"... "No one really drinks tea"... "There is a coffee machine in every shop and customers can have a cup of coffee totally free"... What else one can ask for?

And yes, there are coffee machines pretty much everywhere we went, however, those were vending machines producing horrible brew, a cross between instant coffee and dishwater. It is free, but I would not drink it even if I was paid to. So, instead of coffee paradise we faced severe coffee famine.

To be fair, to say that one can not get a decent cup of coffee in Reykjavik would be a lie. There are few places well worth of visit, I particularly liked "Mocha" for design and cakes and "Kaffitar" (icelandic version of "Starbucks") for home away from home feel.

Most of the year it is cold and dark in Iceland and therefore interior design of many small funky coffee places tends to be quite up beat and very colorful, which I really liked. This Scandinavian gem is also quite progressive in terms of technology - wherever you go, Wi-Fi is free and you don't have to have any cash on you at all - cards are accepted everywhere.

In "Kaffitar" we had very nice cappuccino and I bought 2 bags of beans to try - Colombia and Espresso. Design of the bags was beyond cool - witty, colorful and with traditional symbols of Reykjavik. Both coffees weren't great, unfortunately. Very watery, under roasted and far too sour.  I think, "Kaffitar" know their customer very well and cater for their palate, brought up on doubtful brew from vending machines, therefore offering something more intense, might not have met a great response.

All and all, Iceland is a fantastic place to go for otherworldly landscapes, wild nature and crazy nightlife, but probably not for mind-blowing coffee experience.  

Blend "Kensal Rise"

On the Conference we also discussed, how the blends are being made and Lisa, the host of the Roasting section, brought up "Thanksgiving blend", the blend that was especially created to "complement sweet and savoury dishes shared around Thanksgiving table". It was launched 4th of November last year and is a "flavourful combination of full-bodied beans from Sumatra, with hints of fine herbs, and beans from Guatemala, which add subtle spice, notes of cocoa and a pleasant sparkle". 
It is not featured on the Starbucks web site this year, so I am wondering if it was a one off or a coffee proudly taking its place in a wonderful Starbucks whole bean line-up.

As Lisa said, mainly coffees are being blended before roasting (and, I guess, it takes a lot of time to create a blend  through the way of trial and error), however, in some cases, like our "Verona", beans being mixed after roasting, because some of the beans had too be Italian or Continental roast, which is very dark.

After that session, I felt quite inspired to try my hand at creating my very own blend. I would call it "Kensal Rise Blend". Kensal Rise is a very lively area, where I live, "melting pot" of cultures and nationalities, on the border of street-wise Ladbroke Grove and divorced from reality Queen's Park.

My blend would be full-bodied affair with aroma of fried chicken from kebab shop next door, hints of red wine, excessively drank at "Chamberlayne", and aftertaste of honey, in honour of honeys roaming the Queen's Park. I think it'll be huge success!)))

Kensal Rise and Queen's Park last year, when it was snowing like mad.

Algerian Coffee Stores - coffee heaven

I have always known about this shop in Soho's Old Compton Street since passing it few years ago. I even popped in there out of curiosity couple of times, however, my passion for coffee wasn't as consuming at that time and I always left the store empty-handed. 
Not this time though. This time I was mesmerized by the whole plenty of coffees on offer, and not just coffees, but also all the machinery and brewing equipment required and more and more gadgets and devices that would drive a true coffee lover into fragrant paradise. All the silver espresso machines, french presses and shelves and shelves of glass cilinders with shiny dark beans. 

Guys behind the counter were extremely nice and very helpful, although a bit overwhelmed on the encounter of a coffee expert (that is your humble servant, he he). They struggled a bit  to come up with a match for my brief and called the manager to help. Here is our insane exchange:

- Hi, I am looking for something new to challenge my taste buds and my imagination... Not too dark roast, since I don't appreciate smokiness in my coffee and something rather Asia/Pacific or African, then Latin American, because I am not very keen on high acidity... Mayby some blend?...

- Urm... How about Arabic with spices? It is very unusual cup, with strong spicy flavour, very original character.

- Yeah, but I tend to enjoy more just pure brew...

- Maybe, then blend of African coffees?

- Naaa, I really like zestiness and grapefruit notes of Africans, but in summer. In autumn I incline towards fuller, thicker body and syropy-er pour... 

- Then Boston Blend...

- Too dark!

- Brazilian...

- Too harsh!

- Right! This is what you like - "..."! If you liked Sulawesi, you like  that. 
(Zhanna's note: Damn it! I forgot the name! Have to come back to find out! )

  So, here it is.

Tasting notes:

 The initial aroma is reminiscent of Sumatra - some herby, hot mud notes, then it takes you to the next dimension with smell of peach meringue and dried cranberry and then eventually I got a bit of ashiness, which is good for me in moderation. (The bean looked very dark and shiny, roasted to perfection).

With the first sip I wanted to run to that shop and kiss the guy who sold me this coffee thrice on both cheeks!
It is genius! After inhaling aroma, you kind of prepare yourself for a rather rich, decadent and somewhat overpowering cup, but what you  get is very balanced, very clear taste, unexpectedly light in body, with just a hint of punch, that have been skilllfully removed, like a remote echo of cannons, charging in the far. 

This coffee delivered on every level for me - it has a character, but so delicate and fragile that makes you want to cherish it and drink it on its own and very often. 

I will definitely come back to Algerian Coffee Stores, maybe even for a bag of Blue Mountain (if I'll be fortunate enough to win lottery. Have a look at the price!)

Annual Leadership Conference

Since I am a District Coffee Master, this year I was participating in Annual Leadership Conference which was held in Barbican. Everything for me was new (I have never been to Barbican before). I have met a lot of wonderful people from other districts, regions and even remote parts of the country. Our, that is DCMs, role was to support different stations throughout the conference, e.g. I was sampling Christmas beverages. There are pictures where I am on the bar with Iris and Mark, preparing the drinks for sampling and there is Zaza on the background, who is very very funny, he was a Commandor, all he did was he repeated all the orders in a very loud voice and cried "Excellent!", "You are doing fabulous job! ", "Faster, faster!" and "Show some spirit!". I was cracking laughing!

On the second day we had a Coffee Authority module, where we learnt a lot of things about how farmers are coping(I really liked the speech from our very special guest Peter, head of Costa Rican Farmers Support Centre), watched beans being roasted on a portable roaster  and then with help and direction from Coffee Quality team we did cupping just like professionals do. It was so exciting and so new fro me, that I caught a coffee bug and the idea of this blog was conceived. There is so much to learn about coffee, it's crazy!

I am hosting a Store Coffee Masters meeting in couple of weeks time and I can't wait to share this excitement with the guys! 

   

That was a display that we did after US campaign for using tumblers instead of plastic cups. It would save 365 cups a year. Very simple and very strong idea.

This is how much sampling we did, after that thrice a day in the shop  - a joke, really!

 

These are lovely guys I have met - Szilvia, Marcel and Santosh.