Coffee with… oatmeal? Coffee with biscuits which you can dip in chocolate sauce? A cup specially designed to warm up your doughnut? Espresso with ice cubes? It all exists.
We have written about original sweets with your coffee before. But in the meanwhile we found some new ideas to share with you! read more
Zenroast, the ceramic coffee roaster from Japan allows everybody to roast his or her own coffee beans. A classic everyday tool that is used for roasting tea leaves and sesame seeds has been introduced as coffee roaster to create the ultimate coffee to your own taste.
Bulletproof Coffee is a branded coffee drink consisting of “Upgraded” black coffee blended with grass-fed butter and “Brain Octane oil” (coconut oil). The drink is supposed to boost cognitive performance and has opened a stand-alone bulletproof café in Los Angeles last year. FATwater also contains coconut oil extracts and water, a new product from the same Bulletproof company.
We already spotted the drink while writing an article back in September 2014 about the pop-up coffeebar in the black box in Ghent (Belgium). The pop-up coffeebar was part of CrossFit Ghent. The original recipe of Dave Asprey is created in 2009 and is originally based on the Yak-butter tea from Tibet. The coffee consists of a special coffee, butter from grass fed cows and a special kind of coconut oil. Just blend these 3 elements and you’ll have your Bulletproof coffee.
Dave Asprey now sells his own ‘Upgraded’ black coffee and the ‘Brain Octane Oil’ (an 8-carbon fraction of medium-chain triglyceride oil). Dave Asprey even claims that the drink will have you lose weight. The drink is very popular amongst sportspeople and entrepreneurs. Although we have read a couple of reviews which say that there is no scientific base for the claims and some people have been drinking so many Bulletproof coffees that their cholesterol level increased! Last year the Bulletproof coffee got a lot attention on shows like Good Morning America and The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, like the above video shows. Here a link to another video showing Dave Asprey making a Bulletproof coffee.
At the website of PSFK we read that from the makers of Bulletproof coffee also comes FATwater. Another drink laced with coconut oil extracts and a punch of energy. The statement of Bulletproof Coffee about their new product: “Experience clean-burning fuel from fat instead of sugar. Using patented nano-fusion™ technology, FATwater concentrate is an emulsion of Bulletproof® XCT™ Oil and purified water, ready to be stirred into water or beverage of your choice.”
When and where can we drink Bulletproof Coffee and FATwater in Europe? Wouldn’t it be great to be the coffee company that introduces these drinks in Europe? Would you try one?
With Ripples coffee printer, you can print images and text on cappuccinos or lattes.
The Ripples coffee printer can personalize a cup of coffee. The printer can print messages on the coffee like for example birthday congratulations or your name.
The machine costs about € 915, – and combines 3D printing with an ink-jet system. The ink is made of natural coffee extract and is available in so-called ‘Ripple Pods’. The images can be chosen from the online Ripple library or uploaded via the Ripple app. One print takes about 10 seconds.
The Ripples coffee printer has a WiFi connectivity and automatically prints on coffee cups up to 17 cm high and 11 cm in diameter. Printing Latte Art was seen earlier in Taiwan, at the Lets Caffe. However, that system was based on printing with cocoa and was not available to third parties. Additionally Ripples focuses its marketing much more on printing catchy messages rather than portraits alone.
Watch this gorgeous short film (15 min) about Great Coffee. It is the story of passionate coffee connoisseur Søren Stiller Markussen, the owner and founder of Great Coffee in Aarhus, Denmark.
He visits a coffee farm from Frederico Pacas (Café Tuxpal) a farm with six generations experience in the family that’s based in Finca Santra Petrona, El Salvador. He also visits New York for inspiration and notices that the baristas are all pursueing a unique style.
