Archives for posts with tag: coffee
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Espresso Ambulanz, Berlin (revisited)

10.04.2012 //
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Often having cited Espresso Ambulanz as my favorite Berlin espresso bar, it’s become an obligatory stop on every visit to Berlin. Tastes develop though, and having moved away from coffees with syrups and cappuccinos to espressos or an espresso machiatto, this place falls through in terms of espresso as being no more than an “okay” espresso bar.
Using dark roast espresso beans, they manage to serve decent Italian-style espressos, as their Italian clientele may find pleasing. The third wave of coffee, using lighter roasts to allow more balanced and complex flavors to find its way to your espresso, completely passes by on these guys. A field trip to some coffee heroes or a barn would be really helpful, but may cost them their loyal Italian clientele.
All in all, good memories are hard to erase and I still wholeheartedly recommend Espresso Ambulanz for having a cappuccino or some sweet syrup-delight. It’s still a great place to lounge -provided you are able to find a seat- and use their free wifi to keep up with digital life.

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Bagels & Beans, Aachen

08.04.2011 //
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Bagels & Beans has been around in the Netherlands for quite a few years, and successfully so, with a lot of branches throughout the country and occasionally winning the ‘coffee test’ of Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad. Recently I found out they also opened up a branch across the border, in the German city of Aachen. As I frequently visit the city due to its location just across the border and magnificent city centre, it was only a matter of time before I’d end up trying the first German Bagels & Beans.

On this warm and sunny spring day, the time was right to give it a go, and I ventured down south. After a stroll through the city’s sunny streets, I ended up on the street-side terrace. Although, as said, the weather was nice, two things bothered me about the terrace: for one it’s right next to a busy intersection and secondly the terrace was underneath a sun screen, which kept away the sun. I had no problem connecting to their wireless network, however. Even outside, connectivity was brilliant.

The cappuccino was good enough, although latte art-capable microfoam was lacking, resulting in separation of liquids and foam, thus making it hard to enjoy both, without using a spoon. Other than that, it tasted good, though, which to me still is priority number one. The espresso was good, although the crema a bit thin and it could have used a fuller body. A glass of water was provided right away and all in all Bagels & Beans made for a pleasurable experience.

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Imagio, Breda

04.04.2011 //
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Visiting a city for the first time means there are plenty of espresso bars to choose from. I decided to go for Imagio today, which smartly combines an Italian sounding name with the English word ‘image’ to hint at its hip and modern design: this is a place you can be seen without damaging your carefully constructed image! On the outside of the store, stylized and clear images tell passer-by’s what they can expect: coffee, sweets, lunch, 20 seats on the upper floor and wifi, although the latter isn’t met: both my phone and my Mac manage to connect to the network, but then fail to connect to the internet. If you’d get it working, there will be plenty of sockets to power your laptop on the ground floor, whereas upstairs there is just one table with a power socket.

But, most importantly, the coffee at this place is actually good! The double cappuccino tasted quite good, although it seemed the barista had rushed frothing the milk, resulting in a somewhat bubbly, solid foam sitting on top of the cappuccino. Other than that, it tasted good, so I went for an espresso. As I could still nearly taste the sour beverage I had at Inspire just hours before, I was hoping for something good. And I did, in fact, get the best espresso I’ve had in a few weeks. With a rich, oily texture, I let the espresso rest on my tongue for a little while to enjoy it to the fullest. It seems to me the Pinai coffee Imagio uses doesn’t excel in complexity of flavors, but I really do not feel the barista could have gotten much more out of these beans. Having tasted the espresso, I really wonder why there were so few people here, as opposed to Inspire as the two stores are just a few minutes apart by foot and Imagio is clearly, without doubt and by far the better of the two.

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Inspire Coffee Company, Breda

04.04.2011 //
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Although I’ve somewhere read this place would be overlooking the Main Square (Grote Markt) of Breda, in fact it’s a few steps into a side-street. Inside, you’ll find a nice array of different kind of charis, couches and tables, thus creating a rather homely feeling. It seems to me like this is one of the meeting points of the youth of Breda, with students and other youth chatting each other up, playing board games or working on their laptops, thanks to the free wifi that’s available. I have however had some issues connecting at first, which is probably due to a network optimized for Windows, rather than Mac OS. Through their other network -there are two available- connecting worked, but the browsing experience was terribly slow, until a number of people left.

