Lil' Seattle

Leslie Williams explores Dublin's Little Seattle Coffee Culture, and advises: be careful out there!

So you can't cope with the catering pack of Maxwell House Mild Blend the accountant buys from Viking Direct, and tea just doesn't wake you up enough in the morning. Well, there is only one thing for it - you bring take-out coffee back to the office. Coffee-To-Go: CTG.

If, like me, you are quite fussy about your coffee and yet you need that caffeine kick with that lovely acidic rush that seems to liven up the mind as much as the taste buds, then there are a couple of things you need to know about your average coffee house.

I am sure that, as I write, some entrepreneur is planning on bringing the Starbucks franchise to Dublin and, if this happens, say goodbye to diversity, as they will probably buy up every coffee shop in the land (read Naomi Klein's "No Logo" if you don't believe it could happen).

In the meantime, we should celebrate the diversity we currently have on offer in the dozens of coffee shops that are independently owned or are part of a small chain. For the purposes of this article I stayed in Dublin city centre (mostly) and am only claiming to have touched the tip of the iceberg.

Now, not all coffee shops are created equally and nor, more importantly, are baristas (the person that brews your coffee). In the same way that you can ruin a corn-fed free-range chicken by in-appropriate cooking, so can you ruin the finest, freshly roasted, arabica beans by bad grinding or brewing techniques.

Espresso machines are delicate sensitive creatures needing as much loving care and nurturing as your average infant. Sorcha Molloy of barista training company Barista Basics (www.baristabasics.com) explained to me just how crucial training can be, as a barista must work fast and efficiently while ensuring the beans are not ground too fine or too coarse (so the steam will extract maximum flavour). He or she must ensure steam pressure is correct and timing is accurate while also judging the build up of oils (from the beans) as excess oils lead to bitter coffee (this is just for an espresso - getting your cappuccinos and lattes right takes even more skill). A good barista, according to Sorcha, can coax excellent coffee from medium quality beans and the most basic machine, while a bad barista can ruin coffee no matter what the machine or the beans.

So be warned, but mostly be nice to your barista and remember that even the best barista can have a bad day. My experience was that independents are generally more reliable than chains and I wouldn't be surprised if the fault lay in the training.

Very few coffee shops roast their own coffee beans (though I gather Galway has three doing just this). Coffee beans begin to deteriorate from the moment they are roasted and the difference between fresh roasted beans and month-old beans is similar to the difference between freshly ground pepper and ready-ground. Of course ready-ground coffee is worse again unless it is instantly vacuum-sealed and carefully stored. Coffee should also, of course, be made from 100 per cent arabica beans (arabica beans: good, robusta beans: bad, very bad - though Italian blends will often contain some high quality robusta to assist with crema and texture).

If you just want black coffee always ask for an americano or you may be served filter coffee and God knows how long that has been sitting there (30-45 minutes max before it becomes undrinkable). An americano is a double espresso with hot water added to dilute it slightly. Better coffee shops only serve americano to people asking for "coffee", but some also do a filter coffee and it will be assumed this is what you want if you don't specify.

So in conclusion: be very careful out there as there is lots of bad coffee to be found and it always, but always, tastes worse out of a paper or polystyrene cup. Always ask for an americano rather than simply coffee, and if you find a good place try to develop a relationship with the baristas so they don't serve you that last cup before they clean the machine.

Click here to read Leslie's Survey

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