In the video Søren Stiller Markussen shows three different traditional methods of processing coffee beans.G
– Natural: drying the coffee with the skin
– Water processed: rinse the skin of with water
– Honey processed: Processed with honey Black (without water) and yellow honey (with water)
By measuring the sugar level during the fermentation process, the process can be stopped at the right moment to get a full, sweet body. The desired sugar content is 18-22% and takes about 4 hours to ferment, after that carbon dioxide and alcohol will start to form.
During the movie the coffee connoisseur gives a glimpse into his personal life as well. He explains his motivations in his life, in which Jiu Jitsu and swimming in the sea play a significant role.
Jits Krol and Robert Nijhof penetrate the hospitality industry with their Batavia Dutch cold coffee. The cold brewing method from the Dutch East India Company era is now also available in a bottled series.
Jits: “In June 2014, we quit our jobs to enter a world full of specialty (ice) coffees. Batavia Coffee is a company with only one mission; To transfer our passion for Dutch Coffee to the Dutch people. ”
The method owes its name and origin to Dutch traders in the Dutch East India Company era. The brewers made their coffee with cold water back in the days, to make it sustainable and to cool off in the tropics. With this method they introduced coffee in North East Asia, where Dutch Coffee is still very popular.
Alike wine the origin of the coffeebeans has an influence on the taste of it. Coffee has a lot of diversity in taste influenced by the region where the coffee is grown, the climate and the type of plants used.
The Batavia Coffee is available in three variants. An Ethiopian Limu (with hints of chocolate, caramel and citrus), the Colombian Santuario (a powerful and spicy coffee where nuts, roasted peanuts and flowers can be distinguished) and the Ethiopian Yirgacheffe (a fruity coffee which has hints of melon and passion fruit).
The ingredients for a good Dutch Coffee are quite simple. Ice cold water and freshly roasted and ground coffee. Sugar, dyes, or E numbers are not needed, the coffee is naturally sweet and can be stored for 4 months if refrigerated.
Leonie van Spronsen had a Matcha latte in Paris at Maison Kitsuné and writes about it. Matcha is known to be full of antioxidants, fiber & chlorophyll. When you drink it as a Matcha latte, the combination with the milk gives a sweet like flavor without any sugar.
A few years ago ordering a cup of coffee was simple, there was the American, the espresso and the cappuccino or if you were feeling crazy a latte would be the beverage of choice. Boy, things have changed in that department.
Nowadays everybody has their own special preference, white chocolate mocha with non-fat milk, a ristretto or an almond milk caramel macchiato, the options are infinite. But to say this made the coffee game healthier? Certainly not.
Meanwhile the Japanese were steadily persisting in their traditional practice of drinking Matcha everything. Matcha is a tea plant only grown in Japan, near the Yahagi River, and is a tea type used so often in Japan that sources say only 1% is used for export.
The health benefits are comparable to other green teas but with a much larger impact because the tea (and all other hot beverages made with it) is made from a powder that contains the entire leaf. This means you are ingesting the full scale of nutrients the leaf has to offer in comparison too just the brewed water you usually get with green tea.
Matcha is known to be full of antioxidants, fiber & chlorophyll, next to this when you drink it as a Matcha latte, the combination with the milk gives a sweet like flavor without any sugar. In these times of increasing obesity, diabetics and highly processed foods – this might be the new flagship of the pro-health movement.
After already taking NYC by storm, the concept is now also slowly but steadily making its way to Europe. And why not? If you are into milky coffee drinks and have cravings for Starbucks drinks on a daily basis, you might as well switch to Matcha latte. It certainly contains less fats & sugars, it actually has additional health benefits and (not unimportant) it looks really cool. The question is.. how long before we consider a Matcha latte to be as normal as a cappuccino?
Coffee has gained a more exclusive status over the past years and there are a lot of connoisseurs nowadays. That said, most of the coffees are brewed hot and the (re)introduction of a cold brew method might bump into some doubts.
The classical Dutch brewing method dates back to the Dutch East India Company period. With this method cold (ice) water drips through the ground bean reservoir. Making a pot of coffee takes four to six hours, the result is a less bitter and less acid coffee. The cold coffee barely oxidates and therefore has a longer shelve time. The Dutch Coffee contains zero calories because the fat in the beans doesn’t dissolve in cold water.