On the coffee side of things, I can’t be much more positive than I have been on the internet. It’s there – but it’s just not good. The cappuccino -which had a double shot with a regular volume of milk- was only as good as a ‘regular’ cappuccino, with the espresso flavors struggling to get through the milk. I ended up with a bitter taste of milk and a hint of chocolate. After that, I decided to order an espresso, but sadly, this only made matters worse. It’s been quite a while since I have last ‘enjoyed’ an espresso as sour as this. The good flavors of espresso were lacking, and all that remained was a few sips of a drink nearly as sour as vinegar. Although I hope this was just a bad shot of the barista, I cannot recommend this place from a coffee point of view.

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Dishy, Den Haag

02.04.2011 //
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Just a stone’s throw away from both the royal palace as well as the Dutch parliament is this espresso bar. Inside, there’s hardly any seating: there are 8 bar stools along the shops walls and facade, but the outside terrace looks inviting, if it were a warm and sunny day.

The barista proudly admitted creating latte art was more a matter of luck than skill, despite “years of experience” as well as “multiple courses”. The other “barista” was apparently only hired recently and said she didn’t actually drink espresso, because it was “too strong”. The lack of love for coffee shows in a sourness in the drinks, although all else seemed fine.

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De Wijnhaven, Delft

01.04.2011 //
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Situated just off the main square, Markt, in the picturesque centre of the city of Delft, you’ll find café de Wijnhaven, on the similarly named street. Enjoying the warmth of the spring sun we sat down on their magnificient terrace, right over one of the city’s many canals.

The lunch was in fact very good, combining several small dishes in one for under ten euros. The delicious cinnamon muffin “screamed” for an espresso to go with that. The Illy espresso, served in art collection cups, was okay, though the crema was thin and the espresso a bit on the sour side. The cappuccino was merely an espresso with a blob of a milky, bubbly substance thrown on top if it, as opposed to mixed through as a cappuccino should be. They passed the coffee test, but only just and only as an extra to their lunch. There are better places to go to for just coffee.

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COZI, Groningen

31.03.2011 //
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Tucked away on the edge of the city’s centre, is this lovely espresso bar. Both along the windows at the front as well as in the corner at the back you’ll find comfortable ‘lounge areas’, where you can enjoy coffee together with a bunch of friends, whereas the middle part of the store is occupied by the bar itself and normal tables, with a few sockets nearby to allow for charging your laptop while working and enjoying your coffee.

The owner seems to know what he’s talking about and is eager to tell people why it is they like his coffee better than in most other cafes or your regular department store restaurant. If picked up by the city’s student population, this place cannot become anything but a success. The coffee was good, and the store’s layout perfect for chatting up or doing some work on your laptop.

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‘t Smelnehûs, Drachten

19.03.2011 //
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After a walk through an uninspiring shopping street in this cold and gray city of Drachten, I arrived at the quite picturesque building housing ‘t Smelnehûs and was pleasantly surprised. Seeing the beautiful Kees van der Westen espresso machine standing in the corner raised my hopes even further.

However, after I ordered my espresso macchiato, it became clear the KdW machine was only there for showing purposes. The actual coffee was made on another machine and, although it looked great with nearly perfect foam, the taste wasn’t nearly as good. An obnoxious sour penetrated the sweet taste of the milk. The espresso I ordered next gave me a better taste, and the espresso seemed to have a strong taste of metal. Not at all pleasant: what a shame. Not at all a reason to travel to this town, which doesn’t seem to offer much other reasons to go there, either.

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Cubico Caffé, Maastricht

07.03.2011 //
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On my second visit to Cubico, my thoughts of the first time are pretty much confirmed. The small cappuccino has more spice to it than the large one, although it seems the beans itself are rather mild, too. That’s not to my taste, but still okay, especially for those who like it mild. Just be sure to order a small, without the added milk. And at eight in the morning, the children weren’t there yet, either. The owner of the store seems to be a kind and engaging person, making some small-talk on the weather.

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