Author: Lameen

This is another long overdue post, as I was in Cape Town in February 2008. Again, any visit there has to include a trip to my favourite coffee shop in the Southern Hemisphere, Origins Coffee Roasting, 28 Hudson Street, de Waterkant, Cape Town. It’s one of those places that when I visit, it feels like home, as the staff now recognise me as that keen coffee drinker with a camera always talking about coffee machines and coffee beans. I was glad to see that Origins have expanded their horizons and are taking their self-imposed goal of educating South Africa about quality coffee seriously. For one, they now have a barista school at the back of their shop, where I was able to witness upcoming baristi (plural for barista in Italian) practising their latte art. I also met briefly again with Joel Singer, co-owner of Origins. Secondly, Origins now organise roadshows and they planned to have one in Johannesburg in late February. They now sell their blends to other cafes (Manna Epicure – see post on Cape Town Coffee Scene of 2008 below) and are now beginning to get a reputation. When I first discovered the place, I used to go around Cape Town mentioning Origins and everyone used to look at me like, “what and where is that ?”, but on this visit, they were like “yes, I’ve heard of it….” . In addition, one of their baristi won the South African National Barista Championships – the second year in a  row that one of Origins home grown has won.

 

So, I’m glad that Origins reputation is spreading as the “Artisan Roasters of Africa” in SA.

In the shop, they’ve changed their main coffee grinder to the Spanish made Compak, which is fast becoming the expert choice of the baristi world as Compak coffee grinders are now used at the World Barista Championships.  In any case, I went for my double espresso and was tempted to try 2 Portugese custard tarts or pasties de nata and shot a video of a two heart latte art, which you can view on my YouTube page ( http://www.youtube.com/Lameen71) They still serve their coffees using a naked filter on their Synesso espresso coffee machine, which I was determined not to miss. This gives their espresso and edge.

 

I also got to snap this unusual latte art piece – dragonfly of heart ?

 

I bought some freshly roasted coffee and was glad to see other people in the queue enquiring and splashing out (an English slang for spending lots of money) on coffee.

 

I continue to wish Origins the best of luck in their ventures and if you go to Cape Town, please do yourself a favour and visit – your taste buds would love the experience. Check out their website on http://www.originroasting.co.za/

“Can I have a triple espresso flat white made on a bottomless filter please ?” You what ? OK ! let me decipher. Usually, you can get a single or a double espresso in your milk based drink, mainly because the portafilter (where the coffee is ground into and placed into the espresso machine) can take a minimum of a single espresso and a maximum of a double espresso. However, I learnt that at Flat White, Berwick Street, Soho, London they had a special triple espresso portafilter, which means you can order a triple espresso shot. A Flat White (from which the shop is named) is an Australian Version of a Latte, but with less frothed milk. I also learnt that they sometimes use a bottomless filter, which means that the portafilter does not have a base under the coffee basket – Am I loosing you in this jargon ? Making espresso in a bottomless filter means that the coffee is extracted straight from the machine into your coffee cup, without touching any metal. So in essence, you are getting quite a pure pour and the taste should be sublime. So, on a recent visit to Flat White coffee shop, I made this order and watched the event. The top barista and co-owner, Cameron, was really helpful. Here is the beginning of the pour for the latte art;

 

And here is the final version – almost too good to drink, but lovely as a picture.

 

They also use bottomeless portafilters at my other favourite coffee shop in Cape Town, Origins Coffee Roasting, which I have a picture of and will share with you some other time God willing !

So ! if you get a chance to be brave and show off to your friends, forget that stuff about skinny soya latte, etc and order a triple shot espresso latte or flat white. 

 

Another one of favourite coffee shops in London has to be Fernandez & Wells, which actually has two shops in Soho – fast reclaiming back its status as the place to eat, drink and be seen in London. The first shop on 43 Lexington Street is described as a Food & Wine Bar “a European Market Stall in an English Setting”, where you can buy meat, cheese, sandwiches, etc. However just around the corner on 73 Beak Street is their Coffee Shop, where I’ve been before (see https://fromcoffeewithlove.com/pages/enjoy_culture-beanthere.html).

For a little background, their coffee is from the famous Monmouth Coffee Company and they now have a Synesso Cyncra Espresso Machine (they used to have a La Marzocco) – I’ve only seen 2 Synesso machines, one in Cape town and one now in London. For more info about this wonderful machine see www.synesso.com If my dream of having a coffee shop one day came true, then this machine is first on my list. Anyway back to the shop – they have a simple clean layout, where all the goodies are displayed

 

Now ! doesn’t that look inviting ? As I had just had breakfast, I could only stomach a Pasties de Nata a Portuguese custard tart, which I had only had previosuly at Origins Coffee Roasting in Cape Town – now that I am writing this, there seems to be come kind of connection, same custard tarts and same coffee machine, hmmmm ! They also have bread from the famous French bakery, Poilâne. I decided to try a Piccolo, which I had wanted to try on my return. A Piccolo is like a smallish latte, served in a double espresso cup and I found out that the barista and another shop assistant were previously from Monmouth Coffee Company – so they got the coffee and the staff from the pros – well done ! Anyway, as you can see below, my piccolo was served with latte art in this tiny cup – impressive as Im still struggling to do latte art in a big cup.

 

The coffee was nice and smooth and the staff were friendly and on my next visit, I pray that I’ll have the chance to pop in and have that Sicilian Lemon Cheesecake that I didn’t have space in my tummy for.

For more, visit http://www.fernandezandwells.com/beak.php