The design of the classical Dutch Coffee machines, or installations, dates back to the trade of the Dutch East India Company. The elegant design is a fusion between Dutch stolidity and Asian craftsmanship.
The various tastes of the coffee bean are well preserved by the cold brew method. The founders of the ‘Dutch Coffee’ company, Jits Krol and Robert Nijhof, say it’s even strange that we’re brewing coffee hot. This tradition probably started back in the days when it was more hygienic and healthier to brew coffee with boiled water. It does have a negative impact on the taste though.
The website www.dutch-coffee.nl/en shows a variety of serving methods, brew-experiments and the machines of course.
Chefs who have been awarded with multiple Michelin stars often use their name to open ‘gastro bistro’-like restaurants. Some chefs connect their name to a bakery. For example this last year, some Fika’s (a rendezvous for coffee and pastry) opened in Stockholm. This summer I even stood in line at the Bouchon Bakery by Thomas Keller (two restaurants with three Michelin stars) in Yountville, California. Meanwhile, the Thomas Keller group already has five branches of the Bouchon Bakery, one with a café.
Recently I read an article in The Guardian by The Foodie Traveller who writes about the development of ‘Fika Bakeries’ in Stockholm. Some famous chefs with Michelin stars did open a bakery, where they use their talents to lift the original Fika coffee shops to a higher level in Stockholm.
The Green Rabbit bakery opened in May 2014 and is owned by Mathias Dahlgren (two Michelin stars with his restaurant Mathias Dahlgren at the Grand hotel) and his executive chef Martin Berg in Vasastan, Stockholm. They seem to include delicate blueberries and raspberries muffins in their Fika.
Wienercaféet is also an example of a Fika Coffeeshop. Wienercaféet opened last year by Daniel Lindeberg, who first worked with Björn Frantzén (Restaurant Frantzén, number 23 on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants Pelligrino). Daniel Lindeberg left Wienercaféet already to open Lindeberg Bakery and Patisserie in another part of Stockholm. In the culinary center K-märkt Daniel Roos (world champion pastry chef in 2012) opened a bakery, with chef Johan Gottberg and sommelier Jens Dolk.
Just a bakery where we can buy great sweet and savory pastries, fruit salads, cakes and specialties of the chef, possibly with a coffee-to-go. In the neighborhood of Leiden please. I’m in Stockholm late December and will take a look at the concepts and would love share my experience with chefs who do have plans in this direction! ^ Marjolein van Spronsen
The American soul artist Curtis Harding will have an in-store performance at the Coffeecompany in Amsterdam on Sunday 23 November. Record company Epitaph / Anti-Europe joins forces with the coffee chain that provides it’s visitors a soulful afternoon and the artist gets extra publicity.
In addition to his club tour in the Netherlands Curtis Harding will perform exclusively at the Coffeecompany on the Oosterdokskade in Amsterdam. An old tradition of in-store performances is hereby revived by the Coffeecompany and record label Epitaph / Anti-Europe. Various performances by Pete Philly & Perquisite and Michael Franti took place at branches of the coffee chain from 2005 to 2009.
The in-store performance will take place from 15.00 o’clock and is free of charge. Later that evening Curtis Harding will perform at the Paradiso. The last few weeks the popularity of Curtis Harding rocketed sky high with ‘Keep on shining’ being nominated as tip song at various radio stations, so we expect the event will attract quite a lot of fans.
Especially for King’s Day 2024, GiG is launching their hard seltzer ‘GiG Orange Anthem’ with a refreshing orange flavour for the ultimate King’s Day experience. read more
We have been sharing inspiration on our website since 2007, inspiration that we find in the hospitality industry or by online spotting of what our read more
We have been sharing inspiration on our website since 2007, inspiration that we find in the hospitality industry or by online spotting of what our read more
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