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BARISTA EDI TOR LETTER french lesson WHEN I WAS ASKED TO DELIVER the keynote address at Barista Nation Paris on October 15, I was both flattered and terrified. Flattered because the event would be the successful Barista Nation model's first time in Europe, and terrified because my topic would be the history, present, and future of coffee culture in the quintessential café landscape of Paris. Me? Really? Parisian café culture historian I am not. But I am a fast—not to mention eager—learner, so I set aside time in the days I would be in Paris leading up to the event to study Paris' burgeoning third-wave coffee movement. I found the fact that there even was a nascent quality-coffee crusade in Paris at all pretty fascinating; it's not like the city's romantic café charm—that which drew such painters as Manet, Degas, Renoir, Van Gogh, and Cezanne after the French Revolution, and enticed American writers like Hemingway and Fitzgerald, to take refuge in Parisian cafés in the 1920s—wasn't still seducing locals and tourists alike with that classic European café experience. We've seen lots of exciting coffee upheavals in the States—from West Coast cities like Los Angeles where gourmet existed in cuisine long before coffee caught up, to the middle states, where until specialty cafés started dotting the regions, the only java readily available came from diners and gas stations. But Paris already had a café culture—it seemed a bold (not to mention risky, given Paris rents) move for young, idealistic baristas to make. It only took a day in Paris, however, before my doubts were assuaged: That was the day I visited Telescope, located about five minutes' walk from the Louvre. This tiny café space on a side street is stark, yet cozy. It's not quite Scandinavian—it really does feel French. But new French, young French. Geeky barista French— yes, I'd say that concept now exists. Telescope is co-owned by Parisian Nicolas Clerc along with David Nigel Flynn, an American who has lived and worked as a barista in Paris for the last three years. They roast on a micro level and so far have one wholesale account, the just-opened coffee bistro Ten Belles. But don't think that means Nicolas and David haven't accomplished something major with their café already— Telescope is already popular with locals, and has secured a place on the quality-coffee map since it opened seven months ago. And to hear David tell it, things have 12 barista magazine M AGA Z I N E only just begun. "The year ahead will be even bigger—lots of movement and openings in the local coffee community," he said as we chatted over demitasses of Telescope's ravishing singleorigin espresso, a Colombian that day. Still, there's a pretty hefty quality presence in Paris already, with Café Cotume, a roaster serving exceptional brunch fare on weekends, with lines out the door; Kooka Bura, one of several Australian-owned cafés; Lomi, which is a roaster that serves several of the top cafés; Black Market Coffee, and more. Of course, the one recognized to have started it all is the maze-like Caféothèque, where you enter in the bean room, sample roaster churning all day, and meander through ever more rooms dedicated to comfy chairs, exotic plants, and a bar busy with AeroPress and V60 preparation. But my traveling companion, Anastasia Chovan (founder of Barista Nation), and I had great fun sitting in sidewalk cafés in Paris, too— no, the coffee wasn't third wave by any means, but the atmosphere is what brought us, and kept us in our chairs people watching and sipping coffee for hours. So I spoke confidently about what I had experienced out and about at Parisian cafés when I gave my speech at Barista Nation. However, I mostly emphasized my great excitement about the fact that a handful of thoughtful, driven, and quality-focused baristas could and have influenced a city as steeped in history as Paris. It's pretty inspiring. Similarly, I was inspired by Irish café owner Colin Harmon, whose dedication to excellence not only in coffee but also in customer service has played a major role in transforming the traditionally tea-soaked city of Dublin into one of the new hot cities for third wave coffee. Check out the article about Colin in this issue on page 64 to learn what motivated him. And visit www.baristamagazine.com/blog over the month of December to read more excerpts from my interview with Colin that didn't make it into the story. Baristas like Colin and David and Nicolas remind me that baristas can do anything, really. One specific reason I think these three have enjoyed success is that they respect those who came before them—be they the owners of the timeless and romantic cafés of old Paris, or the traditional tea drinkers of Dublin. They are never dismissive of those doing things in the old style; rather, they simply, politely, offer a new and different coffee encounter. And it's working. Publisher Kenneth R. Olson Editor Sarah Allen Art Direction Demitri Fregosi Photographer Damian Lillard Business Manager Cheryl Lueder Copy Editor Erin Meister Advertising Sales Sarah Allen 800.296.9108 Contributors Tracy Allen Kevin Bohlin Jason Burton Aaron Duckworth Chris Elliott Kari Guddeck Al Higgins Julie Levitt Blake McKinney Christina Mosley Furr Simon Ouderkirk David Ringwood Heather Ringwood David White Editorial Advisory Board Christopher Nicely Abel Alameda, Handsome Coffee Roasters Joshua Boyt, Metronome Coffee Lemuel Butler, Counter Culture Coffee Trevor Corlett, MadCap Coffee Company Roukiat Delrue, WBC Sonja Grant, Kaffismiðja Íslands Gerra Harrigan, New Harvest Coffee Roasters Heath Henley, Dose Coffee & Tea Jannicke M. Johansen, Mocca & Java Rita Kaminsky, The Albina Press Troels Poulsen, Kontra Coffee Dan Streetman, Irving Farm Coffee Colin Whitcomb, MadCap Coffee Company Barista Magazine 4345 NE 72nd Ave. Portland, OR 97218 phone: 800.296.9108 fax: 971.223.3659 email: info@baristamagazine.com www.baristamagazine.com Barista Magazine is published bi-monthly by the Barista Magazine Company, LLP. Subscriptions are $20 in the United States, $40 US in Canada/Mexico, and $50 US for the rest of the world. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission from the publisher. Postmaster please send address corrections to: Barista Magazine, 4345 NE 72nd Ave., Portland, OR 97218. ISSN: 1944-3544 Copyright 2012 Barista Magazine. All rights reserved.