Seattle Coffee Works

Growing up in the Southwest of Germany, I understood at an early age the true meaning of the village pub. There was a brewery with a brew pub in pretty much every town of more than 1,000 people. The meaning of the brew pub was multifold. Mainly, it was where the village elders gathered after church; where we’d go after a funeral; and where we’d go during summer for refreshments. (I did try my first beer at the tender age of three but, seriously, I didn’t swallow it, I promise!)

There were lots of brew pubs where I grew up but barely any coffeehouses. The closest thing to Kaffeehaus was the Konditorei in the big town. They were known for their cream cakes but not for their coffee. Some of the best known Cafes in Berlin, Cafe Kranzler, and Vienna, Cafe Sacher, are known for their cream cakes. The famed prototype of a Viennese Kaffeehaus isn’t known either for their coffee or for their cakes. It’s for that reason I always wondered what made the Kaffeehaus so famous.

Just after my recent espresso crawl in Berlin, Germany, I continued on for a short visit of some very good friends in Vienna. They sent me off on a small crawl of Wiener Kaffeehäuser. Here’s what I learned about Viennese coffeehouses:

• they have a great selection of national and international newspapers;
• their service is fabled for a basic grumpiness; if your waiter or waitress is friendly they’re having a bad day;
• the Vienna specific coffee concoctions like Einspänner or Verlängerter are just names for basic coffee with more or less water or more or less whipped cream.
• you go to a Viennese coffeehouse pretty much for the same reasons the elders in my village visited the village pub;
• sometimes you run into a very famous people, like poets, writers, artists, famous actors;
• the interior design of Viennese coffeehouses follows strict design principles and by and large the goal of the design is to allow customers to see and be seen.

I was wondering what might happen (if it might happen, ever?!) if the traditional Viennese coffeehouses started serving excellent coffee. Would they go out of business? Would it confuse the poets?

A recent trip to Berlin, Germany, afforded me an opportunity to check out the local coffee scene there. The Berlin coffee crawl was a about as sobering (if not more so) than a recent espresso crawl with a couple of friends here in Seattle.

I’ll spare you the details of all the disappointments I had on the way but will say the following was true for each of the espresso bars (all of which roasted their own coffee) I went to:

• the espresso machines were of the single-boiler type with little to no temperature control; I spotted no LaMarzoccos or Synessos or any other quality make of an espresso maker;
• while the interior design of many cafes was truly breath-taking, the emphasis on design didn’t apply to what type of cup to present an espresso in. Most espressos were presented in an 8-oz cup; one time I asked for a double espresso and received – it’s really true! – a 4-oz cup full of a brown and bitter substance which might have been concocted in a Melitta drip filter contraption using old coffee and the wrong grind;
• If the baristas’ equipment and techniques were lacking, the quality of the coffee didn’t help. Coffee often was overroasted, the blends struck me as unsuited for an excellent espresso (single-origin espresso was not an option anywhere I went), the roast date was often not noted on the package.

In all, given the pride Germans take in fine food, the espresso scene was lacking at best. There was a notable exception – Bonanza Coffee Roasters in Prenzlauer Berg. My heart started jumping when I saw a beautiful three-group Synesso Cyncra. The espresso was superb. I briefly met Emile (sp?), one of the two roasters at Bonanza. Bonanza uses a 3kg Probat. Small. Very small. But very very fine. There is hope!

P.S.: After I’d left Berlin, I received a note from Barista Academy Berlin with a couple of recommendations: Double Eye and Berliner Kaffeerösterei. I’ll have to try those out the next time when I am in Berlin.

We want to extend our appreciation to all the participants who made it to Houston this year to compete in the US Barista Championship and the first-ever US Brewers Cup. It is always exciting and rewarding to watch people with such passion and skill throw down. You all make this industry much more engaging and fun.

Congratulations to Pete Licata of Honolulu Coffee, this year’s reigning barista champion. It was a pleasure watching you perform and hearing the tale of your coffee. I only wish I might have tasted it!

Congratulations to Nik Krankl (Gelato Bar & Espresso Cafe) and Ryan Knapp (MadCap Coffee), 2nd and 3rd place barista winners. I wanted to taste your coffees, too!

This first national battle of the manual brewers was of particular interest for me because two dear friends were competing AND both made it into the finals! Oh, the power of the SuperHario Brothers.

Congratulations to Andy Sprenger of Caffee Pronto, the first of the US Brewers Cup champions!

Congratulations to Mike Cannon (Independent!) and Erin McCarthy (gimme!) who placed 2nd and 3rd.

A special shout out to Ben Kaminsky of Ritual Coffee Roasters for once again (3 times!!) taking the title of US Cup Tasters Challenge grand champeen. We love tasting coffee, and apparently, so does Ben.

Finally, we just want to say that having a forum where coffee professionals get to nerd out in the extreme warms the cockles of our coffee geek hearts, and you’re all awesome in our eyes.

~Larissa